Stepan Vladimirovich Orlov was one of the founders of the Institute of the Information Society. Since the establishment of the Institute to this day, he has been the chairman of its Supervisory Board. Since 1999, he has also been Deputy Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Information Society journal.

Stepan Orlov was born on October 22, 1971 in Leningrad. His grandfather, Sergei Sergeevich Orlov, was a front-line soldier and a poet. His father is a journalist, his mother is an actress of the children’s theater, Honored Artist of Russia. His wife Natalya is an art critic, artist.

Stepan Orlov graduated with honors from Lomonosov Moscow State University (Faculty of History) and the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (Faculty of Law). He has a PhD in Economics. Now he is head of the Department of the History of Social Movements and Political Parties, Faculty of History, Moscow State University. He is also member of the Council of the Alumni Association of the Faculty of History of Moscow State University.

Deputy of the Moscow City Duma of the second (1997-2001), third (2001-2005), fourth (2005-2009), fifth (2009-2014) and sixth (2014-2019) convocations. Re-elected to the Moscow City Duma on September 8, 2019.

From 2006 to the present, S/ Orlov is Chairman of the Moscow City Duma Commission on Urban Economy and Housing Policy.

Deputy Chairman of the Moscow City Duma.

He is head of the United Russia faction in the Moscow City Duma. Member of the Presidium of the Political Council of the Moscow City Organization of the United Russia party.

Member of the Union of Journalists of Russia.

Awarded with Acknowledgments from the President of the Russian Federation and the Mayor of Moscow.

We sincerely congratulate Stepan Vladimirovich on his anniversary and wish him good health, great personal happiness and inexhaustible energy for the good of Russia and Moscow!

On October 7, 2021, one of the founders of the Institute of the Information Society and our senior friend Dmitry Semenovich Chereshkin celebrated his 90th anniversary.

D.S. Chereshkin is a prominent specialist in the field of system analysis of information processes. Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences since 1990. Member of the International Group on Information Security in Telecommunications, expert of the EU Data Protection Committee, Deputy Chairman of the Expert Council under the Information Security Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

Dmitry Semenovich was born in 1931. After graduating from the Bauman Moscow State Technical University, he received the specialty of an engineer for the automation of radio devices (1956). After graduation, he worked at the Strela Design Bureau, engaged in the design of homing heads for various types of missiles. In the mid-1960s, he worked as a teacher at the Forestry Institute, taught courses on nonlinear automatic systems and automated control systems. Then he worked as Deputy Director for Science of the Main Computer Center of the Ministry of Forestry.

Since 1976 he worked at the Institute for System Analysis of the Russian Academy of Sciences (formerly VNIISI), heading (since 1997) the laboratory for system analysis of informatization processes. He is one of the leading ideologists of the processes of informatization of the Russian society, a responsible executor and scientific supervisor of many research projects of theoretical and applied plans in the field of computerization and automation of large organizational and control systems.

Under his scientific guidance and with direct participation in 1990-2000, the main theoretical and methodological provisions of the strategy of the country’s transition to the information society have been developed, which determined the main directions of the state policy of informatization carried out by the Ministry of Communications of Russia. D.S. Chereshkin made a great contribution to the development of the Concept of State Information Policy, approved by the relevant Committee of the State Duma of the Russian Federation.

In 1995, a team headed by prof. Chereshkin developed the Concept of Information Security of the Russian Federation, which formed the conceptual basis of the Information Security Doctrine of the Russian Federation adopted in 2000. He solved complex methodological problems of assessing the effectiveness of information security systems, assessing the risks of information security breaches. The results of these works have received wide recognition and practical implementation in the information security system of the Central Bank of Russia. Prof. Chereshkin’s great achievement is the creation of a new specialty of the Higher Attestation Commission – “Information Security”.

D.S. Chereshkin is directly involved in the formation and functioning of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences: he created the section “Informatics and Cybernetics” and became its chairman, and was soon elected vice-president of the Academy. He was also directly involved in the creation of the Institute of the Information Society, is a member of its Supervisory Board and a member of the editorial board of the Information Society journal. He is the chairman of the board of National Association of Electronic Commerce Participants.

He is also a member of the expert councils of the Higher Attestation Commission of Russia and the RFBR, in which he takes an active part. Member of dissertation councils of the Institute for System Analysis of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. More than 10 Ph.D. theses have been defended under his supervision. He is author of over 250 scientific papers recognized by the scientific community.

We sincerely congratulate Dmitry Semenovich on this glorious anniversary and wish him good health, personal happiness and great mood!

Within the framework of the project for the standardization of big data, the NTI Competence Center for Big Data, Moscow State University, a national standard in the field of management systems for big data analytics processes has been prepared. The document is a translation of the corresponding ISO standard. Prior to that, a glossary of terms in the field of big data was approved in Russia.

