On June 27-30, 2017 in Ulyanovsk the 6^th General Assembly of the World Smart Sustainable Cities (WeGO), in which the President of WeGO, Mayor of Seoul Mr. Won-Soon Park, Governor of the Ulyanovsk Region Mr. Sergey Morozov, as well as about 400 representatives from 110 cities around the world. From the Institute of the Information Society (IIS), the Chairman of the Board of Directors Dr. Yuri Hohlov and the Director General Tatiana Ershova took part in the Assembly.

In the course of the round table held on June 29, 2017 the participants of the Assembly discussed the concept of the introduction of digital technologies in the Ulyanovsk Region “Smart Region”, presented by Governor Morozov. The draft concept identifies key areas of work, including “Smart Healthcare”, “Smart Education”, “Smart Buildings”, “Smart Transport”, “Smart Energy”, “Smart Culture” and “Green Region”.

WeGO President Mr. Park praised draft concept “Smart Region” of the Ulyanovsk Region and noted that the document is aimed at improving the life of the population. Appraisal of the project, calculated before 2030, was also given by mayors of other cities, in which Smart City programs are already being implemented.

The relevance and integrity of the draft regional concept was marked by Dr. Yuri Hohlov in the course of the round table. In his speech he said: “It we'll be found out whether the concept is successful or not when it is implemented. However, taking into consideration the way it is formulated and how it reflected modern trends, you can surely hope for success. Ulyanovsk Region is the first region that has developed such a document, and that is very commendable. It is consistent with the conceptual framework of “Smart Cities”, “Smart Region” development, which is discussed at the General Assembly of WeGO, and at the same time it corresponds to the program “Digital Economy” that has been developed in Russia and, I hope, will be approved on July 5, 2017 at the meeting of the Council of the Russian Federation for Strategic Development and Priority Projects under the President of the Russian Federation. It is extremely important that the part of the national programme for the Ulyanovsk Region will also be implemented and the region will move to the digital economy development in the next six years."

Earlier, at the meeting of the General Assembly, Governor Morozov noted that the cities of the Ulyanovsk Region will apply for the assignment of a pilot status in the implementation of the Digital Economy program for the next three years. It is planned that by the end of August areas at the federal level, in which “Smart City" technologies will be proven by 2020, will be identified.

Similar practices have already been partially implemented in the Ulyanovsk Region. For example, regional medical information system accumulating millions of records from public clinics was put in operation. For several years residents of the Ulyanovsk Region have been registering in online polyclinics. Electronic sick-leave certificates will be launched in the near future. Moreover, the Ulyanovsk Region is already attracting investments in the digital economy development, particularly in the production of “Smart City” solutions. A wind farm is being built in the region and smart lights will be manufactured.

Experience of the Ulyanovsk Region and other Russian regions was discussed at special session “Smart Cities and Russian Regions” held on June 29, 2017, which was moderated by Dr. Yuri Hohlov.

Following the outcomes of their visit to the region, the WeGo leaders accepted the signed agreement on the organization of the General Assembly from the government of the region and announced that Ulyanovsk had been elected Vice-President of WeGO until 2020. The government of the region is confident that the participation of the region in WeGo and in organizing the General Assembly in Ulyanovsk will help the region to shorten the path to the introduction of high technologies and the implementation of “Smart Region” priority project.

WeGO (Word Smart Sustainable Cities Organization) is a worldwide organization that unites the city governments of the world interested in improving the quality of life of their citizens by the use of information technologies. WeGO Headquarters is located in Seoul. Today its global network includes 115 cities in Asia, America, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Russia is represented in the organization by two cities - Ulyanovsk and Vladivostok. The Ulyanovsk Region cooperates with the WеGo since 2010. In 2013 the Ulyanovsk Region was elected to become the European Office of the organization.