Andrey Samsonov: "The necessity for MAH arose at the government level."

      July 31, 2025, 16:27

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      SocietyThe Minister of Education of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, Mikhail Puchkov, announced that in September of this year, Nizhny Novgorod schools will begin operating on "MAH." Currently, the process of integrating the new domestic messenger with the educational service "Sferum," which was introduced into the school educational process last year, is being completed. The head of the regional Ministry of Education emphasized that this innovation is mandated by Federal Law No. 156-FZ dated June 24, 2025, "On the creation of a multifunctional information exchange service and amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation," and by the Russian government's Order No. 1880-r dated July 12, 2025, which approved the MAH platform as the national messenger.

      Andrey Samsonov, researcher at the Volga branch of the FNI SCT RAS, senior researcher at the "Research Institute for Social Management Problems" (NII Social Management):

      "Digital tools are extremely convenient and have become an everyday environment for performing a wide range of tasks. At the same time, it has become clear that they are also an incredibly simple, fast, and effective means of causing various types of damage—from financial fraud to the banal spread of rumors, false information, etc. As a result, transitioning all government and municipal infrastructure to operate through state digital services and platforms has proven insufficient. There was a need for a government messenger, which became 'MAH.' Perhaps, in the near future, other government IT products will also appear.

      The need for state control over critical infrastructure, including the IT sector, is undeniable. However, according to sociological surveys, user experiences with the services offered by the government are quite contradictory. While some of the proposed solutions are implemented at a high level, are upgraded in a timely manner, and meet the needs of users (the population), there are many complaints about the functionality and operability of certain domestic digital products that are also in collaboration with government agencies. The reason is the lack of competition with other products and the mandatory nature of use. This problem can only be solved by tightening requirements for developers and those who implement and maintain the solutions.

      A good example where competition is also absent, yet many components are produced by a single supplier—the nuclear industry. At the same time, no one complains about quality or safety compliance. Essentially, by actively promoting government products and services in the digital sphere, the government must recognize not only the urgent need but also the full responsibility involved."

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