The Technical Committee for Standardization “Artificial Intelligence” (TC-164) has submitted for public discussion the first edition of the standard “Information Technologies. Artificial intelligence. Big Data Analytics Process Management Framework ”. This was reported by representatives of the National Technological Initiative (NTI).

The draft standard was developed by the National Center for Digital Economy of the Lomonosov Moscow State University within the above project and the Institute of the Information Society (IIS). TK-164 was created in 2019 at the initiative of the Russian Venture Company (RVC) with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation and Rosstandart.

The national standard is a Russian-language adaptation of the developed international standard ISO / IEC 24668 Information technology – Artificial intelligence – Process management framework for big data analytics. The development of the Russian version of the standard was included in the Perspective Standardization Program for the priority direction “Artificial Intelligence” for the period 2021-2024, it was also approved by the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia and Rosstandart.

The first edition of the national standard describes a comprehensive concept of how to effectively use the capabilities of big data analytics in various services and departments of organizations. It is with the use of big data analytics that the processes of automation, forecasting and decision support are carried out.

The draft standard defines a Big Data Analytics Process Reference Model (BDA PRM) and a Big Data Analytics Process Assessment Model (BDA PAM). The document describes five categories of processes: internal stakeholder processes, competency development processes, data management processes, analytics development processes, and technology integration processes.

The main target audience of the standard are people who implement big data analytics in organizations, as well as specialists in assessing the capabilities of big data analytics, the press service of NTI reported.

“By implementing, developing and evaluating big data analytics processes based on an international standard, organizations will be able to improve decision making, improve customer service, improve response to opportunities and threats, and therefore – reduce the number of errors, increase the efficiency and productivity of their activities, and reduce costs” , – notes the chairman of the subcommittee “Data” (PC 02) as part of TC 164, chairman of IIS Board of Directors Yuri Hohlov.

Globally, the standard will allow the stakeholders to use a single terminological apparatus, increase the dissemination and uniformity of information perception, increase the stability of terminology, create prerequisites for mutual penetration of domestic and world studies in the field of working with big data.

In fact, the proposed version of the national standard is a translation of the revision of the corresponding international standard. “International standardization is overtaking Russian, so it is important to close the gap through translations,” the NTI press service explained. – Translations also make it possible to harmonize international and national standards with each other. Among the developments of the National Center for Digital Economy of Moscow State University there are original standards that take into account Russian activities, but this is not always necessary.”

Earlier, Rosstandart approved GOST “Information Technologies. Big data. Overview and vocabulary”, which is identical to the international standard Information technology – Big data – Overview and vocabulary. The developers were also the National Center for Digital Economy of Moscow State University and IIS. The terms established in this standard are mandatory for use in all types of literature documentation for this scientific and technical industry, included in the field of standardization work and using the results of these works.

“Standardization of artificial intelligence will help to form in the market a unified understanding of what artificial intelligence is and what requirements should be imposed on technology at the stages of development and implementation,” says Pavel Frolov, founder of Robbo. “This is especially important for the segment of intelligent technologies, which represent a “black box” for users: the quality of their work depends on many factors, and the logic of decision-making is not transparent. Development of standard requirements for artificial intelligence will ensure the quality and safety of intelligent systems. “

Frolov adds that the industry is also waiting for a document on standard requirements for artificial intelligence in education – this is provided for by the program for standardizing artificial intelligence for 2021-2024. “Education is an area with increased requirements for the quality and safety of technologies, and standards are necessary in order to make wider use of intelligent technologies in the learning process,” he notes.

Source: CNews

On September 15 and 16, 2021, the IV Russian Intersectoral Summit “Industry 4.0. Digital Factory” was held, which was attended by over 200 representatives of large industrial companies in Russia. The event was supported by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, FSTEC of Russia and the Department of Investment and Industrial Policy of the city of Moscow.

Among the participants there were representatives of such industry companies as Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Sibur-Digital, Sintez-OKA, Uralchem, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus, Kirov Factory, Russian Helicopters, Sukhoi Company, KamAZ, DMZ, Uralvagonzavod, Rosatom, TVEL, Inter RAO , TGK-1, T-Plus, Rosseti, MRSK, Rusagro, PharmFirma Sotex, Prikamsk Cardboard, International Paper, Knauf Group, Russian Space Systems, Mosgaz and others, as well as representatives of scientific and design institutes, government agencies and the expert community.

The program of the first day of the Summit (September 15) began with the strategic congress “Digital Opportunities for Industry”.

The business program continued with the Big Data and Data Analysis session (sponsored by Paessler AG). The session was moderated by Tatiana Ershova, general director of the Institute of the Information Society (IIS).

The first report was presented by Yuri Hohlov, chairman of the IIS Board of directors, head of the Big Data Standardization Project at the NTI Big Data Competence Center at Moscow State University.

