The IT commission was established to promote government agencies' use of information technology and allow these agencies to coordinate their efforts to establish an electronic government (e-government) and an information-oriented society as soon as possible. These goals were set by the Russian president.

Previously, there were several inter-departmental federal agencies that addressed IT issues. These agencies' areas of responsibility often overlapped and their decisions were poorly coordinated. This led to a delay in the introduction of information technology at government agencies.

The new commission's goals include:
• Drafting a unified policy for the development and use of information technology at government administration;
• Developing and implementing measures aimed at increasing the use of IT to improve federal and local government services provided to individuals and businesses, as well as improve the accessibility of such services;
• Providing for more effective use of IT by government authorities; and
• Using IT to promote effective cooperation among government agencies and better internal organisation within said agencies.

To ensure that these goals are met, two councils have been set up: the Designers' Council and the Regional IT Council.

The Designers' Council will be responsible for addressing basic technical and technological issues for establishing an e-government and will include representatives of ministries and agencies responsible for introducing IT at their agencies.

The Regional IT Council will include heads of regional executive bodies responsible for developing e-government in their regions. The council will include some of the best experts in the field, whose job will be to harmonise regional standards across the country and integrate federal and regional information systems.

At their first meeting, the members of the Commission looked at a rage of issues relating to providing government and municipal services electronically.

One of them is the so-called digital signature draft law, which the State Duma adopted after the first reading and sent it to be finalised by the authorities.

The Commission also reviewed and agreed upon the main disputed points of the draft law, such as digital signature types, areas where such signatures could be used and accreditation rules for digital signature verification centres. The draft law was amended appropriately in light of the discussion, and will soon be forwarded to the Duma for a second reading.

The Commission members heard several departments' reports on the interim results from their agencies and their further plans to provide government services electronically, including licensing of pharmaceutical companies, licensing of animal pharmaceuticals distributors and issuing applications for invitations and entry visas to Russia for foreign nationals.

Up-to-date information on the above-mentioned services, as well as on all other services on the government-approved priority list of services to be made available electronically, can be found at the government services website, www.gosuslugi.ru.

The Commission will meet weekly.