Newsroom

Moscow Internet Conferece

February 2002

Conference Background
The Internet and its surrounding technologies are developing rapidly across Russia. The country is at a crossroads as policymakers contemplate how to regulate this powerful medium. While there are vast commercial, educational, and societal benefits to the Internet, there are legitimate concerns regarding the privacy and security of Russia's government and its citizens.

With more than three decades of program administration experience in Russia and over 10 years of international Internet development work, IREX has a unique perspective on this topic. Recognizing the potential of an open dialogue regarding Internet technology policymaking, IREX organized the international conference "Russia in the Internet Age: Balancing Freedom and Regulation."

About the Conference
The conference was held in Moscow on February 18-19, 2002, in partnership with the State Duma of the Russian Federation and Russia's Union of Internet Operators. The goal was to facilitate discussion between Russian and US Internet policymakers and stakeholders.

The conference focused on four areas:

Access to information and the digital divide
E-commerce
Intellectual property rights and privacy
Individual rights and information security

Conference Speakers and Participants
Conference speakers included a delegation of seven Members of the US House of Representatives; high-ranking members of the Russian government; IT business and NGO leaders; representatives of security divisions within the Russian and US governments; as well as other key members of the Internet technology community. In total, the conference included over 150 participants.

Conclusions and Recommendations
From the many opinions offered, the following recommendations were made to the Russian government:

Avoid over-regulation of the Internet
Establish a partnership between the private and public sectors
Facilitate e-commerce
Invest in infrastructure
Establish a transparent, model government

Amidst these views there were of course divergent opinions regarding the current state of the Russian Internet technologies market, the rights of individuals and institutions, and the best strategies for ensuring security while protecting freedoms. These debates provided a wealth of information on the varying experiences and perspectives of different organizations, individuals, and governments who have faced the same problems under different circumstances.

In the end, the consensus was that Russia faces many specific technical, legal, and cultural challenges to the successful development of an online society. However wary progress is being made, and the establishment of an Internet-literate nation is an achievable but distant goal.

The Future
This conference was an initial, important step in developing an ongoing evaluation process and a continuing, open dialogue among all parties involved with and interested in Russia's progression into the global Internet age. The conference participants universally expressed a desire to attain a summary of conference conclusions and to maintain and advance Internet--related communication--evidence that the concern and capability exist to further this cooperative effort. IREX will continue its role as international program administrator, fostering open communication and increasing the level of knowledge among citizens and policymakers.

For more information please read the full conference report (PDF - 793 KB).

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