At the beginning of his speech, Yuri Hohlov answered the question: why standards are needed if they (as opposed to regulatory legal regulation) are not mandatory for application.

First, standards are concentrated knowledge, especially when it comes to international standardization. They give a very well-established and consensus-based idea of ​​what there is to work with big data, what systems should be to work with them and the architecture of such systems, how it is worth carrying out certain processes. Second, if an organization follows standards, its systems and services (both existing and newly created) will be interoperable, that is, compatible with others. This allows industry participants to share data, build better solutions and conduct analytics based on it.

The more complete the stack of standards that allow the consistent development of technologies for working with data is, the higher is the chance that all players – business, government, non-profit sector – will be able to derive social and economic benefits. Research shows that between 1% and 1.5% of a country’s GDP is increasing through the concerted widespread application of standards.

According to Yuri Hohlov, the standardization of big data started rather recently – about 10 years ago. This activity was initiated by the US National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Big Data Working Group, which pioneered a national big data standards stack.

Then similar activities began at the international level. There are three key players here: the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The latter is mainly focused on the application of standards in the telecommunications industry, for which big data transmission issues are important. ISO and IEC, in turn, deal with more general issues.

For example, last year, ISO and IEC finally approved a series of five international standards that describe a big data reference architecture. “This knowledge can and should be used when you create, purchase or use these or those systems for working with big data, since all manufacturers follow these standards,” noted Yuri Hohlov.

At the same time, new standards are being developed. A standard related to Big Data Analytics Management Process Framework is coming soon. A decision has been made to create a series of standards dedicated to data quality issues for analytics and machine learning.

According to Yuri Hohlov, the standardization of big data in Russia began in 2017. It was handled by the Internet of Things Association, the Russian Venture Company and the Cyber-Physical Systems Technical Committee (TC 194). In 2019, this activity was transferred to TC 164 “Artificial Intelligence”, where the subcommittee “Data” operates. Its work is supported by the NTI Competence Center for Big Data, Moscow State University.

So, on November 1, 2021, the first Russian standard in the field of big data, elaborated by the NTI Big Data Competence Center of Moscow State University and the Institute of the Information Society, will come into force. The document establishes Russian-language terms and their definitions necessary when working with big data, and is harmonized with the international standard.

“Now we have a whole series of standards coming out,” Yuri Hohlov shared. It includes not only standards identical to international ones, but also original ones, taking into account national peculiarities.

The project team of the NTI Competence Center for Big Data at MSU not only participates in international and national standardization. “We have created a model for evaluating the use of big data in a given organization. The toolkit allows you to independently assess, according to the main dimensions of the maturity model, how ready an organization is to use big data or is mature in this regard,” said Yuri Hohlov.

Vyacheslav Milovanov, business development manager at Paessler (sponsor of the session), noted that for a long time we have been taking smart manufacturing for granted. As a result of the arrival of digitalization in industry, it became necessary to continuously monitor not only classical, but also industrial IT infrastructures in production.

Then Maxim Galimov, product director of BIT “Master” LLC, spoke about the development of the organization’s vehicle fleet potential, based on the analysis of data on trips and routes for the digital plant.

Artur Khismatullin, head of the production systems development department of the OTSO branch of URALCHEM JSC, made a presentation on the topic “Controlling the reliability of primary technological data as a basis for digitalization”, in which he spoke about the effect of digitalization and approaches to controlling technological data.

The digital platform for industrial marketing management was the topic of the next speaker, Alexey Lukin, partner of MATE MARKETING SOLUTIONS.

The report “Data – New Oil in Industry 4.0” was presented by Konstantin Andreev, co-owner of Globus.

Maxim Borodko, technical director of UNITESS LLC, told the Summit participants about the Metrology 4.0 digital platform for automation of measurements.

The session was continued by Natalya Malkova, IT Director of Sintez OKA LLC. She talked about ways to create a human resources ecosystem for digital manufacturing.

Tatiana Vavilova, director of integrated projects at Mail.ru Group, made a presentation “End-to-end platforms as a tool for digital optimization”, in which she emphasized that at the moment most companies are at different stages of digitalization. At the same time, the goal is the same for everyone: to provide a quality of service at the level of digital giants, since this is exactly what users and business require. The presentation was continued by Evgeny Maksimov, corporate account manager at Mail.ru Cloud Solutions, who spoke about the benefits of cloud infrastructure for business.

Alexey Soldatov, general director of Datapro LLC, explained that the development of modern business and its modernization in the current realities can no longer be imagined without the introduction of digital technologies. Large companies, for which the security of their data to the highest standards is important, are increasingly resorting to the services of certified data centers.

