Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications

European digital market will be a reality when electronic identification and information systems begin to speak the same language, ie they are interoperable, said the Deputy Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications Valery Borissov during the start of the European Dialogue on Internet governance today. He welcomed the guests at the 8th edition of the European Dialogue on Internet management (EuroDig), which Sofia hosts. In a special video message the Commissioner for the Digital Economy Günther Oettinger addressed the participants.

Bulgaria upholds the fundamental principles for construction and development of the Internet as a global strategic resource, with a particular focus on transparency, freedom of expression and access, security and technological neutrality, protection from harmful content and flexibility of management. This was stated by the Deputy Minister at the opening of the prestigious forum. According to him, our country supports the efforts aimed at a working model of Internet governance, with the involvement of all stakeholders. At national level the Ministry of Transport, Information Technology and Communications (MTITC) cooperats actively with the Internet community - businesses, NGOs and academia. One result of this interaction is the creation of the national Cyrillic domain ".бг" which is at an advanced stage of implementation.

Deputy Minister Valeri Borissov participated in the discussion panel dedicated to European digital market. To the series of questions on the state's role in providing access to the Internet, Deputy Minister Valery Borissov responded that the strategic objectives of the government are to achieve ultra-high-speed next generation coverage in the country by the end of the current programming period. He informed under MTITC’s initiatives a project for connecting optical networks in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia is being designed. In two weeks there will be a tripartite meeting on the progress of the project and in a few months the three ministers will present the project in Brussels.

One of the hottest topics discussed was for consumer confidence in services that the digital market will provide. Some participants suggested that the dialogue with Interpol and Europol may be seen as justification for states to monitor their citizens. On this issue, Deputy Minister Valery Borissov disagreed with the following example - in the case of a crime people first call 112, ie the state. The same thing happens with the Internet. Valery Borissov gave as an example the established National Computer Security Incidents Response Team (CERT). It carries out tasks related to prevention, protection and analysis of computer incidents, and assists the work of a number of departments and institutions.

The general opinion of all participants was that regulations should serve the end user, not to limit them. At the same time, they agreed on the importance of protecting human rights, personal data and children that compose one-third of Internet users in Europe.

The organizer of the forum is Unicart and the Ministry of Transport and Communications is an institutional partner of the event.