The visit of the ITU Secretary-General, Mr. Houlin Zhao to Saint Peteresburg, Russian Federation, was organized at the invitation of H.E.Mr. Sergei Prikhodko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. The objective of the mission was to participate in Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), which was hold from 18 to 20 June 2015.
Mr. Zhao attended the SPIEF Opening Ceremony and Plenary Session with participation of Mr. Igor Shuvalov, Deputy Chair of the Government of the Russian Federation; Mr. German Gref, Chairman of the Management Committee of Sberbank of Russia; and Mr. Alexei Kudrin, independent expert and Finance Minister of Russia in 2000-2011. The Plenary Session discussed the current situation in Russia and the ways to overcome the crisis.
Mr. Zhao participated in the panel session Building Effective Cyber Security Systems. The session was attended by Mr. Nikolay Nikiforov, Minister of Telecom and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation; Mr. Ehud Barak, Prime Minister of Israel 1999-2001; Mr. Frederic Donck, Regional Bureau Director for Europe, the Internet Society; Mr. Artem Kudryavtsev, President, Closed Joint-Stock Company Trans TeleCom; Mr. Angela McKay, Director of Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy, Global Security Strategy and Diplomacy team, Microsoft; Mr. Ilya Sachkov, Founder, General Director, Group-IB; Mr. Alexander Zharov, Head, Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor); Mr. Konstantin Dolgov, Special Representative for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the Russian Federation; Mr. Andrei Semerikov, General Director, CJSC ER-Telecom Holding.
Also, within the framework of his visit to the Russian Federation, Mr. Zhao visited the Bonch-Bruevich Saint Petersburg State University of Telecommunications (22, Prospekt Bolshevikov, Saint Petersburg).
Mr.
Zhao, accompanied by Mr. Sergei Bachevsky, Rector, SUT, and the SUT professors, got acquainted with the University television laboratory, the modern recording studio,
telecasting studio, and the University radio studio, where students work as
journalists and interview their fellow students and just citizens. Also, Mr.
Zhao visited the laboratory of the Internet of Things, the laboratory of
convergence networks, and Scientific and Educational Centre of
Infocommunication Technologies and Protocols. The professors and the laboratory
staff provided brief information on the activities of all laboratories and
centres and demonstrated some scientific research results in operation.
Mr. Zhao thanked the SUT professors and gave a short interview to the University television, where he specially noted the SUT contribution to telecommunication personnel training and to the ITU activities and congratulated the University to the 85th anniversary, which is celebrated in 2015, and wished the professors and students every success.
In conclusion of his visit to the SUT, Mr. Zhao wrote some wishes in the book of distinguished visitors.
