Runet’s 25th anniversary to be marked in 2019
The first meeting of the Executive Committee to prepare for the 25th anniversary has taken place
On December 13, the first meeting of the Executive Committee to prepare for the 25th anniversary of the .RU domain and Runet took place. The committee comprises 15 people approved by an order of Director of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ Andrey Vorobyev and other public organizations. Together with the Coordination Center, representatives of the Russian Association of Electronic Communications (RAEC), the Regional Internet Technologies Public Center (ROCIT) and the Institute of Internet Development (IID) will help prepare for the anniversary of the Russian national domain.
The year 2019 will mark the anniversary of the .RU domain and the entire Russian segment of the internet: on April 7, 1994, Russia received the .RU national domain, and this date is considered to be the birthday of the Russian internet. Meeting participants decided to hold the main celebrations on April 7-8, 2019, but other various events to promote the internet and Russian domains will take place all year. Some of them will be educational and some entertaining. There will also be official forums, informal meetings and a presentation of awards to famous internet community members who made a significant contribution to its development. Thus, 2019 is going to be packed with interesting events for all Russian internet users.
Director of the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ Andrey Vorobyev said that it all began with the .RU domain: “In the past 25 years, the Russian internet community and the .RU registrar have done a great deal of work, which made the Russian domain extremely popular among users. The anniversary is a good way to summarize the results, to present awards and make plans for the future.”
“25 years is a short period for the industry, but a very important one. Information technology is the only scientific and applied achievement that is integrated with the life and work of the state, business and people, with no exception. Therefore, we can say that Runet’s anniversary is a special occasion for all of us. During this anniversary year, we have a unique opportunity to speak about the importance of the industry for society, increase the number of active users and draw attention to digital literacy skills and safe usage of the net,” said ROCIT Director Sergey Grebennikov.
Plans call for launching a website for the 25th anniversary of the .RU domain and Runet. It will be an integrated platform featuring the history of the Russian internet and the .RU domain, as well as the people and companies who created them, the Runet pioneers. Website visitors will be able to learn about all the events of the anniversary year, planned activities and other happenings related to the big date.
“The internet is no longer a separate industry; it is now an environment where traditional industries get transformed and a part of people’s everyday life. The 25th anniversary is an important date. We need to emphasize the role of Runet, speak about the key players of the industry and attract new IT personnel while promoting the events,” said IID Director Sergey Petrov.
Participants in the meeting also agreed on the principles of forming the Organizing Committee for the anniversary and discussed the list of people to be invited to join the committee. The heads of the Coordination Center, RAEC, ROCIT and IID will be the committee’s co-chairs.
“Today our market shows a serious volume and growth rate: all industries and markets related to the digital economy have already exceeded one-fifth of Russia’s GDP. These are great numbers. Our work for the past 25 years helped reach them. For all these years, the IT market has been developing, adjusting to the foreign economy. Sometimes it took risks to reach its goals; it attracted attention and set our country’s course of development for the near future. We are glad to mark such an event and achievements together,” Director of RAEC Sergey Plugotarenko said.
The participants concluded the meeting by discussing the preliminary action plan to prepare for the anniversary and agreed on holding another meeting.