MOSCOW. July 23 (Interfax) - The Voskhod Scientific Research Institute is developing an information system that will allow the Russian National Guard to monitor all weapons in civilian circulation and coordinate guard services, the Kommersant newspaper said on Thursday.
"By the end of 2020, the Voskhod Scientific Research Institute will complete development of an information system for the Russian National Guard to monitor weapons circulation and coordinate guard services, according to data available on the state procurements website. The agency split the order into two lots: Voskhod has already completed work on the first one and received the second part on July 9. Their total cost is 540 million rubles," Kommersant said.
According to the project's schedule, preliminary trials of the new platform have been scheduled for the end of November. However, Voskhod, the Russian National Guard, and the Kalashnikov group of companies did not respond to the newspaper's request for comment. In accordance with the tender documents shared with the newspaper, the new information system will consist of an internal portal for Russian National Guard employees and an external one for arms producers, customers, and traders.
Weapons enterprises and stores, shooting clubs, and private security firms will receive access to the unified database of registered weapons, thus enabling them to automatically keep track of each weapon from the point of its production at a plant and until it reaches the user. For instance, when a hunting rifle is purchased at an arms store, the Russian National Guard will automatically receive all information about the buyer and, subsequently, information on the cartridges purchased by him, Kommersant said.
Additionally, the digital platform will enable citizens to receive a permit to buy and possess weapons by submitting the relevant application through the new portal. Weapons holders are expected to receive a unified plastic card and access to a mobile application on iOS and Android, according to the newspaper. The Russian National Guard, in turn, believes that this new technology will exclude the use of fake permits, for instance, forged licenses or medical certificates.
The information available to Kommersant indicates that another objective of the new platform is to automate the Russian National Guard's work related to guard services. For instance, the technical documents accompanying the 'Operative Control' module indicate that on-duty officers will be able to monitor detention operation groups online and coordinate their movements.
Civilian holders of weapons interviewed by the newspaper have positively assessed the new platform, but information security specialists say they fear there could be possible data breach risks, Kommersant said.