|
IIS was created during the crisis of August’98 and appeared as independent research and service organization initiated by courageous people - distinguished specialists in the sphere of information technologies, telecommunications and information policy. The Institute received its registration certificate on 7 September 1998.
At that time the idea of developing the Information Society was met by bewilderment and incredulity by the majority, whereas now - and this is largely our merit - the idea is so popular that we even face competition :), which we are glad to witness.
Our Institute has evolved into a dynamic and sustainable organization, which gained the market reputation of a reliable and professional team of associates.
We are Whynotters
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a first step”. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained”. These sayings are about us.
We are the pioneers who do not stop when faced with difficulties and challenges. We dream of a better future and turn it into a worthwhile present. We did it for ourselves, and we can do it for you.
We are open to the whole world, but we choose to live in Russia. Our aspiration is to make Russia a country where our children, our fellow citizens and even people from “prosperous” countries would like to live. This would be a country that would make a better world.
We intend to achieve this together with our clients whom we consider to be our partners.
We are the Leaders
The Information Society for us is not about robots - this is a society of empowered people, who are talented and successfully self-actualizing; information and communication technologies in capable hands are a useful and easily tunable instrument, and not an end-goal or a panacea.
Our mission is to help make the correct choice of the development goals and directions. We propose well thought-out rational solutions because we assume responsibility to our partners and clients for the outcomes of the choices made.
Institute’s Services
The Institute engages in analytical, scientific and research, and consulting activity; socio-economic and scientific and technical forecast; expertise, development and implementation of the draft legislation and regulatory acts, target programs, innovative and investment projects; provision of information services related to the Information Society and Knowledge Economy development problems.
Major Mileposts
The Institute of the Information Society (IIS) is an independent research and service organization, which was established on September 7, 1998 by the initiative of the prominent specialists in the sphere of the information technologies, telecommunications and information policy. IIS has evolved into a dynamic and sustainable organization, which gained the market reputation of a reliable and professional team of associates.
Policy Development
The IIS treasured collection includes: developing the concept of Moscow’s advancement towards the Information Society (approved on July 20, 2001) and the comprehensive program of Moscow’s advancement to the Information Society (city target program e-Moscow, approved on May 13, 2003); preparing the draft proposals of the e-development strategies for the Kaliningrad, Novgorod, Perm, Tula, Chelyabinsk regions and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area - Yugra (2004).
Analytical Activity and Research
IIS regularly monitors the Information Society development in Russia using the methodology based upon the international experience and taking into account the specifics of our country and its regions. The major results of these efforts include: Russia e-Readiness and e-Needs Assessment (2001) and Russia ICT Infrastructure and e-Readiness Assessment (2004) - the analytical reports completed with the support of the World Bank’s infoDev program, and Russian Regions e-Readiness Assessment - section of the report prepared as part of the federal eRussia Program administered by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (2003). Since 2003 the IIS works on developing the monitoring system of Moscow’s advancement towards the Information Society as part of the e-Moscow Program.
The task of creating a full-fledged methodology for monitoring the Information Society development has not been resolved either on the global level or in Russia. The work done by the IIS as part of the e-Moscow Program represents pioneer efforts.
IIS developed the concept of the contest “Best Region in the ICT field” of the federal eRussia Program as well as the methodology of winner selection, contest nominations, criteria for evaluating regions, and questionnaires for assessing the regional e-development levels.
Legislative Activity
IIS works in close collaboration with the Moscow City Duma Public Expert Council on the Information Society Development. The outcome of this cooperation was development of the City of Moscow’s laws “About Information Resources and Informatization of Moscow” (adopted on October 24, 2001) and “About Guarantees of Information Availability regarding the Work of Moscow Municipal Governmental Authorities” (adopted on March 31, 2004).
Publishing Activity
IIS publishes the international information and analytical journal entitled Information Society, scientific e-journal Russian Digital Libraries, publication series Moscow and the Information Society, and United Nations ICT Taskforce Europe and Central Asia Regional Network Publications.
Digital Libraries
IIS completed the LibWeb project of the network integration of the electronic information resources of the leading Russian libraries and information centers in 1998-2003 with the support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, Russian Ministry of Science and Technology and Russian Foundation for Humanities.
Since 1998 and up to the present time, the Elbib project is underway, which provides information and scientific and methodological support of the projects directed at establishing and using the Russian digital libraries with the financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.
Information System Development
In 1998 the IIS initiated the development of the Moscow Infocity project, which strove to facilitate the public accessibility of the information resources and services for the city residents. Starting in 2003 this project continues as a separate program event of the e-Moscow Program.
