The XV International Conference “Information Technologies for Rail Transport” will start its work on 26 October 2010 at the Holiday Inn Moskovskiye Vorota hotel in Saint Petersburg.

The XV International Conference Infotrans 2010 is an effective communication arena for discussing the most topical issues related to modernising and increasing the efficiency of rail transport businesses with the aid of advanced ICT.

Russian Railways is acting as the general partner for the event, which is taking place with the support of CNews. Business Dialogue is the organiser of the event.

Technoserv, one of Russia’s biggest systems integration companies, is the conference’s General IT partner. Digital Design, one of Russia’s leading IT integrators, is the event’s Strategic Partner.

The event’s sponsors include such leading players in the IT market as Hitachi Data Systems, IBM, TTK, Microtest, Huawei Technologies, Nienschantz, Pulsar Telecom, ZTE Corporation, Nokia Siemens Networks, Trans information technology centre and VMware.

More than 550 people will be taking part in the conference, from Italy, the USA, Germany, Portugal, China, Belarus, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, and of course Russia.

The principles of building IT strategies for transport companies, developing infrastructure for organising electronic document handling, addressing systems integration issues, utilising new approaches to optimising IT infrastructure, the potential of analytical tools for improving business management, the advantages and risks of using IT outsourcing, applying innovative solutions to modernise communications service infrastructure, opportunities for utilising wireless technologies in rail transport – all these topics will be discussed by those taking part in the conference as part of the event.

Participants will discuss the role of information technologies in modernising Russia at a plenary session. High-priority tasks in the application of IT to state management, the strategic objectives in developing Russian Railways’ information systems, the main areas for developing RZD’s IT infrastructure, challenges and prospects in creating a single core telecommunications environment for rail transport, interaction between the information systems of customs authorities and participants in the transport market, and also legislative frameworks for applying IT in transport. Speakers at the plenary session will include Alexander Polukeyev, Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the North-Western Federal District; Vladimir Klimenko, Deputy Chairman of the Transport Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation; Yevgeny Tsivirko, Chairman of the IT Development and Communications Committee of the Government of St Petersburg; Alexei Illarionov, Head of the IT Development and Corporate Governance Processes Department at Russian Railways; Kirill Kornilyev, Director General of IBM in Russia and the CIS; Valery Vishnyakov, Director of the Main Computer Centre, a branch of Russian Railways; and Petr Manevich, Director General of the Central Communication Station, a branch of Russian Railways.

The plenary session will be followed by the Official Opening of the exhibition and a tour of the stands by the official guests.

One interesting innovation will be the use of panel discussions in an interactive format for the convenience of participants – the Omyconf! business contacts system. Use of this system offers new opportunities for business contacts when people register with Omyconf: a full list of conference participants, information on the event programme, with speakers, notices from the organisers, electronic voting during the panel discussion, the possibility of putting your question to the speaker directly during the presentation, feedback with the organisers during the whole conference, and other opportunities.

After dinner the event participants can look forward to working on four parallel sections: IT interaction between participants in the transport market, building and developing ICT infrastructure for transport businesses, telecommunications in the technological processes of rail transport, and ensuring the interoperability of transportation systems and wireless communications technologies in rail transport.

The participants are about to have two days of fruitful work, during which there will be a number of other conferences, meetings and discussions.

Have a successful dialogue!