The session was closed by the representative of the German company Knauf CIS, Thorsten Schubert, director of the department for finance, IT and administration. The speaker made an overview of the development of digitalization in the construction industry in recent years, spoke about the current state of affairs in this area, as well as the prospects for further development and technical capabilities in the coming years both in Russia and in other countries of the world where Knauf is represented.

The business program of the first day of the summit was continued by the session “Artificial Intelligence and Robotization”.

On the second day of the Summit (September 16), the sessions “Cybersecurity of industrial systems and business processes”, “VR / AR technologies – digital human capabilities in the digital era” and “Industrial Internet of Things – a driver of increasing production efficiency” were held.

In parallel with the business program of the summit, a focus exhibition was held on both days. Its exhibitors were: Adept, Veg Rus, Balluff, Revotech, Nauka, Paessler, CyberBook, PcVue Russia and the CIS, RTKloud, Datapro, Videosoft, EvriTag, GK Networks.

The guests of the summit appreciated the high level of organization of the event, the richness and relevance of the business program, as well as the practical orientation of the reports. Russian Intersectoral Summit “Industry 4.0. Digital Factory” was held for the fourth time, the next event with a similar theme will be held in the fall of 2022.

Sources: Press service of the IV Russian Intersectoral Summit “Industry 4.0. Digital Factory”, IIS, NTI Competence Center for Big Data, Moscow State University

Photo: Organizers of the IV Russian Intersectoral Summit “Industry 4.0. Digital Factory”

On September 8, 2021, within the framework of the VIII Federal Congress “Priorities 2030” at the site of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, one of the key events took place – the Business Forum “Development Strategies”. The event was organized by the Business Partnership Agency and the RF Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Traditionally, the event was attended by representatives of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, relevant ministries and departments, legislative and executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, academia and business communities.

The Priorities 2030 Congress is a progressive business platform created with the aim of building a regular, open and constructive dialogue between the business community, government authorities, academia and the professional non-profit sector.

One of the key speakers of the plenary session was Yuri Hohlov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute of the Information Society. He spoke on the topic “Digital transformation or digital development – what is most important”.

Round table “Digital Transformation of the Real Sector of the Economy. Goals. Tasks. Priorities” was moderated by Michael Yakushev, Deputy Director of the Institute of Digital Environment Law of the Higher School of Economics, member of the Supervisory Board of the Institute of the Information Society.

The participants discussed the following issues:

• Combining efforts of the state, business, innovation community and science as a factor of successful digitalization of the real sector of the Russian economy
• Creation of conditions for the development of digital services and solutions and their implementation in the sectors of the fuel and energy complex
• Digitalization of the energy complex of Russia: from automated processes to digital transformation
• Digital technologies and platform solutions in the oil and gas complex (“Smart Well”, “Intelligent Field”, modeling based on Big Data, analysis of geological information, automated control centers)
• Industrial Internet of Things and machine learning
• Smart manufacturing. Digital Twin, industrial sensors for monitoring and analysis
• The digital transformation of an industrial enterprise as the basis for increasing the company’s competitiveness
• Development of the competencies of the project personnel of industrial companies in the context of digital transformation
• Successful cases of digital manufacturing management
• Restructuring logistics in the context of digitalization. Logistic robots
• Implementation of 5G and 6G projects in the current economic environment. Possibilities of implementation in the industry
• Additive manufacturing and 3D printing of manufacturing equipment

Round table “Digital Transformation in Industrial Medicine. Topical Areas of Interaction between Independent Enterprises” was moderated by Elena Yashina, Adviser to the General Director – Head of the Service for Development and Support of Medical Programs of PJSC TATNEFT, Leading Researcher of the Laboratory of Information Technologies in the Management of the Institute of Applied Economic Research of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation.

The experts discussed the following issues:

• Aspects of the implementation of the departmental target program “Modernization of Primary Healthcare in the Russian Federation”
• Increasing the availability of medical care (preliminary and periodic medical examinations, digital medical examinations, primary health care; specialized medical care; high-tech medical care)
• Increasing the availability of drug provision for citizens
• Digitalization of the healthcare system
• Formation of an innovative regulatory space
• Challenges and preliminary results of the pandemic: priority directions for the development of healthcare and the labor protection system
• Increasing the anti-epidemic stability of healthcare facilities and production
• Challenges and preliminary results of the pandemic: priority directions for the development of healthcare and the labor protection system
• Legal, financial and economic problems and tasks of industrial medicine and labor protection systems
• Vaccination of risk groups
• Air ambulance. Features of use when servicing persons not included in the service contingent of manufacturing companies
• Comprehensive insurance coverage for industrial enterprises

On September 7, 2021, the Institute of the Information Society celebrated its 23rd anniversary.

The area of ​​professional activity of IIS is research, analytics and consulting, legislative, publishing and educational activities on a wide range of problems of information society and knowledge economy, as well as R&D and system integration in the field of creating modern information technologies, including design and implementation of different ICT solutions from the infrastructure level to the level of applied expert systems.

