The existing legal and regulatory framework is not sufficient for the development and use of information technologies, President Dmitry Medvedev said.

“The regulatory framework still fails to meet modern requirements. As a result, the old rules remain in effect, obligating both an applicant and an agency to submit documents only on paper personally or by mail,” Medvedev said at a joint meeting of the State Council and the presidential Council for the Development of Information Society on Wednesday.

The government has drafted proposals for amending regulatory acts, but the president believes that the same work should be done ay the regional and municipal levels.

“In addition, the rule requiring applicants to submit documents that are already available to agencies and institutions should be banned wherever possible,” Medvedev said.

He also believes it necessary to overcome digital inequality of regions. “This concerns mainly availability of the Internet, the quality of communication channels and therefore the speed of data transmission,” he said.

As an example, he named Moscow where 60 percent of the population use the Internet, while “in the majority of other regions this indicator is 30-35 percent”.

“The gap should be bridged,” the president added.