The First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council spoke at a session on digital development held as part of the G20 Parliamentary Forum in New Delhi
First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Andrei Turchak spoke at a session of the 9th G20 Parliamentary Speakers’ Summit in India, Transformation in Peoples’ Lives through Public Digital Platforms.
The First Deputy Speaker of the upper chamber of the Russian Parliament said that digital transformation was identified by the President of Russia as a national development goal. “Russia ranks first in Europe in terms of the number of internet users: almost 128 million people, or 88 percent of the country’s population.”
Andrei Turchak spoke about the most popular digital platform in Russia, the Integrated State Services Portal. According to the First Deputy Speaker, 105 million people are registered there; over 10 million people use it daily. “There are currently 900 socially important services available online. The most popular are scheduling medical appointments, requesting electronic medical documents, job search and services for children.” The First Deputy Speaker pointed out that the portal offers services for foreign nationals as well. In particular, they can apply for a work permit, file complaints about violations of their labour rights, and complete migration-related paperwork.
The First Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council noted that digital technologies are being actively implemented in the electoral process. “This September, a remote election was held successfully in Russia. Voters from 25 regions were able to vote remotely for Russian regional governors and members of regional parliaments.”
Andrei Turchak emphasised that the introduction of new digital tools in everyday life demands serious responsibility from parliamentarians. “I am talking about the urgent work to update legislation. The Council on Digitalisation, created under the upper chamber of the Russian Parliament, is engaged in this work. We have adopted dozens of laws that regulate the digital environment and introduced major tax advantages for Russian IT companies. On 1 August, the laws on the digital rouble came into force.”
The Senator spoke about working with the Russian Government to codify laws related to the digital space. “In the immediate future, we will unite all laws in this area in an Integrated Digital Code of Russia. It will help outline clear and understandable rules of the game for IT businesses and better protect the rights of citizens in the digital space.”
According to Andrei Turchak, dialogue on international agreements on digital security should become an important part of the parliamentary community’s work. The Senator reminded the audience that Russia has presented a draft universal convention on international information security at the UN. According to the Senator, the document is designed to create conditions for the peaceful use of information technology and protect vulnerable countries from the whims of aggressive-minded states and the IT giants they control.