The first day of Digital Life Design (DLD), the authoritative international conference on Internet technology and telecommunications that took place at the site of Digital October in Moscow on May 28-29, brought together nearly a thousand people. Initially, the organizers of the event — the Skolkovo Foundation and Hubert Burda Media — expected to see about 500-600 participants at the forum, which was held for the first time in Russia this year.
The conference, which traditionally includes partners such as Lufthansa, GE, Nokia, and Audi, featured speakers including Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, president of Skolkovo Viktor Vekselberg, head of Mail.Ru Group Dmitry Grishin, general director of Yandex Arkady Volozh, general director of Ozon.ru Máel Gave, and chief editor of RIA Novosti Svetlana Mironyuk.
"There are two main objectives for this conference. The first, for the Russian side, we want to change the mood, mentality, and minds of people as much as possible, to get them to look forward ... As for the wishes of our foreign guests, we want them to change the perception of Russia. Today, Russia is truly an open country looking to the future,” Viktor Vekselberg, the president of Skolkovo, said in his opening address.
Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said that the Russian government considers the development of digital and Internet technologies a top priority, as these technologies greatly simplify people's lives.
"It provides an easier way to communicate, purchase tickets, get an education, work out housing designs, etc. The government should furnish a well-developed infrastructure for all of this, without interfering in the work itself," Dvorkovich said, noting that the digital and real world must “work closely together” in order to prevent any negative consequences for humanity.
Head of the Moscow administration’s culture department Sergei Kapkov welcomed participants on behalf of City Hall, noting that Russia’s largest city is changing rapidly and becoming more "humane" — exactly what a modern metropolis should be.
The Skolkovo Meets DLD Conference in Moscow brought together respected experts and managers of large enterprises who, over the course of numerous panel discussions, pinpointed future trends in cyberspace and discussed the converging interests of digital technologies, Internet, media, business, fashion, etc.
The DLD Conference has been held several times a year all over the world since 2005. It has previously been held in Munich, London, New York, Palo Alto, Beijing, Delhi, Tel Aviv, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and many other cities.
Throughout its lifetime, DLD has had many famous speakers, from founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, to co-founder of YouTube Chad Hurley and founder of Wikipedia Jimmy Wales, to Eric Schmidt, one of the heads of Google, author Paulo Coelho, director and producer Luc Besson, and singers Lady Gaga and Cheryl Cole.
The influential weekly The Economist labeled DLD one of the most prestigious conferences in the field of innovation.
All the materials of the Digital Life Design Conference (DLD)
Skolkovo Foundation
The Skolkovo Foundation, a center for the development and commercialization of new technologies, is a non-profit organization created at the initiative of the president in 2010. The purpose of the foundation is to mobilize Russia’s resources in the field of modern applied research and create a favorable environment for the implementation of scientific research in five priority areas of technological development: energy and energy efficiency, aerospace, biomedicine, nuclear and computer technology. The project involves the establishment of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, research institutes, business incubator zones, centers for technology transfer and commercialization, representative offices of foreign companies and R&D centers, residential accommodation and social infrastructure, and the subsequent expansion of an effective regime to other innovative regions of Russia. The activities of the Skolkovo innovation center are regulated by a special law that provides its residents with a privileged economic environment.