Roman Kalina Publications & Research Archive

Cybersecurity of GAS "Vybory" (Elections) and Remote Electronic Voting (SecPost)

Expert Roman Kalina, who served as Head of the Development Department for GAS "Vybory" (Elections) in 2003-2004, analyzed the latest version of the threat model of the remote electronic voting (REV) complex in a column published by SecPost on August 13, 2026. He explained how the cybersecurity of GAS "Vybory" (Elections) is ensured and why its compromise is highly unlikely by both external hackers and internal saboteurs. As the September elections approach, discussions regarding the reliability of electronic voting systems traditionally intensify. In the absence of access to internal information, we can rely on officially published technical documentation. The "Documents" section of the remote electronic voting portal hosts approved regulatory and technical primary sources from five years ago: the "Technical Description of the REV Complex Implementation" (2021) and the "Threat and Information Security Violator Model for Information Processed in the REV Complex" (2021), which this text analyzes. While planned software version updates are inevitable, the fundamental architectural principles of isolation and perimeter distribution most likely remain unchanged. This text addresses several key questions. First, are there risks of external cyberattacks on GAS "Vybory" (Elections)? There is no direct risk of GAS "Vybory" (Elections) being hacked via the internet. The State Automated System "Vybory" (including its modern digital platform) was originally designed as a closed circuit, as mandated by Russian legislation. It lacks any physical or logical connection points to public networks. There is no network IP address through which a remote intrusion could be executed. The system is physically isolated from the global network, which completely eliminates the possibility of conducting classic remote network attacks. Second, how is remote electronic voting (REV) implemented then? Since GAS "Vybory" (Elections) is isolated, remote electronic voting is handled by a separate, independent hardware and software complex (REV complex) equipped with public web interfaces. The system is deployed on the infrastructure of PJSC Rostelecom (the federal part of the platform) and the Moscow Government (the Moscow regional segment). At the same time, there is not even a network cable or an encrypted VPN tunnel between the REV complex and GAS "Vybory" (Elections). The exchange of information, such as uploading voter registers before voting and downloading final protocols afterward, occurs through what we traditionally call an air gap. Data is transferred on specialized physical removable media. The transferred files are protected by the cryptographic digital signatures of election commission members, which precludes the possibility of stealthy data tampering during transit. After the voting data is transferred from the REV complex, GAS "Vybory" (Elections) aggregates it with the paper protocols. Third, is the REV complex prepared for external threats and foreign hackers? The REV complex, unlike GAS "Vybory" (Elections), is connected to the internet and is constantly targeted by external attackers. The published Threat Model explicitly identifies foreign intelligence services and highly qualified hacker groups as potential violators. The actual attack vectors and their severity fall into three main categories. At the network level (DDoS attacks), the attack method involves massively flooding public entry points with traffic. To defend against this, the REV complex utilizes multiple independent data centers, each with surplus external channels and load balancing servers. Cross-border junk traffic is blocked by Technical Means of Threat Counteraction (TSPU) and operator filtering systems right at the entrance to the Russian perimeter. Consequently, it is practically impossible for foreign traffic attacks to make the service unavailable to domestic users. For adjacent authorization services, the attack targets the Gosuslugi (State Services) portal or SMS confirmation gateways rather than the REV complex. Naturally, the Gosuslugi portal is independently protected by the state using multi-level firewalls and monitoring centers. Even if attackers manage to achieve a peak overload of the authorization system at some point, a citizen simply will not be able to authenticate and receive a ballot at that exact moment. Meanwhile, the REV databases and the submitted votes themselves will remain completely secure. As for attacks on citizens' devices or algorithms, methods include attempting to crack the asymmetric cryptography (GOST) or the REV blockchain, or massively infecting users' devices with specialized malware. The defense is based on the ballot being encrypted directly on the citizen's device, with the records then sealed into a distributed ledger. Cracking robust encryption in a reasonable timeframe is impossible, and infecting millions of voters' smartphones to substitute their choices on the fly is unfeasible on a national scale. To summarize external threats: external hackers may try to create availability issues, causing a temporary disruption in the REV website's operation, but they will not succeed in fabricating results or tampering with encrypted ballots inside the blockchain. Fourth, can an internal violator cause critical damage to the REV complex? The scenario of a malicious administrator is detailed in the Threat Model. The authority of personnel inside the system is strictly segregated. If a system administrator in a data center decides to carry out destructive actions, they cannot rewrite votes or falsify the results single-handedly. Decrypting the ballots requires the assembly of a key, parts of which are held by different individuals, and the key itself is assembled only after the polling stations close. No single administrator possesses this entire key. They also cannot tamper with the blockchain. The ledger is distributed across multiple sites, meaning a solitary modification of the database on one server will be rejected by the other network nodes as invalid. Furthermore, they cannot destroy the system. The REV infrastructure is actively duplicated across several geographically distributed data centers. The complex is designed with a margin of safety: in the event of a complete failure of a single server, a virtual machine, or even an entire site, the load is automatically redistributed to reserve capacities. Additionally, the system features mutual cross-monitoring, where management administrators' actions are logged and tracked by on-duty information security teams in real time. To summarize internal threats: a lone saboteur is capable of causing a localized incident, such as briefly shutting down a specific virtual machine or database in one of the data centers. However, the architectural redundancy of the sites, the distributed consensus of the blockchain, and the separation of cryptographic keys will not allow them to alter voting results or cause the paralysis of the entire system. In conclusion, attempts to interfere with electronic voting will undoubtedly occur. Temporary difficulties in accessing the REV servers are entirely possible; however, they will most likely be caused not by external hacker attacks, but by a massive influx of ordinary Russian voters. Naturally, there will be no shortage of information noise, and one should expect the appearance of loud disinformation campaigns in unscrupulous media claiming that hackers breached GAS "Vybory" (Elections). Nevertheless, all these incidents will in no way affect the overall operability of the REV and GAS "Vybory" (Elections) complexes. The presented technical architecture is, on the whole, described correctly and appears quite resilient to such challenges.