Over the years of its existence, IIS took part in fulfilling orders from federal and regional authorities, federal scientific funds. The Institute’s partners and customers are also large commercial companies, state unitary enterprises, government agencies, universities, research institutes (including RAS systems), non-profit organizations, and international organizations.

IIS has carried out a number of serious conceptual and methodological developments of national and international importance.

The Institute also has extensive experience in the development, implementation and examination of projects related to the e-development of Russian regions. Among the significant results of the work of IIS, it is necessary to mention e-readiness assessments of Russia and its regions, which were regularly published since 2001.

In total, the Institute has held more than a hundred events at the regional, national and international levels, published over 30 books on a range of problems of the information society.

Since 1999, the Institute, together with the Russian Engineering Academy, has been the publisher of the scientific and analytical journal “Information Society”, the only publication in Russia that comprehensively and systematically covers the problems of the information society development. In 2010, the journal was included in the List of leading peer-reviewed scientific journals and publications, approved by the Higher Attestation Commission of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, and in 2015 it confirmed its status. Also, since 2015, the journal has been included in the Russian Science Citation Index on the Web of Science platform.

Leading experts of the Institute have participated and continue to participate in the implementation of a number of initiatives promoting the use of ICT for comprehensive development in Russia and at the international level, in particular: the working groups of ANO “Digital Economy” on digital governance and artificial intelligence; subcommittee “Data” (PC 02) as part of the Technical Committee for Standardization “Artificial Intelligence” (TC 164) on the basis of RVC; Council for Digital Transformation of ANO “Digital Economy”; expert council under the Government of the Russian Federation (2014-2018); Working Group on the Measurement and Evaluation Tool for E-Participation Readiness (METEP), formed by the Division of Governance and Development of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (2013-2015); WSIS Action Line C7 e-Government of the action plan for the implementation of the decisions of the World Summit on the Information Society (2012-2017); Council under the President of Russia for the Development of the Information Society (2009-2012); Expert Council “The Future of Government” of the World Economic Forum (2008-2012); Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (GAID) (2006-2012); UN ICT Task Force (2002-2005); The Digital Opportunity Task Force (DOT Force) (2000-2001); The Global Bangemann Challenge (1998-1999), then converted to the Stockholm Challenge (2000-2010); Global Junior Challenge (1999-2009); Public Expert Council of the Moscow City Duma in the direction of “Information, Informatization, Communications, Telecommunications and Television” (1998-2001), then transformed into the Public Expert Council of the Moscow City Duma on the Development of the Information Society (2002-2006), etc.

The Institute today employs people of various specialties, ages and nationalities. They constitute a powerful intellectual and creative union of like-minded people, thanks to which the Institute was able to overcome all difficulties and become a recognized “expert of the first choice”, an independent leader of Russia in the development of the information society. We congratulate all IIS employees and partners on the 23rd anniversary of the company and wish you all good health, good mood and enduring faith in success!

On August 20, 2021, discussion of the Code of Ethics in the field of artificial intelligence continued at the Analytical Center. The event was moderated by Sergey Nakvasin, deputy head of the Analytical Center, head of the Center for expertise for the implementation of the federal project “Artificial Intelligence”.

National guidelines on the ethics of artificial intelligence are being developed on behalf of the President of Russia and in accordance with the provisions of the National Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence until 2030, as well as the Concept for the Regulation of Relations in the Sphere of Artificial Intelligence Technologies and Robotics until 2024. The Analytical Center is working on the document together with the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia and the Alliance in the field of Artificial Intelligence. Experts are currently working on arguments for a specific framework that will ensure the ethical development of AI technologies.

“We want Russia to be among the top ten countries that develop ethical standards in the field of artificial intelligence. We cannot wait for our developers to be imposed on the standards by which they will have to work. It is better to develop your own standards and promote them at the global level,” explained Sofia Zakharova, an assistant at the Office for the Development of Information and Communication Technologies and Communications Infrastructure of the Presidential Administration.

She added that the Code should fulfill, among other things, an educational function. “The most important challenge is to build public confidence in technology. We will be able to achieve this if we openly disclose on what principles and rules artificial intelligence technologies will be developed and implemented,” Zakharova explained. In addition, according to her, in the absence of legislative regulation, the Code will become a guarantee for the developers themselves and protect them from unfair competition.

According to Andrey Neznamov, managing director of the AI ​​Regulation Center of PJSC Sber, the Code will regulate the work of regulators, developers, customers, operators, users of artificial intelligence systems, AI experts and operators, and other persons potentially having the ability to influence the AI. The norms of the code will be advisory in nature and apply to all market participants, regardless of their nationality. “When developing the norms of the Code, we relied on the human-centered principle, according to which technologies should contribute to the realization of all potential human capabilities, as well as on risk-oriented principle – any technology should be considered from the point of view of not only benefits, but also risks to the interests of human and society, and also on the principles of precaution and responsibility. Our task is to do so as to prevent harm as much as possible and ensure the safety of developments,” Neznamov explained.

