Opinions & Interviews

MOGILEV, 12 October (BelTA) – Digital technologies should be used to serve needs of the society and the economy in the Union State of Belarus and Russia. First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Alexander Turchin made the statement during the plenary session of the fifth Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia in Mogilev on 12 October, BelTA has learned.

The official said: “We should introduce digital technologies in the real economy sector, in the social sphere and state administration. First, it is necessary to take care of our common information security and digital sovereignty. It is necessary to defend against cyber threats together. We should also create common digital platforms and projects to enable the digital integration of the two countries in practice.”

Belarus and Russia could be useful to each other in the course of accomplishing these fundamental tasks, noted Alexander Turchin. Nevertheless, there is virtually no integration in the digital sphere between Belarus and Russia despite the countries’ intention to cooperate. “We are moving in parallel in practice. Hindrances to further integration are created this way. While the process can be reversed, it is necessary to create a common technological platform and further develop it,” believes Alexander Turchin.

In his words, roughly the same processes are in progress in legal affairs. “Unfortunately, instead of moving along parallel trajectories in the development and adoption of regulations on digital technologies the countries even fail to share the best practices. A similar situation is observed in commerce. Our IT export is virtually absent in Russia. The main target markets are the USA and the European Union. Russian IT products are little used in Belarus, too,” said Alexander Turchin.

Alexander Turchin put forward a number of interesting proposals on creating the common technological platform for the digital economy of the Union State of Belarus and Russia. He also suggested stipulating these proposals by legal means.

Chairwoman of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matviyenko backed the Belarusian initiatives. She gave instructions to look into the synchronization of legislation on digital technologies in the two countries. “We should harmonize the legal field in order to move together in this field instead of moving in parallel,” she stressed.