InterCommunity 2017: Celebrating 25 years of ISOC
Members of the Internet Society Kyrgyz Chapter celebrated the 25th anniversary and discussed the future of the Internet.
On September 19, 2017 in the city of Bishkek, Plaza Hotel, an event was held as part of the global celebration of “InterCommunity 2017: Celebrating 25 years of ISOC”. On this day, representatives of the Internet Society (ISOC) around the world exchanged ideas and talked about the future of the Internet. In Bishkek, the participants of the event focused on discussions on the current situation of the Internet in Kyrgyzstan, active policies in this field and new opportunities.
The event was attended by representatives of government bodies, non-governmental organizations, expert community, international organizations, members of the Kyrgyz ISOC Internet Society and the media.
The event began with a video message from Kathy Brown, President of the Internet Society (ISOC), in which she talked about the mission of the organization, the history of creation, new goals and congratulated everyone on the 25th anniversary of the Internet Society. Then Aziz Soltobaev, co-founder of the Kyrgyz Chapter of ISOC, gave a welcoming speech and also made a presentation on the activities of the ISOC, the history of the ISOC in Kyrgyzstan, opportunities and projects being implemented.
One of the important values of membership in the ISOC is access to a large array of materials and knowledge portal.isoc.org for academicians, experts and journalists. Moreover, thanks to participation in the ISOC, there is a unique opportunity to enter and expand the international network of experts on the Internet through participation in such global conferences as IETF95, EuroDIG, ICANN, RIPE NCC, and participation in a world-class policy making (IEEE, Blockchain Special Interest Group). There are also opportunities to participate in such financing programs as the ENOG Fellowship Programs and the Beyond the Net Project Financing Program.
According to Aziz Soltobaev, members of the Kyrgyz Internet Society have already participated in such programs:
• IETF95, Mexico City, Talent Sultanov (2015)
• European Chapter’s meeting, Madrid, Bermet Imanalieva (04/2016)
• European Chapters meeting, Amsterdam, Ermek Niyazov (02/2017)
• EuroDIG, Tallinn, Aziz Soltobaev (06/2017)
• IETF97 Prague, Nurbek Abaskanov (07/2017)
To date, the current projects of the Kyrgyz Chapter of the Internet Society, laid for 2017 are as follows:
Wireless Internet for mountainous and remote areas. The goal of this project is to reduce the digital divide between Bishkek and the regions. At the moment, the analysis and selection of a specific locality is carried out to launch a pilot project.
Ferghana Valley Internet Exchange Point (FVIXP). It is planned to launch the project at the traffic exchange point in the Fergana Valley with a presence in Osh. According to the project, it is planned to conduct wireless Internet for a remote settlement, where it is financially inexpedient to conduct mobile or broadband Internet.
Domain policy in the KG zone. Within the framework of this project, the goal is to reduce the cost of the domain in the kg area from $ 33, excluding VAT to $ 10.
In his speech, Aziz Soltobaev also called on the active members of ISOC to take part in such upcoming global events of 2018 as:
• Chapters meeting
• IETF 101, London, 17-23 March
• CAIGF
• ICANN
• EURODIG2018, Tbilisi, June
Nurbek Abaskanov, chairman of the State Committee for Information Technologies and Communications of the Kyrgyz Republic, spoke about the current situation of the Internet in Kyrgyzstan and its role in the digital transformation of the economy. According to him, the volume of Internet services for the first half of 2017 amounted to 2 013 628.34 thousand soms. As of September 19, 2017, the total number of granted licenses for data transmission is 116, of which 83 are Internet providers.
According to Nurbek Abaskanov, today the total number of active Internet users is 4,916,191, of which 88.5% (4,350,634 users) are mobile Internet subscribers, 11.5% (565,557 users) – fixed Internet subscribers.
In Kyrgyzstan, at the state level, the digital transformation program will be launched under the “Taza Koom” program, according to which the Internet will provide equal access to public services to all residents, including the poorest and most vulnerable. In order to achieve the set goals, according to Nurbek Abaskanov, it is planned “… to conduct broadband Internet in each village within the next couple of years within the framework of the regional interaction project” DigitalCASA. Kyrgyzstan “, which is the core of the digital transformation program” Taza Koom “. And it is also planned to increase cross-border capacity and diversify the sources of Internet access.
It should be noted that the objectives of the State Telecommunications Committee are in line with the goals and mission of the Kyrgyz Chapter of the ISOC, which plans to launch the project on the implementation of accessible internet in the remote areas of the country.
Also, N.Abaskanov noted about the improvement of the infrastructure components of communications, according to his data “the total length of the fiber optic link for the 1st quarter was 16 thousand 869 km, of which 8 thousand km are communication lines.” According to him, to date, there are such gigabit channels as Bishkek-Frankfurt, Dushanbe-Frankfurt, Bishkek-Dushanbe, which allow creating a circular connection that protects from communication breakages.
General Director of Saima Telecom Mukhamediyarov Muslim noted that the existing domain policy in Kyrgyzstan unfortunately does not contribute to the development of the Internet. The problem is a monopoly over the domain space and, accordingly, an unreasonably high price policy. To acquire foreign domains is much cheaper, accordingly they are acquired there, which in turn does not lead to the development of a Kyrnet. In addition, high Internet prices, given the low income of the population, also do not contribute to the development of the Internet and its widespread penetration. Extending the topic of domain policy, Kanat Mukanov noted that the Kyrgyz Republic has a strange situation when the administrator and registrar of the domain zone is one and the same company.
Legislative issues were also raised: the absence in legislative and normative documents of concepts such as Internet, web sites, that are elements of electronic commerece. Some participants noted the need to create legislative conditions, while others believe that regulation of online trade can be made in the existing trade law without creating new laws.
Abaskanov said that within the framework of updating and adopted new strategies, policies and programs, about 180 decrees are being prepared to bring the legislation in step with the times. The post of Deputy Minister for Information Technologies was introduced, the draft resolution was submitted for approval. Under the state telecommunication committee, a working group was formed to harmonize the architecture of IT infrastructures of all departments and services.