Launch of Legally Binding Digital Interaction Between the Judicial System and Citizens (TAdviser Summit)

At the "IT in the Public Sector" section, Roman Kalina discussed the implementation and initial results of legally binding digital interaction between citizens and the judicial system.

Russian Courts Face a Surge in Electronic Lawsuits (CNews)

Since January 1, 2017, Russian citizens have been actively using the electronic system to file lawsuits in courts.

Growing Popularity of Electronic Lawsuits

By the end of 2017, one in ten lawsuits in federal courts of general jurisdiction in Russia will be filed by citizens in electronic form. This was announced at CNews Forum 2017 by Roman Kalina, Deputy Head of the Information and Analytical Center (IAC) for the support of GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") of the Judicial Department under the Supreme Court of Russia. "I know the current data for the fourth quarter; broadly speaking, we are already reaching 10-15% of the total number of lawsuits across the country," he said.

It is worth noting that the option to apply to courts in electronic form was introduced on January 1, 2017. Legislative amendments permitting this were adopted in June 2016. Decisions made on such lawsuits are also issued in electronic form. Electronic lawsuits can be filed on the portals of federal courts (not magistrate courts, but district, city, regional, etc.) in specially created personal accounts. To file a lawsuit, a citizen must use an enhanced qualified electronic signature or log in through the unified authentication system, using their state services portal account.

According to Kalina, the number of electronically filed lawsuits continues to rise. While in the first quarter of 2017 this form was used by about 43 thousand people, in the second it was already 56 thousand, and in the third - 74 thousand. In total, as of November 9, 2017, about 216 thousand digitized lawsuits had been filed in courts.

Unexpected Surge in Interest

"For us, the interest in filing electronic lawsuits that arose was completely unexpected," notes Kalina. "Already in the first two days of January, about 700 lawsuits poured in. Later, I reviewed the calls to the hotline. We ruined someone's New Year's Eve: at 23:50 on December 31, one user was having trouble with their submission."

Reflecting on the unexpected nature of the excitement among our citizens regarding the service, Roman Kalina recalls that about three years ago, a proposal to oblige courts to accept digitized applications was registered on the "Russian Public Initiative" website; however, during the voting period, this proposal gathered only 5.5 thousand supporters.

Percentage of Electronic Rejections

According to Kalina, these positive figures are somewhat undermined by the rate of technical rejections - applications the courts had to dismiss for reasons such as incorrect formatting.

In particular, for the first quarter of 2017, the share of such rejections was approximately 42% of the total number of lawsuits. Further on, this indicator began to decline. In the second quarter it decreased to 23%, in the third - to 17%, and is currently at the level of 16%.

Digitalisation of the Judiciary

According to Kalina's data, the GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") system he supervises, which covers all federal courts of general jurisdiction, currently includes more than 120 thousand computer terminals and about 700 thousand units of various other equipment.

Currently, about 35 thousand federal judges work in Russia, and according to Kalina's assurance, almost all of them already have qualified electronic signatures and are trained to use them, which allows them to issue decisions on lawsuits in electronic form. "We had to create our own certification authority with 85 issuing points in different regions and accredit it with the Ministry of Communications," notes the top manager.

Including court administration staff, 44 thousand people have received electronic signatures for working in GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") at the moment. By the end of 2017, this number will be increased to 60 thousand, in order to stabilize at approximately 70 thousand in the future.

Electronic Writ of Execution

One of the upcoming projects related to the digitalization of the Russian judicial system, according to Kalina, is the launch of electronic writs of execution in interaction with the Federal Bailiff Service and banks.

"The damage to banks in the country from forged paper writs of execution, which are brought to them, for example, with an added zero, is about 600 million rubles a year," asserts Roman Kalina. "After we introduce the electronic writ of execution, this problem will disappear, because the writ can be verified through the interdepartmental system or a web service." According to the top manager, banks are eagerly awaiting this service, and Sberbank may become the first organization to begin accepting electronic writs.

Integration with the Public Services Portal (Government Commission)

Speaking at the sub-commission of the Government Commission on the Use of Information Technologies, Roman Kalina reported on the technical readiness to host judicial branch information on the Public Services Portal and the proposed legislative amendments.

In June 2017, Roman Isaakovich Kalina, Deputy Head of the Information and Analytical Center of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, served as a speaker at the meeting of the sub-commission on the use of IT for providing state and municipal services. The sub-commission operates under the Government Commission on the Use of Information Technologies to Improve the Quality of Life, chaired by the Minister of Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation.

