A Unified Digital Standard for Utilities: Ambitious Targets Set for the Next Two Years
The tasks set by the Russian government for 2025 to synchronize federal, regional and municipal digital systems in the housing and utilities sector have been completed. New challenges in the digital transformation of the industry were discussed at the XV Siberian Construction Week in Novosibirsk.
Unification Instead of Patchwork Automation
Russia’s Ministry of Construction has identified priority objectives for digital transformation in the utilities sector for 2026–2028. Deputy Minister of Construction and Housing and Utilities Konstantin Mikhailik outlined the key challenges facing the industry. Chief among them is the lag between legislative development and the evolution of digital systems, as well as fragmentation and weak synchronization among federal, regional and municipal platforms. Even when such solutions are deployed, they often function as isolated “digital enclaves.”
There is also a lack of coordination in digital technologies, technical solutions and system architecture, since they are created at different administrative levels by different developers. In some cases, vendors cease operations altogether, creating operational challenges for already deployed systems.
One of the main priorities for the next two years will be the creation of standardized sectoral solutions for nationwide implementation across regions. This is expected to optimize internal industry processes and significantly simplify citizens’ access to housing and utilities services and social support mechanisms.
Scaling Services: From Smart Meters to Smart Homes
Active development of the GIS ZhKKH (State Information System for Housing and Utilities) platform will continue. It already connects millions of users across the country. The speed of data uploads into the system has increased more than fivefold. The platform now includes more than 15 million registered users and over 85,400 connected organizations. It contains information on 935,500 apartment buildings and 17.4 million individual houses, as well as 2.9 million building-level meters and 204 million individual meters, enabling accurate accounting of resource consumption.
In 2025, more than 56 million digital utility bills were sent on a trial basis to personal accounts on Gosuslugi (State Services). A multiple increase is expected in the coming years. An AI assistant designed for communication with management and resource-supplying organizations will expand its functionality and may be integrated with smart home systems.
The primary tool for interaction is the mobile application Gosuslugi Dom (State Services Home), where users can initiate homeowners’ meetings, pay bills, communicate in building chat groups and receive notifications about scheduled water shutoffs. A key social priority will be further simplification of benefits and subsidy applications through these digital channels.
Five Years Toward “Digital Maturity”
The Ministry’s current plans are a logical continuation of the policy direction established several years ago. From 2019 to 2021, digital services were actively developed under the national project Tsifrovaya Ekonomika (Digital Economy). These efforts continued under the national project Infrastruktura dlya Zhizni (Infrastructure for Life). Between 2022 and 2024, foundational GIS ZhKKH platforms were implemented to enable information exchange between property owners and management organizations. In 2025, the focus shifted to creating conditions for automated subsidy processing and monitoring of resource consumption.
Utilities of the Future: Transparency, AI and New Opportunities
Over the next two years, the government plans to unify digital utility platforms across all regions of the country. Priorities include exclusive use of Russian software, implementation of artificial intelligence technologies and strengthened information security measures.
If today AI assistants help process citizens’ inquiries, in the future such technologies may form the basis for managing entire cities. This will not only improve quality of life but also create opportunities for Russian digital solutions to enter foreign markets not as pilot projects, but as proven systems tested across a vast national infrastructure.
