On May 28, 2026, the regular Firebird Conf 2026 took place in Moscow - an annual event for database management system (DBMS) specialists. More than 350 developers, database administrators, and technical specialists from various Russian cities participated in the event.

The conference was organized by RED SOFT with the support of several partners: "Meditsina IT", "Khi-Kvadrat", "Smart Delta Systems", iDSystems, and AMUR.

The conference was opened by Rustam Rustamov, Deputy General Director of RED SOFT, and Alexey Kovyazin, Vice President of the Firebird Foundation. Rustam Rustamov noted that RED SOFT has been involved in Firebird's development for 20 years: the company made its first contribution to the project in November 2006. According to him, throughout this time, there has been a steady demand for practical experience, engineering expertise, and open dialogue between developers and users of the technologies.

The Firebird Conf 2026 program was practice-oriented. Participants reviewed real-world cases and shared experiences in solving everyday tasks. Key topics included:

• automation of reporting preparation;
• developing applications on Flutter using Firebird;
• optimizing Firebird 5 performance;
• applying technologies in high-load ERP systems;
• implementing Firebird in Kubernetes.

A distinctive feature of the event was the diversity of the audience: the conference brought together experienced architects and developers, as well as students from relevant fields. One of the conference speakers was a student who presented a report on fault tolerance, monitoring, and DBMS operation in a microservice architecture.

RED SOFT experts presented the development of the RED Database ecosystem and discussed new tools for administration and monitoring. In particular, they showcased "RBD Monitor" – a tool for tracking database status. Its emergence is linked to the practical tasks that database administrators solve daily. According to Alexey Bekhtin, RED Database DBMS analyst and member of the Firebird Conf program committee: "In large infrastructures, it is important to quickly understand the system's status, identify potential problems before they affect users, and avoid spending time on manual data collection from various sources."

Dmitry Emanov, RED Database DBMS architect and Firebird team lead, emphasized that communication with partners, clients, and friends at the conference allows for a better understanding of which capabilities are in demand today and in which direction Firebird, RED Database, and the ecosystem of IT products based on them should be developed. "For the development team, this is one of the most important sources of feedback," he noted.

Conference partners also shared their experience using Firebird in corporate projects:

The company "Khi-Kvadrat" (low-code platform developer) spoke about building Oracle Apex/Forms solutions on RED Database and accelerating information system development. Konstantin Vashchenkov, the company's technical director, noted: "Firebird Conf gathers an audience deeply immersed in technology. This time, we presented our own Low Code system based on RED Database DBMS. For us, this is an opportunity to meet technical specialists and find new competencies for joint projects. That is why we regularly participate in the event."

JSC "SPMBM "Malakhit" presented its experience migrating an engineering information system from InterBase to RED Database. Alexey Loginov, the company's sector head, shared approaches that allowed for the safest possible transition.

"Smart Delta Systems" (developer of software products for medical institutions) emphasized the importance of data stability and security in medicine. According to CEO Alexey Chernousov: "For medical organizations today, the stability of digital services, data security, and independence from foreign technologies are critically important. Therefore, when developing our products (MIS Infoclinica/Infodent), we pay special attention to using domestic components and solutions that can operate in a high-load environment and provide long-term support. Firebird and RED Database have been a reliable technological basis for our medical information system for many years. Events like Firebird Conf allow us to see real-world applications of technologies and propose new development directions dictated by consumer needs in the medical field."

In addition to the presentations, participants could:

• pass official Firebird Foundation certification at the Firebird DBA Basic level;
• obtain vendor certification for RED Database administrators;
• participate in the "DBMS Express Tuning" competition: within 30 minutes, participants had to configure the DBMS for maximum performance.

Participants noted that Firebird Conf is becoming an increasingly popular platform for sharing experiences. According to Alexey Kovyazin, Vice President of the Firebird Foundation, the growing number of participants indicates increased interest in Firebird. Next year, the conference will celebrate its first anniversary – the fifth community meeting will be held in Moscow.

As Denis Simonov, system architect and author of Firebird's Russian-language documentation, emphasized, the strength of the community lies in its people: "Once, I came to the community as someone looking for answers to my questions. Today, I can share my experience and help other specialists."