Roman Kalina reported on the technical readiness to host judicial branch information on the Public Services Portal and the proposed amendments to regulatory legal acts required to bring the services of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to the Unified Portal of State and Municipal Services (EPGU).

Following the presentations, the Minister concluded that hosting judicial branch information on the EPGU was highly viable. A directive was issued to submit draft amendments to federal laws regarding the placement of such information to the Government of the Russian Federation by December 1, 2017.

Information Security of Government Systems (Positive Hack Days)

Roman Kalina took part in a panel discussion on corporate cybersecurity at the Positive Hack Days 2017 forum, where he outlined the threats and approaches to securing government automated systems and fielded questions from the audience.

GAS "Justice": Reality and Prospects (PC Week)

Establishing a unified national information space is a critical objective that cannot be achieved without involving the judicial branch of government. The State Automated System "Pravosudie" ("Justice") (GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice")) is among the top five largest state automated systems; it forms the unified information space for courts of general jurisdiction and the system of the Judicial Department under the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. The task of GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") is very broad and ambitious: to provide informational and technological support for judicial proceedings. Roman Kalina, Deputy Head of the federal state budgetary institution "Information and Analytical Center for the Support of GAS 'Pravosudie' ('Justice')", spoke with PC Week correspondent Olga Zvonareva about the current capabilities and promising directions for the system's development.

PC Week: What issues does the system help judges, lawyers, and citizens resolve? Who is it primarily aimed at today?

Roman Kalina: GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") was created as a tool for court automation. It is a full-fledged information system that automates the work of judges and judicial system employees. If any uncovered aspect of work is identified, we create the corresponding module for the system. This was the case, for example, when the law granting citizens the right to access open information about court decisions was passed. The necessary modules allowing the publication of anonymised data on court websites were immediately integrated into GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice"). As a result, citizens can obtain information about issued court decisions and scheduled hearings on court websites connected into a common infrastructure. In 2016, 9.5 million SMS notifications about scheduled court hearings were sent to citizens. And since January 2017, the opportunity to file legally significant lawsuits electronically through the official court websites became available.

PC Week: Must an electronic signature be attached to electronic lawsuits?

R. K.: We are currently implementing two options. According to experts' estimates, only about a million citizens possess an enhanced qualified electronic signature. For broad interaction with the judicial system, this is not enough: courts issue 25-26 million decisions a year. In November, we introduced functional interaction with the Unified System of Identification and Authentication. This means that any citizen who possesses a simple electronic signature — a verified account in this system — can file lawsuits electronically on the GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") portal. According to the Ministry of Communications of Russia, there are more than 25 million such citizens in Russia.

PC Week: In what form will the result of the judicial review of an electronic lawsuit be issued?

R. K.: It will be an electronic document signed by the judge. To make this possible, the Information and Analytical Center of the Judicial Department has issued more than 31 thousand electronic signatures to judges and judicial system employees over the course of a year and continues to issue them to this day. In November 2015, we accredited the GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") Certification Authority. It provides one of the most massive issuances of electronic signatures for state agencies.

PC Week: Can ordinary citizens apply to this Certification Authority to obtain an electronic signature?

R. K.: Such requests are received. Many citizens believe that the GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") Certification Authority is more serious and substantial than commercial certification authorities. Since December 2016, the GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") Certification Authority has become available to citizens. The package of regulatory documents is posted on the certification authority's website. But for legally significant interaction with GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice"), a verified account in the unified authentication system is quite sufficient for citizens.

PC Week: And what is the format of court cases today? Are they still kept on paper?

R. K.: The court can store anything it deems necessary in electronic form — technically this is not a problem. But this issue should be considered in a legal context. Is it possible to abandon paper case files? Does the legislation allow it? Not yet. For example, an eighty-volume case file arrives at the court. Scanning it is not the court's task. If the legislator had provided for a broader use of electronic documents, courts could work in an electronic format — receive documents, review them using software tools, and certify decisions in the same way.

PC Week: How is GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") structured? Does it use national or imported software?

R. K.: GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") is among the top five largest state information systems, serving up to 140 thousand users. It includes 26 different applied subsystems of national production. However, their infrastructural component has different origins. For example, information security tools are strictly of Russian production. The advantage of national software is that it is usually cheaper than an imported analogue, easier to obtain for testing, and easier to buy. Therefore, we can say that we prefer Russian products. However, regarding the operating system and office software, 99.99% of user workplaces are equipped with Microsoft products.

PC Week: How do you assess the possibilities of import substitution in this area?

R. K.: Let's take, for example, the main system in any court — court record keeping, the so-called case management system. When designing the GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") subsystems in 2004, it was assumed that all its users had Microsoft Office installed on their computers. Therefore, the application builds a table in Excel or drafts a document in Word. And this is true in many subsystems, not only in judicial record keeping. Before replacing Microsoft office and system software with another, it must be thoroughly checked for compatibility with GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice"). If our application interfaces with a different office suite instead of Microsoft Word — will that mechanism work? Won't the office system have to be reprogrammed, and if so, how fundamentally? We study the solutions appearing on the local market, and if our Russian colleagues manage to create their own analogue of Microsoft Office, we will certainly use it.

PC Week: What is your attitude towards cloud technologies?

