Expert group to be new government's core - Medvedev

An expert group will be the core of the new Russian government, incumbent President Dmitry Medvedev says.

"That's a very good idea. I support the idea of establishning an expert group," President Medvedev said today.

 “The authorities … need to change as an institute, given the new communication technologies and public demands for trust and justice,” Medvedev said at the meeting of his open government informal group in Moscow.

The open government, created by Medvedev in 2011 and initially dubbed “The Big Government,” is an informal group of experts and public society figures that is to consult the real Russian government, which Medvedev is expected to head after the presidential inauguration of his successor Vladimir Putin in May.