The expert listed the key principles of the AI ​​Code of Ethics. So, according to him, the main priority in the development of AI technologies is to protect the interests of people. In addition, the Code speaks of the need to be aware of the responsibility for the creation and use of AI, which always lies with humans. “AI technologies can and should be implemented immediately where it will benefit people. The interests of developing AI technologies should be higher than the interests of competition,” Neznamov listed. “Maximum transparency and truthfulness is important in informing about the level of development of AI technologies, about the opportunities, risks, successes and failures of application.”

As the participants of the round table noted, the principles of ethics should evolve as new knowledge, challenges and opportunities emerge. The experts drew attention to the fact that, unlike the norms of law, the provisions of the Code will not have legal significance. Therefore, the key mechanism for the application of the Code should be public attention to the topic and censure of those who violate ethical norms. A company that does not comply with the requirements of the document will incur reputational and economic losses, not legal ones.

In the speech of Yuri Hohlov, chairman of the Board of directors, Institute of the Information Society, several theses were presented.

First, the target audience of the Code must be clearly defined. On the one hand, it is developed by the professional community, so the text is replete with “professionalisms” and special terms. On the other hand, the Code should be understandable to any citizen of Russia, because one of the goals of its creation is to overcome the population’s distrust of artificial intelligence. It is one thing to talk to professionals about how artificial intelligence systems should be designed so that they follow certain principles of ethics, and another thing is to explain to citizens how to ethically use a service or solution based on artificial intelligence technologies. These are two completely different tasks, so it is recommended that you first determine the target audiences and, possibly, make different documents for each of them.

Secondly, not all the main stakeholders are identified in the proposed Code. Everything related to developers of artificial intelligence systems is spelled out in great detail, down to subcategories. But only the expert part has been singled out from the scientific and educational community. In fact, it is necessary to talk about four main groups of stakeholders: government, business, civil society and the already mentioned scientific and educational community.

Thirdly, in the proposed text the principles of ethics for the development of artificial intelligence systems are formulated immediately, but it is not said which ethical system is taken as a basis. It is clear that the ethical system of the Western world is radically different from the ethics of Confucianism or Buddhism, and we need to understand well what we will use in Russia, what ethical principles should guide the developers and consumers of AI-based solutions and services. Without this, it is very difficult to imagine the limitations that should be laid in the artificial intelligence systems being created.

Fourthly, it is necessary to decide on the sites where the discussion of the main provisions of the Code will be held. Legislative authorities, the Public Chamber and others were mentioned, but there was no talk about the Commission of the State Council of the Russian Federation in the direction of “Communications and digital economy”. And this is also a very important platform.

The Artificial Intelligence Code of Ethics is slated to be presented in the fall.

Sources: Website of the Analytical Center for the Government of the Russian Federation, IIS

On August 12, 2021, within the framework of the All-Russian Forum “Digital Evolution” in Kaluga, a round table was held on the concept of the National Index for the Digital Economy Development of the Russian Federation.

Yuri Zarubin, deputy director of the Department for Coordination of Programs and Projects of the Ministry of Digital Economy of the Russian Federation, spoke about general approaches to the development of the National Index for the Digital Economy Development of the Russian Federation. According to the speaker, the global goal of creating the index is to help various categories of stakeholders (federal and regional governments, business, scientific and expert community, citizens) make informed decisions that would contribute to digital transformation in the regions. In turn, this should lead to an increase in the quality of life and to ensure equal access to digital technologies.

The objectives of the index include, firstly, assessing, comparing and ranking Russian regions by the level of digital transformation. Secondly, the definition of the strengths and reserves for the growth of digital transformation in the constituent entities of Russia. Thirdly, the formation of an effective tool for making management decisions, as well as the determination of priority areas of state support in the field of digital transformation of regions. “Management decisions here can be very different – from making a decision on the need to allocate certain subsidies based on the gaps that the rating should identify, right up to the writing of important regulatory legal acts,” explained Yuri Zarubin.

To calculate the index, in addition to official statistics from Rosstat, federal authorities and sectoral autonomous non-profit organizations, it is planned to use data from telecom operators and the banking sector. For the formation of comparative analytics, a survey of representatives of regional authorities is additionally carried out. “All indicators <…> will be rechecked – the reliability of this rating will be very high,” the speaker noted.

