On May 21–22, 2018, Veliky Novgorod is hosting an annual Russia-the U.S. Fort Ross Dialog meeting. The dialog has been held since 2012, though it is only the second time it is held in Russia. The first day of the summit focused on traditionally the main theme of the conference — the bilateral cooperation in the area of culture and archives. The second day of the dialogue is devoted to contacts in the political and economic spheres.
Acting as co-organizer of the event, RIAC suggested focusing on Russia-the U.S. contacts in the area of cyber (information) security. Ivan Timofeev, RIAC Director of Programs, moderated the session.
On May 21–22, 2018, Veliky Novgorod is hosting an annual Russia-the U.S. Fort Ross Dialog meeting. The dialog has been held since 2012, though it is only the second time it is held in Russia. The first day of the summit focused on traditionally the main theme of the conference — the bilateral cooperation in the area of culture and archives. The second day of the dialogue is devoted to contacts in the political and economic spheres.
Acting as co-organizer of the event, RIAC suggested focusing on Russia-the U.S. contacts in the area of cyber (information) security. Ivan Timofeev, RIAC Director of Programs, moderated the session.
Sergey Rogov, RIAC Member, Academic Director of the RAS Institute for U.S. and Canadian Studies, opened the session and analyzed the dynamics of Russia-the U.S. relations in recent years. In his opinion, the bilateral relations are now at the lowest point in history. Viktor Supyan, Deputy Director of the Institute of the USA and Canada Studies, made a speech about the economic aspects of the bilateral ties. Olga Oliker, Senior Adviser and Director of Russia and Eurasia Program at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), presented the American view of the political dimension of the issue, warned about military threats arising from new technological realities and potential ways of response. She noted that the United States still perceive Russia as an active "cyber-player", capable of causing serious damage.
Pavel Sharikov, RIAC expert, and Andreas Kuehn, East-West Institute, told about contacts in cybersecurity. Pavel Sharikov analyzed the phenomenon of network neutrality and differences in Russian and the U.S. approaches in regulating the information and social networks. Read more details about the study in the article. Andreas Kuehn paid special attention to "smart cities", the formation of which is mentioned in the "Digital Economy" state program. According to the expert, the implementation of "smart cities" projects is directly related to ensuring the information security of critical infrastructure facilities, the protection of personal data, and the interaction of state and business structures. Aaron Clark-Ginsberg, RAND Corporation researcher, spoke about cyberthreats to critical infrastructure and energy sector objects, paying attention to the specific case of disruption of the electricity network in North America and the measures taken to solve the issue. According to the analyst, energy supply systems are becoming less vulnerable, but work in this direction should continue.
Valery Garbuzov, RIAC Member, Director of RAS Institute of U.S. and Canadian Studies, and Maria Smekalova, Coordinator of Cybersecurity Programs, also took part in the event.
