The VII International Conference “Tangible and Intangible Impact of Information and Communication in the Digital Age” took place in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russian Federation) on June 25-27, 2025, within the XVI International IT Forum, annually held by the Government of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Ugra. The Conference was organized by the UNESCO Information for All Programme and its Russian Committee, Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO, the Permanent Delegation of the Russian Federation to UNESCO and the Interregional Library Cooperation Centre. The interdisciplinary conference brought together about 150 participants from 40 countries – academicians and practitioners from the field of ICT and media, as well as policymakers, social scientist, representatives of higher education institutions and research centres, libraries, public authorities, private sector and civil society institutions.
The Conference was opened by Mr. Ruslan Kukharuk, Ugra Governor, Mr. Guiherme Canela Godoi, head of the UNESCO Division for Digital Inclusion and Policies and Digital Transformation, Mr. Alexander Alimov, the Russian Commission for UNESCO Executive Secretary, H.E. Mr. Rinat Alyautdinov, Ambassador, Permanent Delegate of the Russian Federation to UNESCO, H.E. Mr. Mohamed Yongawo, Ambassador of Sierra Leone to the Russian Federation, Ms. Anastasia Parshakova, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Committee of the UNESCO Information for All Programme.
The Conference provided a platform for discussing challenges, phenomena and trends that had come into focus in the last decade and related to the impact of digital technologies on societies. Discussions within the Conference were focused on the following topics:
- Information and Communication: Challenges of the Digital World
- Linguistic and Cultural Diversity in the Era of Information Technology
- Ethical Aspects of Using Information Technologies in the Context of the Artificial Intelligence Alliance’s Activity
- Artificial Intelligence Application for Content Creation: Challenges, Potential, Legislative Regulation
- Artificial Intelligence in Science and Education
- Cybersecurity and Cyber Hygiene
Ms. Tatiana Murovana, UNESCO IITE Programme Specialist, moderated the conference’s thematic discussion on cybersecurity and cyber hygiene and made the presentation “AI as a Learning Tool (or an Agent?): The Problem of Student Subjectness and Agency” within the session on artificial intelligence in science and education.
Ms. Dorothy Gordon, a member of UNESCO IITE Governing Board, presented as a keynote speaker on the plenary session “Information and Communication: Challenges of the Digital World” and took part as a panelist in the thematic discussion on cybersecurity and cyber hygiene.
By the decision of the Ugra Government and the Russian Committee of the UNESCO Information for All Programme, Ms. Tatiana Murovana was awarded Evgeny Kuzmin International Award in recognition of the contribution to information society development.
