On the 14th February 2006 the St. Petersburg scientific practical conference "Infocommunication Technologies: Science for Business" dedicated to the issues of education, science and interaction of scientific circles with business in the field of infocommunication technologies started its work.

The conference has been organized with the support of OJSC North-West Telecom, the presidium of the St. Petersburg International Conference "Regional Informatics", the Academic and Methodological Association of Higher Schools of Russia for University Polytechnic Education and the St. Petersburg Prof. M.A. Bonch-Bruyevich State University of Telecommunications and will be held from the 14th  to the 16th of February in the framework of the Norwecom-2006 International Exhibition.

Basic areas, with which the conference will deal:

 - practices of developing and introducing infocommunication technologies and communication networks of the next generation (NGN);

 - theoretical basics of infocommunications development;

 - infocommunication technologies in education.

Well-known Russian scientists are taking part in the conference, including Co-Chairperson of the Academic Council for Informatization of St. Petersburg, chairperson of the United Academic and Methodological Council for Information Systems and Technologies, Academician of the Russian Academy of Education B.Ya. Sovetov, Rector of SPbGUT (the St. Petersburg Prof. M.A. Bonch-Bruyevich State University of Telecommunications) Professor A.A. Gogol and many other specialists in the field of informatics and communication, as well as representatives of state authorities, heads of academic institutions, the leading higher schools of Russia, organizations specializing in developing and using infocommunication technologies.  

Representatives of OJSC North-West Telecom  will deliver reports at plenary sessions of the scientific conference:

 - CEO V.A. Akulich with a report "Basic Areas of the Strategic Development of OJSC North-West Telecom for the Period till 2008";

 - TEO O.A. Semanov –  with a report "Approaches to Solving the Technical Problems of Demonopolizing the Russian Market of Telecommunications";

 - Head of the New Technologies Department V.D. Nesterenko with a report "Development of the Multiservice Network of OJSC North-West Telecom to the year 2009".

In his speech to the participants of the forum, CEO of OJSC NWT Vladimir Akulich noted that "North-West Telecom was the only telecommunication company of the Northwestern Federal District possessing an infrastructure for creating a single infocommunication space, while the new generation networks (NGN) were a new landmark in NWT's technical policy. An NGN is a result of integration of Internet, telephone networks and data transmission networks uniting their best features. It is on the basis of the NGN concept that the multiservice network of the Company is built, allowing to provide a wide set of both traditional and new services."