The Mayor of the city of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin has received the Digital Summit Award in the Digital Region category. The award organisers noted that Moscow was ranked at the top of the world’s smart cities.
“I am happy that we lead both the world and Europe,” Sergei Sobyanin said.
The Digital Summit is the first national IT award promoting leading domestic solutions. The competition involves Russian developers of IT tools for enhancing the efficiency of business and government agencies as well as personal efficiency.
According to the Mayor, it is not only IT structure but also a liveable urban infrastructure that is important as a prerequisite for advancing new technologies, including the IT sector.
“The city boasts one of the cheapest and fastest internet connections in the world and probably the most extensive free Wi-Fi coverage. In implementing its projects, business has been making use of the huge datasets provided by the Moscow Government. The digital technology sector – that includes many companies in Moscow – employs a total of about 300,000 people. In my estimation, the sector contributes about 600 billion roubles to the city’s economy. This sector cannot thrive in a non-people-friendly city,” noted Sergei Sobyanin at the panel discussion held during the finals of the Digital Summit Award competition.