Training Equals Mining
Industrial projects of the near future are becoming living digital organisms. Even before construction begins, facilities can be virtually experienced through to their scheduled repairs decades later. This challenge was addressed in a large-scale educational initiative by Rosneft, where more than 600 company specialists underwent specialized 3D modeling training at the Ufa Scientific Institute in the first half of 2025.
Learning as a Strategic Asset
In today’s industrial landscape, training is acquiring a completely new status. It is no longer confined to HR recruiters or basic personnel ranking. For capital-intensive sectors such as oil and gas, training is a direct route to substantial cost savings and enhanced safety.
An error by a designer on paper can result in billion-dollar losses and serious risks at a real facility. Building Information Modeling (BIM) catches such mistakes at the virtual prototype stage, ensuring the creation of an integrated information model that covers multiple aspects of a facility. Training hundreds of engineers to create and edit these digital twins is an investment not in checkboxes but in the resilience of every pipeline and processing unit.
The last five years show a conscious path to this result: from pilot BIM deployments and partnerships with universities to accelerated digitalization spurred by the pandemic. The company methodically cultivated these competencies internally.
IT Focus on Sovereignty
Training more than 600 engineers in just six months is an impressive pace of development for the industry. The competencies of these specialists directly affect project quality and implementation speed, while also reducing reliance on foreign experts. Russia is cultivating its own reliable talent capable of working with both domestic and imported software. The ability to create and manage complex digital models has become a prerequisite for technological autonomy.
Although the export potential of these training programs is only beginning to form, the benefits are already tangible. Safety and efficiency in oil and gas construction are rising, with positive impacts on ecology and uninterrupted energy supplies. High-tech, well-paid jobs requiring creative engineering skills are being created. Specialists now have the chance to work at the forefront of technology without leaving the country. This is building a pool of top-tier experts and strengthening design infrastructure—critical for implementing large-scale national projects, from roads to Arctic development.
Ufa as a Training Hub
The Ufa Corporate Scientific Institute is one of Russia’s leaders in 3D design. More than 2,500 people train annually at Rosneft’s Ufa Training Center, which has hundreds of industrial projects under its belt, all created with information modeling technologies. The digital approach is also used in reconstruction and technical re-equipment of facilities.
This year, the center introduced a new program for TIM managers—specialists who oversee the creation and development of information models for capital construction projects. Information modeling is built in line with the organization’s resources, standards, and business processes.
The main forecast for the industry is further integration. The digital twin will no longer be just an attractive 3D project model. It will evolve into a single source of reliable information throughout the facility’s lifecycle—from design and construction to operation and decommissioning.
Educational programs such as Rosneft’s initiative will form the foundation of a technologically independent and competitive Russian industry. In a world where the key resource is not oil but data and expertise, training itself becomes the primary deposit to be mined.
