D. Petukhov, the Chairman of Information and Analytical Committee in the Irkutsk regional administration

The competition "The best region in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)", implemented within the federal task program Electronic Russia" will close on April 25, 2003. The competition was organized by RosBusinessConsulting (RBC), a company that has been working on the Russian market of media and information technologies for more than 10 years and has the largest business audience among other domestic mass media sources. The competition was commissioned by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

The main aims of the competition are:
- to promote the use of ICT in various aspects of life in Russian regions;
- to provide support to measures implemented within the federal task program Electronic Russia in each region;
- to evaluate the level of ICT development and use in regions taking part in the competition.

The evaluation of a complete and objective situation with the development of ICT in Russian regions is a necessary condition for analyzing the current state of this economic sector and working out effective measures to support and promote the further development of regions. In addition, the competition will allow for summarizing, analyzing and distributing the most effective methods of ICT development and use in Russian regions. Another aim of the competition, which is probably the most important, is to distribute ideas and values of the open information society and make them popular among the public, to involve more residents, state establishments and businesses in economic reforms implemented with ICT.

Forty-five Russian regions took part in the competition. Currently, a competition commission consisting of expert councils on each nomination is performing a detailed analysis of information from regions. After the completion of the analysis, winners will be determined in the following nominations:

1. "State support to regional informatization";
2. "Accessibility of ICT";
3. "The use of ICT for regional development" in the following subnominations:
3.1. Education,
3.2. Medicine,
3.3. Culture,
3.4. Activities of state governing bodies,
3.5. Business;
4. "Human capital" (the public's readiness for active use of ICT);
5. "Business environment".

The region where all these aspects and terms of ICT application are most developed will be announced the winner of the competition. The award ceremony will be held on April 25, 2003 in the Congress Center of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Irkutsk regional administration filed an application for participating in the competition, in all nominations excluding subnominations in culture, in activities of state governing bodies and in business. The regional administration made the decision to participate in this large-scale competition for several reasons. Firstly, the main effect from the competition will be the promotion of ICT development in various fields of life in the region. This will result in the reduction in budget expenses, saving on funds for the social sector (for instance, due to the development of distance learning and telemedicine programs) and more effective interactions between residents and local governing bodies. Secondly, information support to the competition will attract the attention of Russian and foreign IT companies and investors to nominees and winners of the competition. This, in turn, will improve the investment attractiveness of the region and further intensify ICT development. The establishment of business ties and various forms of collaboration among regional IT companies will also promote integration inside the Russian IT community, boost markets and demand for IT products, increase the number of joint projects and solutions along with the exchange of useful experience among officials and specialists.

Thirdly, and probably most importantly, participation in the competition will enable the region to estimate the current state of ICT and the corresponding outlooks compared to other regions of Russia, define the set of necessary priority measures for supporting ICT development in the Irkutsk region. Finally, the results of the competition will offer additional useful information for the region's effective development.

Summing up, we would like to stress the importance and efficiency of events that make the introduction of ICT in various fields of the region's life popular. Such competitions together with large-scale information support boost the development of ICT and become important events within the federal task program Electronic Russia. No matter whether the Irkutsk region will become one of the winners of the competition or not, it will be able to see its strengths and weaknesses in terms of ICT development and raise information infrastructures in the region to a new level.