On 29 November 2005 the House of Government of the Leningrad region held a working seminar. The seminar participants discussed problems of the Information Society development in that promising Russian region. 

IIS representatives - Chairman of the Board of Directors Yuri Hohlov, General Director Tatiana Ershova,  and Head of Directorate of Innovative and Investment Projects Alexander Yevtiushkin - made presentation on behalf of the Institute. They outlined the main results of the World Summit on the Information Society and participation therein of Russian representatives, and briefed on the e-Development programs of the Russian regions elaborated and implemented with participation of the Institute.

Nikolay Semenyuta, Deputy Chairman of Committee on Information Policy and Telecommunications of the Administration of Leningrad Region, Valentin Chmil, Head of Department of the Committee of Economic Development of the Administration of Leningrad Region, Andrey Danilov, Expert of Committee on Information Policy and Telecommunications, and Andrey Zinchenko, Deputy Director General of OJSC “Lenkomservice”, represented public authorities at the seminar. The seminar was also attended by representatives of Committee on Culture and Committee of Finances of the Administration of Leningrad region, Alexander Badenko, Director General of the Laboratory of Macroeconomic Research, Petr Grinfeld, Director General of Altsoft company, and representatives of local authorities of Luga and Kirishi districts and Sosnovy Bor town.

They informed the participants on their participation in the regional target program “e-Leningrad Region” and their vision of its ongoing implementation. Among primary tasks they mentioned making the sphere of informatization attractive for investments rather than resource-consuming; creating a regulatory and legal framework in the region that would be adequate for the Information Society; developing public access centers; determining and implementing priority ICT-based services to citizens, such as e-Leaning, e-Health, access to socially relevant and cultural information and others.

The seminar participants established working contacts and expressed willingness to actively develop them.