On April 14, 2021, an expert discussion of the results of 2020 in the field of artificial intelligence and initiatives aimed at developing analytics in this area was held at the Analytical Center (AC) under the Government of the Russian Federation.
Alexey Sidoryuk, Director for Artificial Intelligence at ANO Digital Economy, spoke about the main events of last year and the first quarter of this year in the artificial intelligence area. He noted that in 2020 the National Strategy for the Development of AI until 2030, the Concept for the Development of AI and Robotics and the Federal Project “Artificial Intelligence” were approved. The registration of AI systems in healthcare was also simplified, the president issued instructions for the implementation of technology in industries, and an action plan for testing unmanned vehicles was approved. In early 2021, a government decree was issued on the allocation of 1.4 billion rubles to support startups in the field of artificial intelligence.
To implement the federal project, it was decided to create a Center of expertise, added Sergey Nakvasin, Deputy Head of the AC, head of the Center of expertise for the implementation of the federal project “Artificial Intelligence”. “We must provide support for various project activities, as well as implement several of our own structural initiatives. We plan to implement all this in a partnership model with already established market participants,” said the expert. One of the tasks of the center, he said, is to provide the government apparatus with comprehensive information about what is happening in the country with AI technologies and in the market as a whole.
The Center of expertise will monitor the current situation in the field of artificial intelligence and analyze the “fronts” of scientific and technological revolution to identify and visualize relevant scientific and technological “fronts” based on the analysis of large amounts of data using AI methods. “This serious work is needed to determine the technological priorities for the development of science and technology in Russia,” Nakvasin explained. Also, the staff of the center will identify problem areas for the development of artificial intelligence in our country. In addition, it is planned to create an AI.Navigator – a national online portal in the field of artificial intelligence, which will become a unified information space for the community, an aggregator of key events and messages on the topic of AI, and a tool for market development. Now the center is preparing a digest of events in the field of artificial intelligence in the world. The first copy has already been published (in Russian).
One of the key areas of the center’s work will be to determine the maturity index of companies in priority industries for the introduction of artificial intelligence. “Evaluation of companies in sectors of the economy by the level of provision with sufficient opportunities and resources to introduce artificial intelligence into their activities and use it to increase efficiency is the most important infrastructure project for us. This is a way to accelerate companies’ adoption of technology solutions,”added Nakvasin.
Maturity of companies will be assessed by 9 factors: the use of AI, effects for business, development of industry solutions, human resources and competencies, infrastructure and data, research, security, corporate governance, industry structure and regulation. Experts have already started calculating the AI maturity index of the industry and processed 230 anonymous questionnaires from enterprises.
The discussion participants were presented with the analytical report – Almanac “Artificial Intelligence” Index 2020, prepared by the Competence Center of the National Technological Initiative in the direction of “Artificial Intelligence” at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. It contains an annual report summarizing the achievements of the year and publishing figures for the AI industry in Russia.
The discussion was attended by the Chairman of the IIS Board of directors Yuri Hohlov. He noted that there are questions for a number of indicators mentioned in the report, and he emphasized one of them: only those government expenditures on the development of AI were counted that were made through development institutions, and they seem to be 2-3 times underestimated, because expenses were not taken into account for programs that go through the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia. Also, funds for government assignments carried out in universities and academic institutes are not taken into account. In order for the figures to be correct, it is necessary to work with the Ministry of Education and Science, to conduct full-fledged surveys of scientific and educational organizations. There is no other way to get this information. Such surveys are necessary not only to monitor budget expenditures, but also to obtain values for a number of other indicators. You also need to ask commercial companies how much they spend on the development and use of AI. Without this, it is impossible to get a reliable picture.
Source: Analytical Center under the Government of the Russian Federation