The scientific conference "INTERNET AND MODERN SOCIETY - 2002"

Virtual Conferences: Experience Analysis of Setting up Conferences and Participating in Them

Y.G. Gayevskaya

International Research and Exchange Board (IREX)
Almaty, Kazakhstan

One of the main prerequisites of a successful scientific activity is determined to be an expansion of opportunities for information exchange in academic domain alongside with science conferences arrangement. According to our experience virtual conferences demonstrate considerable possibilities in this respect. However, such conferences appear to be not very common in academic life of NIS countries and Central Asian region in particular. This is explained by several reasons. The most commonly mentioned factors are high Internet cost and absence of computer traffic in science and academic institutions. Admittedly, these reasons sound reasonable. But in our opinion lack and absence of worked out procedure to conduct virtual conferences equally makes a poor contribution to the problem. The present article contains author's description of participation in a virtual conference conducted by Hawaiin State University. She provides the conclusions based on problem analysis appeared during the process of setting up and conducting the first virtual conference for graduates of US financially supported academic programs.

Our following definition is worth consideration. Virtual conference is an event to facilitate teachers and academic workers quality improvement which is realised exclusively on the Internet services basis.

The content of conference on Hawaii was connected with different issues of international forms of academic exchange. Kazakhstan Conference content reflected the problems of integration of Kazakhstan into an integrated scientific space. Submitted publications for Kazakhstan conference and the process of its conducting allows to determine the viability of such conference as an academic activity. Comparison with American colleagues experience permits to define the ways of widening the organizational forms of conference work. These new ways surely will enrich its content.

[Russian version]

Original URL — http://imsconference2002.spbu.ru/02-eng3f14.html