Photo: Yulia Fomkina
The buzzword “gamification” means presenting educational or marketing projects in a game format. In other words, it is the translation of complex terms and concepts into a form that is intuitively accessible even to schoolchildren. An excellent example of how this works was shown at the Eastern Economic Forum by a team consisting of the government of the Kamchatka Territory, the Interros group, the Institute of Strategic Communications and Social Projects and the Vulcanarium scientific center. They jointly developed the economic strategy “Interactive.RF”.
Take as an example the phrase “Comprehensive socio-economic development of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation.” Experienced officials understand the depth of meaning involved. But this set of words only bores the common man. And it’s a completely different matter when in front of you, in fact, there is a map of a specific game region (in our case, Kamchatka), divided into fields. On each field you can place one of 12 objects: it can be a tourist center, a residential complex, a container terminal, an airport, a construction plant, etc. Each of them, depending on their location on the map, provides the player with points in three areas: the economy, the mood of the citizens and the environment. But the most interesting thing is that every step counts. Objects interact with each other and can multiply or neutralize each other’s effects. For example, if you place a plant next to a mountain hotel, all the advantages for the mood of the citizens will disappear. Or another example: one can focus only on the environmental component, but then the economy of the region will collapse. Which, of course, is not a good thing either.
As this is a pilot project, at this stage the map provides users with an overall score for completing the interactive phase, as well as general recommendations for responsible businesses in the region. In the future, the platform will reflect specific indicators of the impact of each object on the well-being and ecology of the region.
For now, infrastructure facilities are evaluated using three key parameters and game points. It is planned to gradually increase the number of parameters, as well as measure them in specific applied quantities.
In fact, this is the good work of a competent regional leader or a large investor (i.e. “integrated development”): to balance all interests in such a way that economic benefits are obtained, citizen satisfaction increases and no forget about environmental risks. The idea is so simple in its genius that you can’t help but think: Hasn’t anyone thought of this before?
Photo: Yulia Fomkina
For now, this strategy will only be possible at the Vulcanarium museum, which operates in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. For this purpose, a special interactive room has been set up there. As the founder of the museum, Sergei Samoilenko, told reporters, this was done on purpose.
– We hope that the game will be of interest not only to tourists, but also to residents of the region, especially schoolchildren. And now it is important for us that the gameplay conforms to the comments of the curator, who can explain in detail why this or that decision led to the corresponding results,” said Sergei Samoilenko.
But of course this game has the potential to exist as a mobile app. And, of course, it can be applied not only to the territory of Kamchatka, but also in the future to all other regions of Russia, especially those that have rich natural potential.
For Interros, this project seems to be a logical continuation of the course towards the digitalization of various business areas (investments in the developer Reksoft and the platform for entrepreneurs Tochka). The company is a supporter of the digital economy and strives to use technologies, in particular blockchain, for the development of socially useful projects, such as assisting Russian museums in heritage preservation.
The idea has already been appreciated by the Russian government.
“This is a great way for people interested in the development of the region to see clearly what options are available, on the one hand, to create jobs and increase the tax base and at the same time ensure sustainable development, preserving a unique ecosystem. There is a monument in Kamchatka that says “Russia begins here.” And it seems to me that this project also begins great work that can be extended to many regions of our homeland,” Alexandr Zakondyrin, president of the Public Council under the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, noted during the presentation.