At the moment, Lomonosov Moscow State University, who previously won a two-year contract for the development of this index. It is represented by the NTI Competence Center for Big Data Storage and Analytics at the Moscow University (NTI Center for Big Data at MSU), which is the direct developer of the index. MSU has finalized the concept of the index, updated the composition of the indicators included in it and the methodology for their calculation. The index will be elaborated annually. Tentatively, its first results are planned to be publicly presented in February-March 2022. Russian regions will be divided into three groups: leading regions, developing regions and regions that need support.

When developing the index, it is also planned to hold a series of discussions with experts and representatives of the regions in order to identify the reserves for increasing its effectiveness.

Oleg Karasev, vice-rector of Moscow State University, co-head of the commercialization area of ​​the NTI Center for Big Data, during his presentation spoke about the methodological features of the future index and the indicators underlying the concept of its construction.

“This index is important from the point of view of supporting management decision-making processes not only at the state level, but also at the corporate one. And even at the level of citizens who consume certain digital services,” the speaker emphasized.

The conceptual basis of the digital transformation process adopted by the developers correlates with the long-term international practice of constructing the corresponding indices, the regulatory documents in force in Russia, as well as the theoretical works of leading world scientists. This methodological framework takes into account three components:

Factors (human capital, investment climate, institutional environment, digital infrastructure, science, technology and innovation);
Stakeholders (government sector, business sector, science and education sector, household sector);
Achieved social and economic effects.

According to Oleg Karasev, the structure of the index being created contains six main indicators, or sub-indices:

• Institutional environment (management of digital transformation of the region, regulatory environment);
• Infrastructure and access (network, information infrastructure);
• Digital transformation potential (investment climate, science, technology and innovation, human capital);
• Digital transformation of the public sector (public administration, healthcare, education, urban economy and construction, public transport);
• Digital transformation of business (integration of digital technologies into business processes);
• Digital transformation of society (digital consumption, digital security).

The indicators that are taken into account when calculating the index are grouped into the final integral value – from 0 to 100 points. “All indicators included in the rating are normalized accordingly. This is important for the consolidated presentation of indicators that are initially incomparable with each other, have different units of measurement and distribution laws,” said Oleg Karasev.

Based on the results of calculating the index for each region, a passport will be formed, which, in addition to information about the place in the rating, will also indicate the contribution of digitalization to GRP, the scale of the ICT sector, characteristics of the quality of regional policy in the field of digital development and specific recommendations that could positively affect to the level of digital transformation.

As part of the round table, it was noted that when calculating the National Index of the Digital Economy Development of the Russian Federation, the results of the rating of “digital maturity” of the regions will be taken into account.

The speakers with reports were also:

• Vasily Slyshkin, director of the Department of Digital Transformation and Coordination of Budgetary Expenditures of the Ministry of Finance;
• Yuri Hohlov, chairman of the Board of directors of the Institute of the Information Society;
• Alexander Zorin, director for Regional policy, ANO “Digital Economy”;
• Sofia Pavlova, head of the Digital transformation leader program, Center for Training Leaders and Teams of Digital Transformation, RANEPA;
• Pavel Shilyaev, director of the Project office for integration solutions, PJSC Rostelecom.

Experts of the event were:

• Galina Ermilova, independent expert;
• Alexander Shvetsov, deputy director of the Federal Research Center “Informatics and Management” of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Yuri Hohlov, speaking, expressed not only his personal opinion, but also the position of the expert group “Architecture of digital government” of the working group “Digital public administration of ANO “Digital Economy”, which he leads.

He noted that questions are often asked whether such an index is needed at all, what it serves and what tasks it solves. This is not a new exercise: the history of rating Russian regions on the use of ICT for development dates back to the beginning of the 2000s. Such a rating is definitely needed, since it contributes to the solution of the task set in the Strategy for the Information Society Development in the Russian Federation (2008), namely, overcoming the information / digital divide between the regions. In accordance with the Strategy, the differences between the regions in terms of integral indicators of digital development should not exceed 2 times. This task was previously solved within the framework of the federal target program “Electronic Russia” and the state program “Information Society”, and now – within the framework of individual federal projects of the national program “Digital Economy of the Russian Federation”. But there is no need to simply rank the regions, one should assess the difference in the level of digital maturity between the lagging regions and the leading regions and move towards providing all citizens of the country with equal opportunities through the use of digital technologies.

To what extent does the proposed Index serve this social problem? At this stage, we must first of all focus on goal-setting, which Alexander Shvetsov spoke about in his speech, and on the corresponding set of indicators. We need to highlight and explicitly present those indicators that characterize the achievement of socio-economic effects due to digital transformation:

• What is the contribution of digital transformation to GRP?
• How is the quality of services growing? How satisfied are our citizens and organizations with these services? How much time is shortened for the provision of public services? How convenient are public services?
• What changes are taking place in the sphere of social services, in the labor market? Etc.

