Active development of strategies and programs of national, regional and urban development in global Information Society has started in early 90-ies. In the recent years Russian Federation (federal target programs eRussia and Development of Integrated Information Environment for Education and other programs, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Republic of Karelia, Kaliningrad and Moscow regions, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area - Yugra and other subjects of federation have joined this process. At the same time targeted and efficient involvement of Russian regions in the processes of the Information Society development is still an urgent problem.

Thus, Republic of Tatarstan has a vast potential for socio-economic development and can be a leading region in the sphere of Information Society. At the same time according to the rating of 2004-2005 drafted by the Institute of the Information Society with support of the Russian Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications, Republic of Tatarstan ranks 42^nd from the point of view of ICT for development, 25^th from the point of view of main factors of e-Development - ICT infrastructure, human capital and business climate for the use of ICT, and obtains final 35^th position among Russian regions.

To discuss problems and outlooks for e-Development in Tatarstan, the Ministry of Informatization and Communications of the RT together with PRIOR coordinating organization - Institute of the Information Society and Chebotarev Research Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics, Kazan State University organized e-Government seminar, which took place on 8 November 2005. The event was attended by 40 representatives of republican and urban authorities, research institutions and private sector.

The seminar was conducted by Ilgiz Azizov, Deputy Minister of Informatization and Communications of the RT.

IIS representatives presented reports outlining crucial aspects of the Information Society development in the Russian regions and in Republic of Tatarstan:

• Leading e-Region: Success Elements - Tatiana Ershova, General Director and Head of PRIOR Directorate, Institute of the Information Society (PDF, 423 Kb, in Russian). The report outlines the main tendencies and factors of Information Society and Knowledge Economy development strategy or program; describes necessary stages of implementation of such strategies; represents some data concerning Index of Russian Regions' e-Readiness, developed in 2005 by Directorate for Information Society Monitoring under the supervision of Sergei Shaposhnik  with support of the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation.
• e-Government Services - Alexander Yevtiushkin, Head of Directorate of Innovation and Investment Projects, Institute of the Information Society (PDF, 183 Kb, in Russian). The report presents an expert point of view on the notion "e-Government"; describes main e-Government services and levels of government services development with the use of ICT; defines possibilities of ICTs to improve the level of public administration; briefly analyses regulatory and legal framework for development of e-Government in Russia and its regions and conditions for successful introduction of e-Government services.
• InfoCity Project: Services for Citizens - Yuri Hohlov, Chairman of the Board, Institute of the Information Society (PDF, 1.3 Mb, in Russian). The report illustrates possibilities to provide public services in terms of Infograd project - a project of city target program e-Moscow. It describes the Project aims and objectives, architecture and technologies of the portal, which enables online services required by the citizens, as well as the structure of the Project's business model.

In the course of animated discussion the participants showed great interest to cooperation in the sphere of Information Society development in the Republic of Tatarstan.

After the seminar IIS representatives met Farit Fazylzyanov, Minister of Informatization and Communications of the RT; Deputy Ministers Ilgiz Azizov and Yuri Bagrov and Professor Alexander Elizarov, Director of Chebotarev Research Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics, Kazan State University. They discussed possibilities for IIS and its partners to participate in the projects contributing to the development of e-Government services in the Republic of Tatarstan.