Ogonyok, Vol. 16, April 2003

Shortly after the hymns in honor of the laureates of the Person of the Year annual national award ended, the unfaltering company RosBusinessConsulting was ready to announce new winners. This time, they will be not persons but entire regions of Russia.

The contest "The Best Region in the Sector of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)" is finishing within the framework of the Electronic Russia (2002-2010) special federal program. The contest has the full support of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Russia. Forty-five regions of Russia, including the Moscow region and St. Petersburg, have taken part in this contest.

The results are being assessed, and the winners of the contest are being chosen in the following categories: Government Support for the Development of Information Technologies in the Region, Accessibility of ICTs, The Use of ICTs for Development of the Region (in education, medicine, culture, business, and the work of government agencies), Human Capital (the level of preparedness of people in the region for active use of ICTs), and Business Environment. The region where all these aspects and conditions for the use of ICTs are the most developed will be declared the winner of the contest.

What region is going to be declared most attractive to informational technologies in Russia? We will receive the answer to this question at the ceremony of giving the awards in the Congress Center of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia on April 25, 2003.