In 2002 the IIS developed the concept of the specialized information system entitled Government Portal, which was created by the request of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade as part of the federal eRussia Program (chief executor - Information Business Systems, Ltd. company).
In 2004-2005 the IIS took part in developing the Comprehensive Automated Information System “Development-2”, which was intended for the complex analytical support of the supervisors’ and specialists’ work in the Moscow Department of Economic Policy and Development (chief executor - Moscow Scientific and Research Institute of Information Technologies), as well as participated in developing the technical task and technical-economic rationalization for establishing the Unified Cultural Information System in Moscow (chief executor - Moscow Telecommunications Corporation).
Organizing Events
The Institute has (co)organized over 70 events of the regional, national, and international level in collaboration with the federal and regional governmental authorities as well as the Russian, foreign, and international organizations. These included the series of Information Society Technologies conferences (1998-2001); the international conference International Conference "Partnership Networks as the Tools of Information Society and Knowledge Economy Development" (2002); UNESCO between the Two Phases of the World Summit on the Information Society (2005), and many others.
We Work with the Regions
Living in the country with the largest territory comprised of the regions substantially different in terms of their size, geographic conditions, economic, cultural and historic specifics, we fully recognize the enormous potential for creative work. We offer our knowledge, skills, and experience to the Russian regions for resolving development tasks.
Russian e-Development Partnership
One of the major tasks of the IIS is to open digital opportunities to the Russian regions and support their full-fledged development within the emerging Information Society and Knowledge Economy. In November 2001, the IIS initiated establishment of the multi-stakeholder partnership for developing the Information Society in Russia - Russian e-Development Partnership. Owing to the Institute’s coordination efforts, almost three hundred organizations and individuals in one-third (29 out of 89) of the Russian regions joined the collaborative process over the last several years.
Russia Development Gateway Network
In 2003 the pilot segment of the Russia Development Gateway Network was created with the support of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. The Network’s key component is the Russia Development Gateway, which was initiated in 2001 with the support of the World Bank’s infoDev program. The Network currently develops with the support of the Development Gateway Foundation and the governments of the Cities of Moscow and Saint Petersburg; Kaliningrad, Novgorod, Perm, and Tula regions; and Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area - Yugra.
Regional e-Governments
In 2004 the Institute developed the architecture of the e-Moscow Metasystem intended for providing information services to the governmental authorities, businesses and citizens. The IIS also participated in developing the concept of the regional information and analytical system of Perm Region for 2005-2007 (adopted by the Perm regional administration in 2004).
In 2005 the IIS started developing the e-government architecture for the Republic of Mordovia as well as the concepts of the Republic’s e-government platform and action plan for its implementation.
International Collaboration
The Institute actively collaborates with international organizations and is engaged in a number of international initiatives. The Institute’s partners include several international organizations; together they have completed a number of important projects and organized several international events.
Participation in the Work of International Associations
The Institute actively participates in the activity of a number of international organizations aimed at facilitating the Information Society development. These organizations include the Central and Eastern European Networking Association (CEENet, 1998-present), International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA, 1998-2001), Global Knowledge Partnership (GDP, 2000-present); Technology Empowerment Network (TEN, 2001-present), Global Development Network (GDN, 2001-present).
Participation in International Initiatives
The Institute also participated and/or continues to contribute to the implementation of several international initiatives, which support the use of ICT for full-fledged development, in particular, the Global Bangemann Challenge, Stockholm Challenge, Global Junior Challenge, DELOS Network of Excellence for Digital Libraries; The G8 Digital Opportunity Task Force (DOT Taskforce); Development Gateway; UN ICT Task Force (IIS supported the functioning of the Moscow Secretariat of the Regional Network of the UN Information and Communication Technologies Task Force Europe and Central Asia Network [UN ICT TF EuCAs] in 2002-2005).
Our Partners and Clients
IIS participated in completing the requests of the federal (Russian Ministry of Communications and Informatization, Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Russian Ministry of Culture, Federal Agency of Culture and Cinematography) and regional (Moscow City Duma, Government of Moscow, Administration of Perm region, and Government of Mordovian Republic) governmental authorities, federal scientific foundations (Russian Foundation for Basic Research and Russian Foundation for Humanities). The IIS partners and clients also include large commercial companies, universities, research institutes, nonprofit organizations, foreign and international structures and representations (The British Council, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, World Bank Institute, Global Knowledge Partnership, UN Economic Commission for Europe, UN Information Center in Moscow, and Development Gateway Foundation). |
