Digitalization as a factor in Russia's energy security (turn of the 20th – 21st centuries)

The turn of the 20th and 21st centuries became a serious test for both the economy and energy security of Russia. The article examines the basic segment of national energy security - the fuel and energy complex (FEC), which included the gas, oil, coal and energy industries. Among the wide range of new technologies used at that time to ensure the energy security of our country, digital ones stood out. This determined the purpose of the study - to identify the dynamics, content and results of the digitalization process in the economic and technological transformation of a strategically important segment of the Russian economy - the fuel and energy complex. The authors show the causes and factors of digitalization, both internal and external. They determine the participants in this process, where the key role was played by federal authorities and administration, as well as companies and enterprises of the fuel and energy complex industries. The leading forms of digitalization are highlighted - automation, informatization and computerization, among which the positions of the last two were strengthened. The dynamics and features of the introduction of digital products, the inconsistency of their implementation at the intersectoral level are revealed. Attention is drawn to the fact that since 2006, there has been a noticeable intensification of digitalization processes, primarily in the oil industry. This was due to the introduction of artificial intelligence and digital twins into production processes. The article presents important results and the significance of this process for the country's energy security: the electricity deficit was eliminated, the energy intensity of the economy decreased, energy production and export increased, etc. Attention is also drawn to the problems that hindered the digital transformation of the fuel and energy complex: a significant time gap between the development of a domestic product and its implementation, dependence on the import of digital products and services, insufficiently high rates of implementation, a high level of wear and tear of machinery and equipment, etc. Intensive development was limited by a shortage of institutions capable of combining all digitalized business processes, generating best practices, expanding the level of digital skills, etc. The final conclusion is that digitalization was part of the innovative course of the economic policy of the Government of the Russian Federation. Over the course of 20 years, fuel and energy companies have gone from being separate objects of automation, informatization, and computerization (1992-2005) to the beginning of a comprehensive digital transformation (2006-2010), that is, the introduction of digital technologies into industry business processes. In general, Russia's energy security has increased significantly, but in terms of its digital support, the technical and technological dependence on foreign products has increased. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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