Forum Welcome Addresses

WELCOME ADDRESS
by
the Hon. Igor Schegolev
The RF Minister for Telecommunication and Mass Media
to
participants in the First Russian Internet Governance Forum

Dear colleagues!

In anticipation of the First Russian Internet Governance Forum I am pleased to address its participants.

Over the past three decades, the Internet has rapidly evolved from a local information exchange system to its current state of an open global network whose functioning is fueled by an active engagement of national governments, academic and business communities, and the international internet community. Guided by provisions of the 2003 WSIS in Geneva and decisions of the 2005 Tunisia Summit, Russian Federation has vigorously contributed to the processes of shaping the global information environment. The country, its leaders, and the national communications administration have consistently advocated the free, open and secure Internet and support new initiatives on further internationalization of its governance system, the international Internet community’s efforts to address the problem of digital divide .
Russia has taken a proactive stance with regard to the Internet Governance Forum and regards it as a platform for discussions on prospects of the Internet’s advancement and mobilization of consensus on concrete international mechanisms of their implementation.

Today, our challenge is to transfer the country to the path of innovation-based development and transform the economy into the knowledge-based one. I am confident that discussions at the upcoming Russian Internet Governance Forum will enable its participants to blueprint new conceptual approaches to tackling this challenge.

I am hopeful that the Forum should turn a new leaf in promotion of the global dialogue on Internet Governance and grow into a reputed platform for discussions between all the actors engaged in the engineering of the Internet.

The RF Minister for Telecommunication and Mass Media
Igor Schegolev

Dear colleagues,

On behalf of the IGF Secretariat, I am extending my best wishes to the first meeting of the Russia Internet Governance Forum. The IGF model provides a platform for a policy dialogue among all stakeholders on all issues relating to the use of the Internet. It is with great pleasure that I have taken note of the fact that with this meeting the IGF model has also spread to Russsia and I look forward to this groundbreaking event for Russia and the neighbouring countries.

Regional and national IGF type meetings have emerged in the past few years. They allowed local Internet communities to engage in a full-scale dialogue with policy makers on critical challenges and opportunities facing the Internet. While many problems are global, many solutions can be found at the national level.

Russia, as a major Internet nation will play a pioneering role in this new form of multistakeholder cooperation in Eastern Europe and the CIS. The Russia Internet Governance Forum will allow all the major stakeholders to engage in the debate on the evolution of the Internet, promote its fundamental principles both at home and overseas, and share their expertise and experiences with the neighbouring countries.

I am confident that the upcoming Forum will form a milestone for the Russian Internet community and will contribute to the global IGF's objective, namely to build a more open, robust and sustainable Internet.

Markus Kummer
Executive Coordinator
Secretariat of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF)

Dear friends,

I am very pleased to be among those welcoming the participants and guests to this, the first Russian lnternet Governance Forum.

Russia has been an active and influential participant at all levels in the discussion on lnternet Governance for many years, I am delighted to see this very concrete initiative contributing to the unique multistakeholder approach which is so special to the ICANN community. Russia has been busy in many areas of ICANN activity, establishing first a working, and then a more formal relationship with both the ccNSO, and the GAC. A Russian was recently elected to the GNSO Council, which shows the integration of the Russian lnternet community in the governing bodies of ICANN. And I personally have had meetings with Russian cybersecurity and telecommunications leaders.

Russia's voice is now being heard clearly in ICANN, and l believe the reverse is also true. We have much to learn from each other. The efforts of your government, and the whole lnternet community, to bring lnternet to everyone, is the best way to provide people with free access to information, and to let them be part of the global internet world.

The ICANN world can only benefit from this greater Russian contribution, and from her distinctive culture. The more voices we have, the better we understand how the lnternet should develop. That is why we were delighted that Russia was among the first countries to seek an IDN ccTLD.

l'd like to thank the Russian .ru ccTLD Coordination Center for their efforts to organize this event, with the support from the Russian Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications, and wish it is a great success! I believe we are all moving rapidly towards a shared goal of - one world, one lnternet, and everyone connected.

Yours sincerely,
Rod Beckstrom, CEO and president of ICANN

Welcoming Address
by Andrey Kolesnikov
 Director of the Coordination Center for ccTLD .RU

Dear Friends,

The issue of Internet governance In Russia has for long boiled down either to debate of a government’s ban or to manifestation of displeasure with the USA’s alleged total control over the Internet. Naturally, all the discussions resulted either in empty talk or in the emergence of bills which violated the physical laws of the Internet. However, the Internet is an engine of a great deal of economic processes and economies worldwide have found themselves to a great extent dependent on the resilience of the global net which is forming the modern information and communication environment. That is why it is no longer possible to pretend that Russia does not face any problems in the Internet governance area.

The first Russian Internet Governance Forum will be held in the right time and the right place – that is, the “Svyaz-ExpoCom-2010 exhibition” which will get together leaders of the telecommunication business and the Internet industry. It will be a groundbreaking and unparalleled event for Russia, and I believe it will resonate both with its participants and with those who will be following it on the Net.

Regulation of the Internet is traditionally exercised bottom-up. The initiative is generated by self-regulating public organizations. The Coordination Center for ccTLD .RU is one of such organizations in Russia, and our mission is to ensure a robust development of the national domain zones. In parallel with that, we help develop the Internet by all possible means, including enlightenment and awareness building. That is why I would like to stress the importance of the Forum as a promotional event.

One may think the Internet is kind of an outlaws’ community, which lives a free life and will keep living like this forever. But this is the illusion. Like any other organized environment, the Internet is governed by laws and guided by technologies, protocols and standards, and everyone who surfs the Internet must command a required minimum expertise. The knowledge of how it works and how it is governed is needed, first and foremost, for decision-makers, businessmen, and politicians. Should our event reach out to this audience, it will be a success.  

We urge the Internet community and professionals to take a pro-active stance towards the Internet governance issues and contribute to development of future decisions, for the further advancement of the Internet and its robustness lies in a genuine interaction between the government, business and community at large both in Russia and elsewhere.

Welcome to out Forum!