On June 18–20, 2024, the VI International Conference “Information and Communication in the Digital Age: Tangible and Intangible Impacts” was held in Khanty-Mansiysk within the framework of the UNESCO Information for All Programme and the XV International IT Forum. The event was attended by about 150 experts from 41 countries – representatives of intergovernmental, international, regional and national non-governmental organizations, government bodies, prominent Russian and foreign specialists in the field of communication, information technology, information security, creative industries, management, international relations, sociology, political science, psychology, linguistics, pedagogy.
The conference was traditionally organized by the Russian Committee of the UNESCO Information for All Programme, the Interregional Library Cooperation Centre and the Government of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra with the support of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO and the Permanent Delegation of the Russian Federation to UNESCO.
The conference provided the platform for the discussion of the most pressing and significant issues related to the rapid and continuous changes in the field of information and communication, which are currently aggravated by the ongoing global socio-cultural crisis. The experts focused on the most significant and relevant topics related to the development of the information society in the digital age:
- socio-cultural transformations associated with the development of digital technologies, their impact on the culture and functioning of states and societies;
- artificial intelligence technologies and the ethics of their use;
- creative industries and digital technologies;
- cyber hygiene and education to ensure the safety of children and young people in the digital world;
- preservation of national languages and national culture in cyberspace.
Over the three days of work, more than 55 Russian and foreign experts spoke during plenary sessions and thematic discussions. The conference hosted the award ceremony of the Evgeny Ivanovich Kuzmin International Prize for contribution to the promotion and development of the information society. The prize was presented by the First Deputy Governor of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Yugra Alexey Zabozlaev and the Chairman of the Russian Committee of the UNESCO Information for All Programme, member of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO Sergey Bakeikin. One of the laureates of the prize was Dorothy Gordon, member of the Governing Board of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (Ghana), who also spoke at the plenary session of the conference with a report “Transformations as a Driver of Inclusive Sustainable Development”. UNESCO IITE representative Tatyana Murovana co-moderated the thematic discussion “Cyberhygiene and Education: Ensuring Security in the Digital World”.
Currently, the international working group is preparing a draft of the Final Document based on the results of the conference.
The video recording of the conference is available on the website of the XV International IT Forum https://itforum.admhmao.ru/event/2024/ru/day/11