Minister of Communications and Mass Media Nikolai Nikiforov opened the Fourth Russian Internet Governance Forum (RIGF). The forum is a platform for dialogue between representatives of the Government, business and civil society on developing the Internet, including Runet, and protecting its security. He pointed out that the rapid growth of Runet is one of the key factors in the development of Russia’s innovative economy.
Nikiforov recalled that in the past 10 years, Russia has become a major Internet power in a number of areas: “We are proud that today Russia leads Europe in the number of online users. We are registering positive dynamics in this respect. In the last few years we have seen rapid growth in broadband access, coverage of new areas with communication services, and high-speed mobile technology, primarily LTE. Russia occupies leading positions in the second-level national domains .ru and .rf in Europe and the rest of the world.”
Nikiforov spoke about the development of online trade, and called it a positive trend that is creating new business opportunities: “There are many countries where the share of online trade amounts to 10% of retail trade. Online entrepreneurs should be getting ready for this.”
The Russian Post should upgrade its infrastructure to a commodity distribution network as soon as possible. The Minister recalled that recently it has been unable to cope with the growing number of parcels, including those shipped from abroad: “This has created a tense situation in Moscow’s airports. We are taking extraordinary measures to overcome this bottleneck and are drafting a comprehensive programme for upgrading the Moscow Post.”
Nikiforov said that at the same time, Runet is a key factor in ensuring Russia’s innovation-based development, the growth of its economy and expansion of online government services. It is instrumental in enhancing Russia’s competitiveness in the world arena.
“Our task is to create a comfortable, favourable and safe online environment, to ensure competition in online business, and support small and medium-sized domestic Internet companies and startups,” Nikiforov said.
In conclusion, he expressed the hope that cooperation under the auspices of the forum will be productive and will help elaborate proposals for improving Runet’s governance and ensuring its further development.
