The Cybersecurity section was moderated by Mikhail Anisimov from the Coordination Center for the TLD .RU/.РФ and was attended by Andrei Yarnykh from Kaspersky Lab, Sergei Zolotukhin from Group IB, Maarit Palovirta from ISOC, Bruce McConnell from EastWest Institute, Oleg Demidov, a consultant at PIR Center, and Sergei Petrenko from the University of Innopolis. The discussion centered on what was the most urgent and controversial subject last year or the attribution of and the hunt for people behind cyber attacks. The panellists believe that timely international cooperation on cybercrime data exchange, better coordination of tech specialists and internet regulation legal experts, and the development of big data and machine learning are all keys to resolving the issue of cyber security.
The European Agenda in Internet Governance section, moderated by Alexandra Kulikova from ICANN, brought together experts from various countries and organizations. Ms Kulikova reminded those in attendance that the panellists came from almost every corner of Eurasia and included scholars, state officials, and members of national and international organizations. On the panel were Vasily Dolmatov from the Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Media, Shen Yi from Fudan University, Vagan Ovsepyan from ISOC Armenia, Patrick Penninckx from the Council of Europe, Sergei Povalishev from Hoster.by, and Shavkat Sabirov from the Internet Association of Kazakhstan. The panel discussed opportunities for an integrated Eurasian agenda, the influence of the internet on society, cyber security issues and the spread of cyber weapons. Vasily Dolmatov spoke about a new UN Convention on a concept of safe internet functioning and development, which he said is nearly finished and is to be published soon. He said that it is important to avoid cyber warfare. “The world has experienced the use of real and dangerous weapons, which were banned afterwards. Let us hope that cyber weapons will be banned before they are used,” he said. Panelists also stressed that participation in internet governance is required at all levels, or according to Vagan Ovsepyan “if you do not govern the internet, others will govern you”.
The Innovations and New Internet Frontiers section was moderated by Mikhail Medrish from AKADO Telecom, and focused on new technology and its use. The section was attended by Maxim Antonenko from Noxa Data Lab, Roberto Gaetano from the Public Internet Registry, Gleb Pyzhov from the IoT Association, Alexei Semenyaka from RIPE NCC and Alberto Sillitti from the University of Innopolis. The idea that the IoT is the main driver of innovation was met with broad agreement, while opinions differed as to the nature of this innovation and tech development going forward. Gleb Pyzhov called the absence of standards a real stumbling block to the development of the IoT.
“The more universal the standards, the bigger the market. It is the standardization that brings more investment into the IoT,” he said speaking about single standard development in Russia and all over the world. Participants also concurred that a new economic model is needed to manage the IoT. Providers should become interested in transmitting small volumes of data, but this would create multiple data feeds. However, the central issue of the discussion centred on the consequences for humanity of the digital revolution, about which almost all experts share concern. The questions of whether innovation will benefit humanity, and whether the latter will be able to control the advance of technology remain unanswered.
Speakers at the E-Governance: Secrets behind Success section included Timur Zaripov, Ministry of Informatization and Communications of the Republic of Tatarstan, Nguyen Hong Thang from the Vietnam Internet Network Information Center (VNNIC), Chengetai Masango from the secretariat of the Global Internet Governance Forum, and head of the registry for the ZACR TLD Lucky Masilela. The experts concurred that e-government benefits the state first of all because it enables it to receive feedback from civil society, accelerates and raises citizens’ quality of life, while simultaneously stifling corruption.
The final plenary meeting of the RIGF 2017 consisted of speeches from all the moderators summarizing the results of their sections. Director of the Coordination Center for the TLD .RU/.РФ Andrey Vorobyev thanked all the participants, partners and information sponsors of the forum and invited them to join the event next year, which will be held on April 7, 2018.