R. K.: If cloud technologies can be used in a corporate environment, we consider them. All data in GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") is hosted exclusively on the internal circuit, which is not connected to the Internet. This is our strict rule that ensures the security of the personal data of citizens and judges.

PC Week: How is the issue of data anonymization resolved?

R. K.: In accordance with the law, personal data in a published court decision must be anonymized; the system has a dedicated module for this, which works on the documents before they reach the portal. The module reviews and replaces first and patronymic names, birth dates — in short, everything that relates to personal data. The redacted data is highlighted in yellow. Then the judge reviews the document, checks the system's edits, and makes corrections if necessary. Ultimately, it is the judge, not the system, who makes the decision on how and what to publish on the portal. After verification by the judge, the document is published on the website.

PC Week: The government is steering agencies toward maximum digital interaction, specifically using the interagency electronic interaction system. How involved is the judicial system in this process?

R. K.: Absolutely correct. Having connected to the interagency system, we proceeded to the second stage of integration with the state information space - connection to the unified authentication system, which is also oriented towards federal executive bodies. On this issue, we had to hold another meeting of the government commission, which in September 2016 issued an instruction to connect GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") to the unified authentication system. Our third task is the Unified Portal of State Services. We plan that our services will also appear on this portal. At the same time, the very wording 'provision of state services' raises a number of questions among lawyers in the judicial system. Therefore, we are thinking about what functions we can offer in matters of interaction with the courts. For example, the very function of filing a lawsuit electronically. We are ready to implement a service for determining jurisdiction: which court to apply to in a given life situation. In any case, we strongly support digital interaction with government agencies and citizens.

PC Week: Thank you for the interview.

Russians Will be Able to Sue via the Internet (CNews)

Starting September 15, 2016, Russian citizens gained the legal right to file claims online to courts of general jurisdiction. This year, the practice will expand, allowing courts to issue legally binding decisions in electronic format after considering applications, according to the Information and Analytical Center for the Support of GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice"). The entry point into the judicial system could be the unified portal of state services.

To Court via the Internet

By the end of 2016, the first courts of general jurisdiction in Russia will begin interacting with citizens in a legally binding electronic format. This was announced at the CNews conference "ICT in the Public Sector" by the Deputy Head of the Information and Analytical Center for the Support of GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") of the Judicial Department under the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation (IAC) Roman Kalina. "You will be able to file an application through the state services portal and receive a court decision after its consideration," he stated.

Moreover, the official emphasized, the so-called writ of execution will also be formed in electronic form. "If it concerns the state, we will send it to the Federal Bailiff Service, and if it relates to penalties from another citizen, it can be processed by banks connected to the interagency system," he adds.

Legal and Technical Background

The possibility for citizens to file administrative lawsuits via the internet was specified in the Code of Administrative Legal Proceedings of the Russian Federation, adopted by the State Duma and approved by the Federation Council in February 2015. This provision came into effect on September 15, 2016, following the adoption of separate legislation. By this time, the IAC intends to complete all necessary modifications to GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") — the unified information system of the Russian judicial system.

As Kalina notes, to ensure that judges can create legally significant documents after reviewing applications, the Judicial Department accredited its own certification authority with the Ministry of Communications at the end of 2015, which in 2016 began issuing electronic digital signatures to judges and court staff across the country.

The official assured that a total of about 37 thousand signatures will be issued in 2016, but by September all judges of general jurisdiction in the country (more than 20 thousand people) will be equipped with them. The speed of this process is currently about 1 thousand signatures a week.

Applications — via Court Websites or the State Services Portal?

Separately, it is worth noting that the Code of Administrative Legal Proceedings, which paves the way for electronic judicial interaction, literally states that the applicant will have to fill out a form placed on the official website of the respective court. However, Kalina is confident that there should be no technical restrictions for interacting with courts through the unified portal of state services for citizens.

GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") will be able to interact with the portal through the system of interdepartmental electronic interaction. The connection of the GAS to this system, according to Kalina, was approved in mid-May 2016 at a meeting of a thematic subcommittee. "We expect the official protocol any day now, and with it, we will go to the Ministry of Economic Development to bring our services to the portal," asserts Kalina. "I can't say how long this will take, but I hope everything will definitely happen in the second half of 2016."

The official notes that if, for some reason, GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") is not permitted to accept citizens' applications from the portal, this will become clear precisely during the process of bringing the services to the portal. "Before the documents are signed between the Ministry of Economic Development and the Judicial Department, it would probably be incorrect to say that everything is decided (one way or another)," Kalina still stipulates. "But in the judicial system, it seems to me, there is no contradiction to such an approach and there cannot be. In the ministries, I also have not noticed any criticism of using the portal for such purposes."

Features of the Judicial System and Import Substitution

Roman Kalina emphasizes that in accordance with the Constitution, the judicial system is separated from the executive branch, so government resolutions and Ministry of Communications orders do not directly apply to it. "Nevertheless, we voluntarily provide all information about ourselves in the informatization plans to the Ministry of Communications," he says.

Following this voluntary approach, the IAC considers it necessary to support the national import substitution policy. According to Kalina's data, for the operation of the servers of the GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") subsystems, consideration is currently being given not only to Microsoft Windows Server (if the server software is oriented only towards Windows), but also to OS ALT Linux SPT 6.0 for security servers (or an equivalent certified by the Federal Service for Technical and Export Control) and ALT Linux 7.0 Centaurus for the rest of the server software running under Linux (or an equivalent).

