On June 8, the online discussion, Information Culture of Digital Transformation, was held by the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ, Russian Association of Networks and Services (RANS) and the Moscow State Linguistic University (MSLU). The event marked the 10th anniversary of .РФ and the 90th anniversary of the university.
The roundtable participants discussed the issues of improving the efficiency of Russia’s participation in the activity of international organizations engaged in the development of technical standards and recommendations, including ICT (for instance, ITU, ISO, W3C, ICANN and others). Those taking part suggested they outline requirements for experts who represent the interests of the country in such organizations.
Sofia Zakharova from the Presidential Executive Office spoke about Russia’s strategic goals regarding international cooperation. She pointed out that one of the key objectives is to provide an international technological breakthrough and the participation of Russia in the development of the international ICT sector as an equal partner. She also spoke about the need to ensure the digital sovereignty of the country, that is, a stable and secure development of Russian technological solutions and platforms and the maintaining of their competitiveness on the global market. It is also important to create conditions for ensuring that all countries have equal rights in governing the critical infrastructure of the net. The achievement of these objectives depends on the workforce capacity of the ICT sector.
“At the same time, we need to acknowledge that Russia, even being famous for its ICT experts, is underrepresented in relevant international organizations. There are several reasons for that,” Sofia Zakharova commented, “First, we lack knowledge about the activity of international organizations, as well as understanding how prestigious it is to work for them. All this results in a lack of motivation to take part in their events. Also, there is no professional training, and the personnel pool is scarce.”
Andrei Ivashko from the Russian Security Service Center believes that the cross-border nature of information and communication technologies, as well as the appearance of an integrated information environment whose security is provided in accordance with some common rules will facilitate international cooperation in standardization. This, in turn, can help build trust of users at various levels. Andrei Ivashko noted that participating in international work on standardization should be experts with all-around skills, who have knowledge of information protection, national and international laws, foreign languages, and who can take part in discussions and act in unusual situations.
According to the roundtable participants, a package of measures aimed at training and additional training of experts can alter the dynamics. The measures should include the creation of a national system of personnel training in ICT, implementation of special educational programs in universities, involvement of skilled teachers, including those who have worked in international organizations, as well as the creation of an integrated job pool and organization of internships in international agencies.
Experts working in international organizations must also have diplomatic skills. One of the platforms for training experts to work in international organizations should be the RANS department, Information Culture of Digital Transformation, at the Moscow State Linguistic University, which will open next academic year. “This is a professional master’s program to train experts to present innovative projects and Russian-made solutions on the international market, as well as to take part in the international division of labor,” said Moscow State Linguistic University Rector Irina Krayeva. “In the future, we plan to launch relevant additional bachelor’s degree programs as well.”
Another project that will facilitate the training of young specialists in telecommunications, including in international cooperation, was presented by Yelena Pravidlo from RANS and Timofei Cherstvov from the Competence Center for Information and Telecommunications Networks. It is a standard Russian-developed module for studying internet technologies and security in ICT, which includes a study guide and laboratory practice. The software and hardware system – which uses Russian-made technology only – is deployed at the Technologies of Electronic Data Exchange Department at the Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics.
The module was developed by the Competence Center for Information and Telecommunications Networks with the support of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ. In addition to this project, the Coordination Center is also implementing several youth initiatives aimed at increasing interest in taking part in the activity of international organizations.
“In August, we’ll launch the summer school on internet governance; invited are university students, postgraduate students, young researchers and teachers. Participants will discuss the basic principles of the operation of the internet, as well as governance at global and local levels,” said Andrey Vorobyev, Director of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ. “This fall, we plan to hold Russia’s first youth forum on internet governance, (Youth RIGF 2020), which will become an open platform for discussing internet development prospects and forming a sustainable internet community with young people. It will focus, in part, on the use of artificial intelligence for dealing with business and state tasks, as well as for maintaining cultural and linguistic diversity on the net.”
Coordination Center Press Secretary Viktoria Bunchuk spoke about other educational projects of the center, aimed at improving the digital competences of students and young experts. She presented the DOT Journalism competition for professional and beginner journalists, the IP&IT LAW competition on legal aspects of information technologies and intellectual property, and also spoke about the activity of the Coordination Center’s Youth Council, whose tasks include, in particular, raising young people’s interest in ICT knowledge, internet governance and representing the interests of the younger generation at international level.
The discussion was also attended by Alexander Sumbatyan (Russia’s permanent representative office in Geneva), Alexei Goreslavsky (autonomous non-profit organization Dialog), Igor Milashevsky (GLONASS), Arkady Kremer and Alexander Ivanyuk (RANS).
