On December 20, 2016 at the Moscow Office of the World Bank the International Seminar “Digital Economy Concept, Trends and Visions: Towards a Future-Proof Strategy” took place.

Participants of the seminar discussed objectives and basic concepts of the digital economy, economic and social benefits of its development, the role of state in this development, as well as the potential risks and ways to reduce them.

The discussion was held with participation of the Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation Nikolai Nikiforov and the Minister of the Eurasian Economic Commission on the Internal Markets, Informatization and ICT Karine Minasyan, representatives of the World Bank, European Commission, Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning of the Republic of Korea, the major Russian universities as well as a number of independent experts and experts from Russian and foreign non-governmental organizations – the Analytical Center for the Government of the Russian Federation, the Institute of the Information Society, the Competence Center for E-government, the INSEAD, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (USA) etc.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation, minister Nikiforov noted the significant potential of the digital economy to foster economic development of the country and to improve quality of life of the citizens. He said that the idea of the digital economy development has been approved at the highest political level. The minister recalled the participants of the Seminar of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin's words that were uttered during the annual Message of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

The President proposed to “start a large-scale systemic program for development of a new technological generation economy, so-called “digital economy”, and in early December, 2016 Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev instructed the Government in pursuance of the list of orders of the President of the Russian Federation
№ 2346 dated December 5, 2016. According to paragraph 9 of the above, until May 11, 2017 the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation together with the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and Open Government with participation of the Expert Council under the Government of the Russian Federation, as well as Analytical Center for the Government of the Russian Federation” should develop and approve a “Digital Economy” program, envisaging measures to create a legal, technical, organizational and financial conditions for the development of the digital economy in Russia and its integration into the digital economy space of the Eurasian Economic Union Members States.

Active role in preparation and conducting of the Seminar was played by the Institute of the Information Society (IIS) and Analytical Center for the Government of the Russian Federation. Chairman of IIS Board of Directors Yuri Hohlov and Deputy Head of the Analytical Center for the Government of the Russian Federation Vassily Pushkin presented a summary of discussions on the development of the digital economy in Russia, held the day before with the participation of Russian experts.

In the course of the Seminar, foreign experts through teleconference shared their experience in elaborating and implementing the programs and projects on digital economy development in the Republic of Korea, the EU, the USA, UK and Australia, as well as answered questions from the Russian audience of the Seminar. In their turn, Russian experts have expressed their views in connection with the forthcoming development of the program “Digital Economy”.

Form the IIS side, along with Yuri Hohlov, Tatiana Ershova, Director General, Louisa Rizmanova Head of the International Cooperation and Public Relations Department and Alexander Katin, Analyst of the Directorate of Regional Programs took part in preparation of the event.