For use on automated user workplaces, consideration is being given not only to the application of the Microsoft Windows OS family and the MS Office suite, but also to ALT Linux 7.0 Desktop with the LibreOffice office suite (or an equivalent).

At the same time, the information security subsystem of GAS "Pravosudie" ("Justice") was originally built exclusively on national certified software and hardware solutions.

Transitioning to Citizen-Centric Digital Services (CNews)

Speaking at the "ICT in the Public Sector in New Conditions" conference, Roman Kalina discussed the strategic shift from internal judicial informatization to delivering digital services directly to citizens.

CNews reported on a presentation given by Roman Kalina, Deputy Head of the Information and Analytical Center of the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, during the "ICT in the Public Sector in New Conditions" conference. The publication quotes Roman Kalina noting that prior to the merger of the arbitration courts and the courts of general jurisdiction, the digital transformation of these two judicial branches relied on entirely different software platforms. While the arbitration court system comprised roughly 200 sites and 24 software components—primarily hosted in a unified data center—the courts of general jurisdiction involved over 2,900 informatization sites supported by 700,000 hardware units and 26 subsystems of the State Automated System (GAS) "Pravosudie" (Justice).

Following the abolition of the Supreme Arbitration Court of the Russian Federation in February 2014, the Judicial Department at the Supreme Court was tasked with integrating and advancing the existing IT infrastructure. A pivotal focus of this development became the transition from merely solving internal judicial informatization challenges to delivering external digital services to citizens and organizations. The strategic roadmap includes several key initiatives: implementing e-justice and electronic document management services across all courts; enabling the electronic filing of lawsuits and complaints, alongside the issuance of legally binding electronic documents; providing remote access to case files and online participation in hearings; establishing digital interaction between courts and other government bodies; and seamlessly integrating GAS "Pravosudie" (Justice) with the Unified Portal of State and Municipal Services (EPGU).

Creation of an Electronic Population Register (CNews)

The publication reports on the forum presentation by Roman Kalina, Head of the Department of Information Resources and Technologies at Rosstat, proposing the creation of an electronic population register.

In October 2008, Roman Kalina, Head of the Department of Information Resources and Technologies at the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), spoke at the "CNews Forum" conference, proposing the establishment of a unified electronic population register for the Russian Federation.

Kalina emphasized in his presentation that Scandinavian countries have long operated similar electronic systems. Meanwhile, in Russia—as well as in the United States—population tracking still relies on census-taking. Conducting a census is a highly expensive endeavor. For instance, the last census in Russia cost approximately $1 for every person counted. In the US, this figure is significantly higher — $15 per person. Multiplying this figure by the total population makes it clear that the state, and ultimately the taxpayers, are spending millions of dollars on primitive methods of tracking themselves.

Advisory Council for the Automated Information System of Public Procurement (EAIST) (Government of Moscow)

Roman Isaakovich Kalina, Head of the IT Department at the Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), was appointed to the Advisory Council for the development and enhancement of the Automated Information System of Public Procurement of the City of Moscow (EAIST).

System Acceptance Board for GAS "Vybory" (Elections) (Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation)

Roman Isaakovich Kalina, Head of the IT Development Department at the Federal Center of Informatization of the Central Election Commission, was appointed to the System Acceptance Board responsible for evaluating the completed development of GAS "Vybory" (Elections). This board was tasked with determining whether the system was fully ready to be transitioned into permanent operation for national elections.

Architecting the Economic Data Infrastructure for Public Administration

Thesis for the degree of Candidate of Economic Sciences (Ph.D. equivalent)
Introductory Section • Published: 1999

Introduction

Background and Relevance
Over the past decade, Russia has experienced a rapid expansion of automated information systems within regional government bodies. This shift was driven by administrative decentralization, the transition to a market economy, and significant advancements in computing technology. It is increasingly recognized that management data has become a critical strategic resource, on par with traditional material and energy resources. Today, the extent of IT adoption in public administration and the economy largely determines a region's successful development and investment appeal, as well as the country's ability to compete globally.

Furthermore, a robust IT sector can serve as a key economic driver for any region. For enterprises of the former military-industrial complex and higher education institutions, developing this sector provides a powerful catalyst for manufacturing growth and advanced scientific research.

The transition to an information society at the regional government level requires:

• Establishing the economic, technological, and legal foundations for data access.
• Deploying the hardware, software, and telecommunications systems necessary for data collection, storage, and transmission.
• Fostering a research and manufacturing base capable of producing competitive IT solutions.
• Prioritizing the development of management and educational institutions that generate information and knowledge.
• Systematically implementing IT solutions across regional administration and the economy.
• Continuously evaluating the economic efficiency of these digital transformation efforts.

The primary goal of IT adoption in public administration is to fully meet the data needs of government bodies, thereby enhancing their productivity, management efficiency, and operational oversight.

While hardware has become more affordable and software more user-friendly, allowing even non-technical specialists to tackle complex management challenges, a significant problem remains. Regional governments still lack a unified "economic data infrastructure." Previous systems merely recorded past events and collected centralized statistics. The new infrastructure must proactively supply predictive data to improve real-time decision-making. However, the methodological foundation for designing and operating such an infrastructure at the regional level has yet to be fully developed.

