In a bid to reduce reliance on foreign software, the Russian government is in the processing of developing an inhouse solution for mobile: a mobile operating system. This is informed by its need to not only just control its citizen’s data but also monitor it and keep it away from the prying eyes of foreign entities like the American NSA.
According to the Ministry of Communication in Russia, foreign mobile operating systems like Android and iOS account for over 95%. The ministry hopes to cut that to at least 50% by the year 2025. Russia is partnering with Jolla, the makers of Sailfish OS for the endeavour and hope to rope in other BRIC nations like South Africa, Brazil, India and China.
Russia is not alone. Last year, China unveiled its own COS (China Mobile Operating System) with aims similar to Russia’s. Like Russia, the likes of iOS and Android are dominant. iPhone demand is at an all time high in China and homegrown companies like Huawei, Lenovo, ZTE and Xiaomi are actually doing well with modified versions of Android.
