The Russian city of St. Petersburg recently hosted a high-level forum famously known as IT-Dialogue-2022.

The forum, according to the organizers, was dedicated to the promotion and development of the information technology industry.

To date, the Russian foremost technology event has been held nine times, however, in terms of geopolitical scope, this year’s forum attracted special attention, as some of the topics that generated huge debate include issues around sovereignty and cybersecurity security.

The event was attended by approximately 1,000 delegates from 40 regions of Russia, as well as representatives of several affiliated states of Russia.

Besides officials from the Russia government departments and corporations, the IT forum was graced by the Nigeria Ambassador to Russia and Belarus Shehu Abdulakhi, the Minister of Industrial Advisors of Kuwait Muhammad Abdulkarim Taa.

Notable companies from Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates also participated in the meeting.

Alexander Khinshtein, the deputy of the State Duma, one of the chambers of the Russian parliament, noted that recently the country has witnessed an increased number of cyber attacks on Russian digital infrastructure, rising by up to 80%.

He also disclosed that a large percentage of Russian state officials, business executives, and thousands of ordinary citizens, faced restrictions in the internet space from some of the biggest international internet service providers.

Amid this onslaught, Russia hopes the forum will help turn a new page as far as information technology is concerned.

“We have to make a significant leap forward, to invent many things from scratch. To create a concrete production of communication equipment is probably one of the most painful points at present time. Therefore, I believe that the combination of history and super-ambitious tasks is very correct,” said Maksut Shadayev, Minister of International Development, Telecommunications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation.

Above and beyond Russian technologies, the forum also provided a platform to explore international contracts, as well as investments in various sectors in Russia amid major plans ahead.