Proposed Approach
To solve this problem, a comprehensive concept for a unified regional economic data infrastructure must be established. This concept will coordinate various departmental programs and IT projects funded by federal, corporate, and regional sources. Designated authorities should oversee this integration. Furthermore, off-the-shelf software should be optimally combined with custom solutions tailored to the specific workflows of regional government bodies.

Objective of the Research
The primary objective of this dissertation is to develop and practically apply methods for modeling the economic data infrastructure of complex organizational systems, utilizing a rational combination of theoretical frameworks and computer-based models.

Key Tasks:

• Analyze the structure of regional government administration and identify its unique characteristics.
• Investigate the current state of IT adoption in public administration both in Russia and internationally.
• Develop a comprehensive concept and architectural principles for the economic data infrastructure.
• Investigate models for organisational design and formulate a rationale for the design of a regional IT center.
• Develop mathematical models and algorithms for designing distributed telecommunication networks.
• Model the interactions between various IT centers.
• Propose a technology framework for conducting remote electronic meetings (teleconferencing) for geographically dispersed government bodies.
• Implement these algorithms in software and calculate the optimal infrastructure design for the Orenburg region.

Object and Subject of Research
Object: Regional government administration bodies.
Subject: Theoretical models, algorithms, and software design for architecting the economic data infrastructure.

Scientific Novelty
This dissertation formulates and solves the critical problem of designing an economic data infrastructure to enhance regional public administration. Key original contributions include:

• Establishing the architectural principles and components of the regional economic data infrastructure.
• Creating an economic-mathematical model for IT center interactions that optimizes message routing and minimizes data transmission time.
• Developing algorithms to design distributed telecommunication networks that minimize both setup and operational costs.
• Proposing a framework for remote teleconferencing that accounts for telecommunication and financial constraints.
• Designing a load-balancing algorithm that adapts scheduling concepts to automate message distribution and ensure even network utilization.
• Refining a decomposition model to design economically efficient organizational structures for regional IT centers.

Practical Significance
The models and algorithms developed in this research were actively utilized by the Orenburg region administration to draft their comprehensive regional IT master plan. The software implementation of these algorithms successfully designed the territorial network structure, optimized communication channels, and facilitated remote electronic meetings across several Russian regions. The developed tools significantly improve the evidence-based decision-making required to build and operate complex regional IT infrastructures.

Context and Approbation
This research was conducted as part of the Federal Innovation Program "Engineering Network of Russia" (1994) and the comprehensive project "Creation and Development of the Orenburg Engineering Network." The findings were presented at numerous regional and international scientific conferences between 1995 and 1999. The research outcomes were published in six printed academic works.

Conclusion

The research results presented in this dissertation offer a novel approach to the critical task of designing an economic data infrastructure for a large organizational system (e.g., a regional government). The study advances the development of related methods, models, and algorithms.

The primary theoretical and practical outcomes of this research are as follows:

1. Based on an analysis of regional public administration, the research demonstrates the need to adopt automated information technologies. Given the exponential growth of economic and administrative data, these technologies are essential to enhance efficiency, ensure the quality and speed of government operations – specifically in data collection, storage, processing, and management decision-making.

Studying IT adoption in both domestic and international public administrations led to the development of a unified concept for a regional-level economic data infrastructure. The design of this infrastructure requires economic-mathematical modeling to formulate and evaluate structural options, thereby increasing their scientific validity.

2. By analyzing the complex functional tasks of governing bodies and applying the foundational principles of an economic data infrastructure, the study identified the core components necessary to satisfy the informational needs of the administration.

The study justifies organizing regional governing bodies hierarchically across different levels of the economic data infrastructure to accurately map flows of economic and administrative data. To ensure the successful implementation and operation of this infrastructure, we propose establishing a Regional Information Center (RIC).

The functions of the RIC have been defined, and its organizational structure and departmental responsibilities have been developed. This structure is based on the principles of maximum autonomy, minimized coordination overhead, and the grouping of highly interdependent subsystems, all of which contribute to the center's maximum operational efficiency.

3. The study analyzed practices for organizing meetings among geographically dispersed governing bodies, including methods for remote conferencing. A technology for conducting remote electronic meetings using the telecommunications subsystem of the designed economic data infrastructure is proposed. This approach significantly reduces the costs associated with organizing and holding meetings while meeting the requirements for comprehensive data presentation to participants.

4. We developed a model for building the geographically distributed structure of the economic data infrastructure. This model enables the design of various structural iterations and the selection of the most rational solution.

An algorithm and corresponding software were created to construct the territorial structure of the telecommunications network. The integration of modern computing facilities yields an efficient structural design, drastically reduces decision-making time, and improves overall decision quality.

5. The dissertation proposes a mathematical framework (comprising a model and an algorithm) for forming message queues in scenarios where the number of base centers exceeds the number of allocated communication channels.

Theoretically, this framework adapts and extends scheduling concepts to a new class of problems. Practically, it allows for the complete automation of distributing bulk data transmissions.

6. We developed a methodology – and performed corresponding calculations – to assess the economic feasibility of implementing various teleconferencing technologies within the administration of the Orenburg region. The choice of remote electronic meeting technology was thoroughly justified. An algorithm was developed for this technology, and a software package was successfully deployed using a widely adopted national secure data transmission network.

