On March 29, TASS hosted a news conference on the upcoming Russian Internet Forum, RIF 2023. The forum will take place on May 24-26 and, as per tradition, will become a platform for bringing together specialists and owners of high-tech businesses, and having a dialogue with the government. The forum is organized by RAEC and held with the support of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media. The Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ has once again become the forum’s organizational partner, like in previous years, and will host its events.
The organizers presented the RIF 2023 concept and main topics, and participating companies shared the events and activities they are preparing as part of the forum’s business and festival program.
RAEC Director Sergei Grebennikov spoke about the focus of RIF 2023: “The key topic is building a technological future. This future is impossible without high-quality internet services, ecosystems, IT companies and innovations. But the main thing is that it is impossible without IT and digital specialists, and I am sure that we have the best ones in the world. And we gather them all at the RIF site on May 24-26.”
The Digital Economy non-profit will also act as a co-organizer of the forum.
“For us, RIF is a strategically important platform that produces concepts, hypotheses and ideas, which are further developed by the founders and us, and which we implement at the following major industry events such as CIPR and SPIEF, where we will hold a traditional IT breakfast. We understand that all our digital achievements are impossible without people. Hence, we, Digital Economy, are planning to launch a large personnel track at RIF. We will hold an E+personnel conference as part of RIF: we will work on the topic all day long and, as a result, we will develop an industry position/proposals. We will participate in the career lounge, which will involve our experts and founders,” General Director of Digital Economy Sergey Plugotarenko says.
The growth of any Runet segment does not only mean additional resources for the economy but also emerging risks and threats. Irina Pyzhova, head of the CCTLD press service, talked about the dangers of Runet:
“I will be cautiously optimistic in noting positive trends in the development of the Russian domain space: in February, Russian ccTLDs showed active growth. .RU added 19,786 domains, and .РФ 4,633 domains; .SU, .ДЕТИ, and .TATAR also saw growth. At the end of the month, .RU entered the top three world leaders in terms of growth among ccTLDs. Import substitution is one of the growth drivers; it has finally reached the domain market. In today’s circumstances, it is easier for Russian users to use Russian rather than foreign domains, and foreign social media leaving the Russian market also influenced this. Another reason for the growth is the stronger security in the domain space and the active fight against phishing, which has a positive effect on user confidence in Russian domain zones.”
Irina Pyzhova also spoke about the issues that the participants of the domain section, traditionally held by the Coordination Center, would discuss. She noted that the focus would be on domain market trends, cybersecurity issues and the future of domains in light of the launch of the second phase of the New gTLD program. She recalled that 2023 marks the 100th birthday of academician Viktor Glushkov, an outstanding Soviet mathematician and cybernetics expert. Those who personally knew him will gather in the Coordination Center’s tent. There will also be a quiz on the development of domestic IT technologies during the Soviet period.
The Russian Internet Forum not only focuses on knowledge and experience, but also has a rich festival program. Maria Zakharevskaya, CEO and Founder of FRIENDS EVENTS, presented the highlights of this year’s festival forum: “On the first night, the Bravo band will perform on the main stage. On May 25, we are looking forward to the performer Linda, and on the third day, we will conclude the festival with Otpetye Moshenniki’s songs. Do not leave RIF in a hurry this year, as on May 26, a full evening program awaits participants.”
Sergei Grebennikov, RAEC Director, also spoke about the Domestic Software Walkway. It is an exhibition area with stands for demonstrating new services and analogues of foreign services created by domestic developers. Large companies’ projects that will help ensure Russia’s technological leadership will also be on display. Import substitution, which is inevitable, combined with financial support from the state, should result in the emergence of new Russian digital services in the coming years that will become a worthy replacement for foreign solutions.
As part of the news conference, RAEC and Digital Economy signed a cooperation agreement.
The recording of the live stream can be found in the official community of the TASS Press Center on VKontakte.
The presentation can be found here.
The Russian Internet Forum will be held on May 24-26 at the Lesnye Dali boarding house. Read more and register: https://rif.ru/
