Training of Specialists for Manufacturing Enterprises Using Digital Technologies: Limitations and Overcomes

The introduction of digital technologies into the activities of manufacturing enterprises, which serve as the basis of the fourth industrial revolution and the sixth technological order, transforms the processes that underlie the formation of enterprise costs. When implementing educational programs in universities to train economists for manufacturing enterprises, it is necessary to use digital technologies. Higher education institutions have limitations that prevent the widespread use of digital technologies for student learning. The first limitation is financial that occurs due to the high cost of digital technologies. The creation of industrial departments or joint laboratories with a partner manufacturing enterprise allow overcoming this limitation. When the material and technical base of the university and the industrial partner enterprise are combined, providing software (digital content) to the university by the industrial (strategic) partner—the enterprise or a group of such enterprises on the terms of acquisition of the necessary equipment will be decided by the organization of higher education independently. Other options that satisfy all aspects of interaction are also possible. The second limitation is personnel. It is connected, first of all, with the age structure of the teaching staff of Russian universities, in which almost 30% are people over 60 years old, who, according to statistics, have a low level of digital skills. This limitation can be overcome through teacher training at the expense of universities (which for many organizations is an obstacle) or on a gratuitous basis.