7. Applying the structuring algorithm for geographically remote entities, we calculated the optimal distributed structure of the economic data infrastructure in the Orenburg region. These results can be used to design the structure of regional associations and select optimal locations for base centers across the territory. Calculations demonstrated that the projected costs for the proposed three-tier structure are 11.8% lower than those of the existing two-tier structure.

8. The algorithm for the optimal loading of communication channels was applied to solve a series of practical tasks related to message distribution and transmission sequencing. The calculation results proved the efficiency of the proposed technology, ensuring minimal transmission times and a relatively even load across communication channels.

9. The practical results of this work are being utilized by the regional administration in the preparation of a comprehensive regional IT master plan. Additionally, the developed software product has been adopted for use within the national electoral commission framework.

Implementation certificates validate the practical application of these results.

Bibliography

Bibliography of the Dissertation Research

Candidate of Economic Sciences Roman Isaakovich Kalina, 1999

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Archive of the GAS "Vybory" and GAS "Pravosudie" Specialists Forum (GAS:forum)

Welcome! You have been redirected to this page from the historical address gas.kalina.biz.

The forum of specialists in the State Automated Systems GAS "Vybory" (Elections) and GAS "Pravosudie" (Justice), created over 20 years ago, has now concluded its active work. Access to it has been frozen both for information security reasons and due to outdated communication formats.

Immense gratitude goes to the many hundreds of IT specialists, primarily our colleagues — the system administrators of GAS "Vybory" and GAS "Pravosudie" from across the country, who for years shared their unique experience on the forum pages, helped each other solve the most complex technical problems, and together built the foundation of electronic democracy and digital human rights protection in the Russian Federation. This page hosts certain archival materials for those interested in the history of the creation of GAS "Vybory" and GAS "Pravosudie".

Respectfully and with appreciation, your comrade and colleague, Roman Kalina

GAS "Vybory" (State Automated System "Elections")

The State Automated System of the Russian Federation "Vybory" (GAS "Vybory") is one of the country's largest territorially distributed state information systems, designed for the comprehensive automation of electoral processes in Russia. The Central Election Commission conducted the first experiments using computers in the electoral campaigns of the new Russia back in 1993, but official work specifically on GAS "Vybory" began with the signing of Presidential Decree No. 1723 on August 23, 1994. This was arguably the country's first national-scale digitalization project, intended to radically change the technological foundation of government administration, ensuring an unprecedented level of transparency, reliability, and speed in tallying voting results.

In 1995, Russia faced elections for the second convocation of the State Duma. This was followed by Presidential Decree No. 227 of February 28, 1995, "On ensuring the creation, functioning, and development of the State Automated System of the Russian Federation 'Vybory'." It directed executive authorities to allocate premises for the technical equipment of the future system, as well as the task of establishing the position of GAS "Vybory" system administrator within the staff of the respective administrations. This was perhaps the first time in history that system administrators were mentioned in a document of such a high level. Starting in the spring of 1995, our first colleagues began to work. By the end of the year, all of us had to complete an unimaginable workload for that time. We had to receive the computer equipment, install it, deploy the software, update the software (more than once), configure it, connect and configure modems for communication and data transfer, learn to operate the system, and, finally, conduct the elections themselves and summarize their results. By the next decade, the system would transition from dial-up modems to a high-speed, cryptographically protected information network.

Our colleagues also enthusiastically welcomed the next Presidential Decree, No. 861 of August 18, 1995, "On ensuring the activities of the State Automated System of the Russian Federation 'Vybory'," the first point of which ordered the creation of the Federal Center of Informatization under the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation (FCI under the CEC of Russia). Now the system had a unified center for management, as well as organizational, informational, and methodological support. The second half of the 1990s was a difficult time for the Russian budget, so the last point of the presidential decree, which ordered the allocation of premises in Moscow with a total area of at least 1,000 square meters for the FCI within a month, was fulfilled gradually. The renovation of the historical building on Bolshoy Cherkassky Lane was carried out in 1998-2000, and as late as September 2000, my colleagues and I sometimes carried computers by hand from our temporary premises on Ilyinka Street to our new, permanent location. The established FCI under the CEC of Russia would be characterized by surprising stability: in its 31 years of existence, the Center has had only four heads.

After the first all-Russian seminar of GAS "Vybory" system administrators (Moscow, 1996), we came up with the idea that the experience of active system administrators and their desire to improve GAS "Vybory" could be organized and channeled in a positive direction. With the support of key employees of the FCI under the CEC of Russia, a new public body emerged - the Council of GAS "Vybory" System Administrators. Every quarter, the Council summarized proposals and remarks from all over the country, selected the paramount ones, and conveyed them not only to the system developers and the FCI, but also to the leadership of the CEC of Russia at annual meetings.

