This seemed to be the main purpose of his visit, all the more so since he had already announced his intention to give much of his own money to charity. Yet later that day, Gates met with Microsoft's Russian partners and the press, and it became clear that his trip was not purely philanthropic. Most of his speech was devoted to presenting the software giant's new products.
Gates' previous visit to Russia took place in 1997. At that time, he discussed an idea to turn Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles into carriers for a space Internet project, a system uniting several hundred satellites that would provide radio access to the web. But the project soon stalled.
This time, he had several more reasons to come to Moscow. First, he visited a conference entitled "Innovation and Information Technology: Global Challenges, Opportunities and Achievements," which was attended by Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Information Technology and Communications Minister Leonid Reiman. Gates told the gathering that he was willing to help bring the country's schools online. Moreover, this will be done using dedicated lines instead of outdated dialup connections. It would be great if all schools had Internet access, he said.
After the conference, Gates met with Russian officials in a more private setting. He pledged his assistance in implementing the national education project to Medvedev and discussed the set up of an international technology university, the High Technology School, with Reiman. It is very important that the university should have a truly international atmosphere from the very beginning, attracting students from many different countries, Gates said. According to Reiman, it is important that the university share the experience of Russian programmers, who are the best in the world, and at the same time ensure that Russian high-tech companies have the managerial talent they need. He also assured the Microsoft chairman that there would be no problems with financing the project.
Still, the most interesting part of Gates' visit came in the evening, when he attended the "Microsoft Business Forum 2006" at the Moscow International Music House. The magnificence of the event and the number of guards made it look like an occasion where ordinary people had the chance to meet President Vladimir Putin, or at the very least a celebrity performance. There were so many people that many had to stand in the aisles. The celebrity arrived a little late, and the audience was meanwhile shown a video in which Gates talked about how much Russia had changed, all thanks to information technology. Having arrived, the famous American immediately went up to the podium and started speaking. Most of his 40-minute speech was devoted to the improvement of software business proposals. He also presented Microsoft's new products, MS Office 2007 and Windows Vista.
He would most probably have been greatly upset had he known that pirated versions of this software have long been on sale at Russian stalls and markets. Gates' monotonous speech was enlivened by answers to questions selected in advance by the Russian organizers. The most interesting one was about Gates' writing plans. He said he was thinking about writing a book about his new hobby, i.e. charity. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation finances efforts to fight HIV/AIDS, among other things. However, he does not intend to write an autobiography yet. Maybe in 30 or 40 years, he added.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and may not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
