OREANDA-NEWS. May 14, 2010. The main subject of discussion was the progress achieved in implementing projects in the field of telecommunications and information technologies, in particular the development in Russia of digital broadcasting, the provision of high-speed broadband Internet access, and the development of telemedicine.

President Medvedev noted that the level of information technology development in Russia will determine the effectiveness of resolving such difficult tasks as rescue operations, energy conservation, and functioning of the e-government, while the extent to which information technology is spread will ultimately determine the living standards in Russia.

The President talked about the need to promote domestic IT products on world markets, specifying that Russia needs to elaborate a concept for telecommunications and IT technology development, engaging leading companies in that sector, universities, and the Russian Academy of Sciences.  Implementation of the projects should involve using competitive Russian equipment and the most advanced space and telecommunication technologies. There is also a need to look into ways to ensure sustainable funding of the sector’s development and work on attracting private capital, Dmitry Medvedev added.

The President informed the meeting participants about the launch of Russia’s national Cyrillic domain "рф" and noted that the Russian president and government’s web-sites, already available in that domain, were the first to get the new addresses. Russia became the first country to get a national top-level domain in non-Latin characters.

Minister of Telecommunications and Mass Communications Igor Shchegolev and CEO of AFK Sistema Vladimir Yevtushenkov also spoke at the meeting.

The next meeting of the Commission will take place on the sidelines of the St Petersburg Economic Forum scheduled for June 17–19.