Technology advanced rapidly, and by 2001, the software base of GAS "Vybory" was outdated, requiring conceptual modernization. In July 2002, the Central Election Commission (CEC) of the Russian Federation approved a large-scale program for the system's development and modernization up to 2004. The modernization program was delivered strictly on schedule - a rarity for state information systems. In 2003, the expanded capabilities of the GAS were successfully tested, and in 2004, the system was put into full operation. At that time, GAS "Vybory" became an absolutely cutting-edge state system for its era. The speed of processing summary protocols at the CEC level increased 150-fold. Under the direction of the Chairman of the CEC of Russia, a previously unprecedented degree of transparency in tallying voting results was achieved: for the first time, the voting results for each of the country's 94,000 polling stations were published on the CEC website within 24 hours after the end of voting. In order to remove any grounds for talks about possible falsifications, every subsequent change to the protocol of each Precinct Election Commission (PEC) was also published on the CEC website, and any visitor to the site could verify the accuracy of the voting results summary. I have not been able to find an implementation of such an approach in 2003 in any other country. Finally, the database of 109 million Russian voters was centralized. Although, like almost all systems of that time, GAS "Vybory" used MS Windows and the Oracle DBMS as its base software, all applications and all software were entirely domestic: contractors wrote about 950 MB of code. The version of the system developed in 2003 and accepted into permanent operation exactly on time in 2004 proved its phenomenal reliability, supporting the country's electoral cycles for many years. It will only be finally decommissioned after 22 years, in 2026. I cannot imagine another state system with such a long lifecycle.

Information security was a primary focus during the design and operation of GAS "Vybory". In 2002, when the State Duma adopted the Federal Law "On the State Automated System of the Russian Federation 'Vybory'" (how many information systems are known to have had a separate Federal Law by 2003?), deputies insisted that the communication circuit of GAS "Vybory" be physically decoupled from the Internet. I remember a technical expert in the State Duma urging deputies against this decision, arguing that in that case, GAS "Vybory" would never learn to defend itself. But no, the use of Russian certified cryptographic information protection means, communication circuits physically isolated from the internet, physical shielding means, multi-factor authorization systems, and regular independent audits ensured reliable protection of the system from external cyberattacks. In the early 2000s, compact discs with almost all databases were secretly sold at radio markets across the country, but not with GAS "Vybory" data: hackers could never gain access to the voter register, and voting data on the CEC website was already publicly available anyway. One of the simplest and most reliable methods of protecting GAS "Vybory" data, implemented in 2003-2004, was a method we called "a meter of air." In one of the rooms of the CEC of Russia, two computers were installed. On the first, connected to the internal circuit of GAS "Vybory", the software regularly generated an image of the CEC website section containing the voting protocol data. This image was written to a write-once CD and manually transferred by employees to an adjacent computer, which was connected exclusively to the Internet. After reading the image from the disk, this computer placed it on the server (hosting) of the CEC website, overwriting all previous data, and the disk was permanently archived: an absolutely new disk was used for the next recording batch. In this simple way, both total openness of voting results data and the absolute impossibility for hackers to change anything in the official GAS "Vybory" data were ensured simultaneously.

It is safe to say that the GAS "Vybory" system laid the fundamental standards of reliability and fault tolerance, becoming a model for many subsequent electronic state administration systems in Russia. The technologically implemented prompt publication of detailed voting results on the Internet became a crucial step towards the transparency of the entire democratic process in the country.

GAS "Pravosudie" (State Automated System "Justice")

The State Automated System of the Russian Federation "Pravosudie" (GAS "Pravosudie") is a territorially distributed automated information system providing a unified information and communication space for courts of general jurisdiction, the system of the Judicial Department under the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, and bodies of the judicial community. The concept of creating the system was approved by the Government of the Russian Federation in 2004 as part of the most important federal target program "Development of the Judicial System of Russia." As with the automation of elections, tackling this massive challenge was entrusted to the specialized state enterprise - the Scientific Research Institute "Voskhod".

At the end of 2006, GAS "Pravosudie" successfully passed state acceptance tests and was officially put into operation. The system was designed with several strategic goals: radically improving the efficiency of thousands of court staff by eliminating paperwork, ensuring the real independence and transparency of justice, and most importantly — providing free, intuitively understandable access for citizens and businesses to judicial practice materials and the regulatory framework.

The technological landscape of GAS "Pravosudie" is striking in its scale. Today, it unites more than 2,500 facilities of the judicial system (from the Supreme Court to district courts in the most remote corners of the country) and over 100,000 automated workstations for employees. The core of the system is formed by more than 26 integrated subsystems. Key arteries of the system are the subsystems "Judicial Record Keeping and Statistics," "Bank of Judicial Decisions," "Internet Portal," "Human Resources," as well as hardware-software complexes for audio and video recording of trials and video conferencing systems (VCS), thanks to which remote hearings have become a daily norm of procedural practice.

A massive technological leap occurred in 2017 with the launch of legally significant electronic interaction between the judicial system and citizens. Thanks to deep integration with the State Services portal (ESIA) and the system of interdepartmental electronic interaction (SMEV), Russians were given the opportunity to remotely submit statements of claim, petitions, and other procedural documents in electronic form, signed with an electronic digital signature (EDS).

This step toward full-scale electronic justice led to an exponential increase in the load on server capacities and communication channels. The system faced a barrage of millions of requests, requiring a complete overhaul of the entire IT infrastructure. Complex engineering work was carried out to introduce fault-tolerant clusters, dynamic routing technologies, and load balancing within a secure perimeter. Today, GAS "Pravosudie" is rightfully recognized by experts, including analysts of the Council of Europe, as one of the most advanced, large-scale, and highly loaded electronic judicial proceeding systems on the planet, continuing its course towards import substitution and cloud architectures.