"The Russian Internet is absolutely secure": Alexander Khinshtein answered questions at the RUSSIA EXPO
Alexander Khinshtein, Chairman of the State Duma Committee
on Information Policy, Information Technologies and Communications of the
Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, discussed how the digital space is
developing and our country's information shield is being strengthened with
participants in the lecture hall of the "Knowledge" Society at the
International RUSSIA EXPO.
He emphasized that we live in an era of serious digital
changes, and it is no longer possible to imagine our reality without technological
capabilities and information technologies. People spend as much time in the
online space as they do in the offline environment.
"We need to perceive this reality adequately and, among
other things, change approaches to it legislatively. This is what the State
Duma Committee on Information Policy, Information Technology and Communications
is engaged in, and it is in this direction of bridging, docking offline and
online reality and legislation that we are engaged in. This is, in fact, our
main task," emphasized Alexander Khinshtein.
When asked about the timeframe for the formation of Russia's
digital sovereignty, Alexander Khinshtein said that it already exists. Today,
legislation and state policy in this sphere are aimed at creating the contour
of our security.
"First of all, today the Russian Internet is absolutely
secure and autonomous. This is what the laws adopted back in 2017-2018 were
aimed at. Many criticized these initiatives, saying that Russia was going the
way of North Korea or China, that we were closing ourselves off from the
outside world, but time has shown the rightness of the decisions made then.
Today we are technologically capable of providing our own autonomous Internet.
And if tomorrow, figuratively speaking, we were to be disconnected from the
world's switch, nothing would threaten us, because, also figuratively speaking,
we have our own generator, and not just one. Thanks to the system created
today, banned sites are blocked, the distribution of protected information is
limited, and in this sense, digital sovereignty clearly exists," the
speaker emphasized.
Alexander Khinshtein also added that with the start of the
special military operation the course on import substitution in all spheres,
and primarily in IT, was taken as systematically and extensively as possible,
in most areas Russia is already quite independent.
"Today, 97 percent of products in the field of
information security are domestic developments. This work will continue, we
need to fully have our own product range and replace it in all areas, from
hardware to software. Not because we want to separate from anyone, and not
because we are building our own internal world and trying to close the borders.
We do this so that if the switch is turned off, we can always use our own
technologies and not be hostages in the hands of others," commented
Alexander Khinshtein.
The speaker talked about the active development of Russian
media platforms and the rapid growth in the number of users. For example, the
audience of RuTube has grown 13 times recently! The participants of the meeting
asked what kind of support Russian companies receive in the IT sphere.
Alexander Khinshtein noted that assistance is provided on a large scale, and it
is done systematically.
"Today the state provides a huge amount of assistance
to the IT sector. The level of support measures, which began to be implemented
since the pandemic, is not comparable with any other sector of the economy. Of
course, support measures for other areas are also in place, and they need to be
expanded. It is not by chance that in the last Presidential Address the theme
of digitalization, new technological realities was given such great
attention," the speaker stressed.
In conclusion, the statesman answered the question about the
training of personnel for IT companies. The speaker noted that the state not
only pays great attention to the development of IT directions in universities,
but also introduces courses in robotics, as well as provides an opportunity to
retrain for free in one of the in-demand IT specialties.
"IT companies are often reproached that they are only
willing to hire experienced specialists. Indeed, such a problem does exist. I
see the solution in establishing close ties between universities and the
industry. For example, at the Volga State University of Telecommunications and
Informatics, as well as at one of the universities of the Ministry of Digital
Development, we have established cooperation with the Russian Post, Rostelecom,
Yandex, and created a polygon on countering cyber threats, where students solve
tasks that are as close to practice as possible. I believe that universities
should produce practitioners rather than theorists, and then young specialists
will have no problems with employment," explained Alexander Khinshtein.
The educational week "Achievements of Russia" runs
until March 17 inclusive. Representatives of federal agencies, public
organizations, mass media, cultural and artistic figures, sportsmen act as
lecturers at VDNH venues.