In characterizing digital maturity, according to Yu. Hohlov, we need to look more not at the quantitative indicators that we have learned to measure, but at the effects. So far, Rosstat and other authorities are collecting statistics related to the previous stage of the information society development, when we were simply glad that we connected more schools or medical organizations, installed more computers, and got more Internet users in the country. But we did not look at what socio-economic benefits are derived from all this, which should be at the forefront of the formation of the National Index, when characterizing digital maturity. By itself, it (digital maturity) is hardly needed. This is the first and foremost message that developers should be guided by.

The second problem is that we do not have this knowledge of digital transformation. We do not have data on radical, disruptive changes that digital technologies bring with them, we do not know how to collect them using federal statistical observation. Therefore, we must devote a significant part of our efforts and resources to collecting data for new indicators and learn how to calculate them. Many expert groups in the world have already started doing this. For example, within the G20 framework, a working group on measuring the digital economy has been operating for several years and formulates recommendations on what to look for. So far, this is not taken into account when constructing the National Index of the Digital Economy Development in the Russian Federation.

His third thesis Yu. Hohlov addressed by to the Ministry of Digital Development and other authorities: we must very clearly build the decomposition of indicators from the federal level to the regional one. We must proceed from national goals, and not only from the point of view of digital development. Speaking about the lower, minimum acceptable level of digital maturity, it is proposed not to reason in the project paradigm. We need to talk about how certain digital technologies are used, and they can be used in different projects. We must measure how digital technologies affect a particular sector. A very important point is the production and implementation of these technologies both at the national and regional levels. If there are no companies in the region that are able to at least modify the proposed standard solutions, then this means that this region will have to pay not to its developers, but to strangers, and the money will go to the economies of other regions (or other countries). Therefore, it is necessary to support the digital sector of the economy in the regions. This is also a very important factor in digital development that needs to be measured and taken into account.

According to Yuri Hohlov, in monitoring the digital economy development in the country, it is necessary to make another “approach to the weight”, to revise the system of indicators, especially for the level of digital maturity of industries. This should be done within the framework of a broad discussion with the involvement of all stakeholders: government at all levels, business, the scientific and educational community, and civil society. Now is not the time to discuss individual indicators of the proposed Index, until a conceptual framework has been formed that takes into account the effects of digital transformation.

Sources: NTI Center for Big Data at MSU, IIS

On the night of August 1, 2021, Yasen Zasursky, President of the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University, died at the age of 92.

Yasen Nikolaevich Zasursky was born on October 29, 1929 in Moscow. After graduating from school as an external student at the age of 14, in 1944, he entered the English faculty of the Maurice Torez Moscow State Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages. He graduated in 1948. After that, he defended his Ph.D. thesis and for two years served as a scientific editor at the Foreign Literature Publishing House.

In 1953, Yasen Zasursky came to work at the recently created faculty of journalism at Moscow State University and stayed there for life. Since 1955, he has been the head of the Department of foreign journalism and literature. In 1965 he became dean of the faculty and headed it for more than 40 years, until 2007, when he moved to the position of president of the faculty. He was the last of the teachers to work since the founding of the faculty. During his work, he gave a start in profession to tens of thousands of students.

In 1999, when the Institute of the Information Society together with the Russian Engineering Academy took over the publication of the scientific and analytical journal Information Society, we invited Professor Zasursky to join its editorial board, because Yasen Nikolaevich was very interested in this topic. He took an active part in the work of the board and in many ways influenced the formation of editorial policy and criteria for the quality of articles.

Yasen Nikolaevich will forever remain in our memory as a senior friend and kind adviser.

The Vedomosti newspaper informs: Rosstandart has approved the terminological standards to be followed by the participants of the big data market, follows from the order of the department, which Vedomosti got acquainted with. This standard is being introduced for the first time, it follows from its description

The state standard (GOST) “Information Technologies. Big data. Review and vocabulary” is identical to the international standard Information technology – Big data – Overview and vocabulary, emphasize its developers from the National Center for Digital Economy of Moscow State University and the Institute of the Information Society. The development of the standard was carried out within the framework of the budgetary program of state support for the National Technological Initiative (NTI) competence center for big data storage and analytics at Moscow State University, said a representative of the autonomous non-commercial organization “NTI Platform”.

“The terms established by this standard are mandatory for use in all types of documentation and literature on this scientific and technical branch, included in the scope of work on standardization and (or) using the results of these works,” – noted in the description of the standard.

The GOST contains translations of English terms related to big data into Russian and a decoding of their meanings. For example, “data analytics” is “a composite concept that encompasses the acquisition, collection, validation and processing of data, including its quantification, visualization and interpretation.” And, for example, “data variability” – “changes in the transmission rate, format or structure, semantics or quality of the data array.” Then follow the key characteristics of big data (volume, processing speed, variety and variability) with an explanation of their meaning.

“The adoption of the first national standard sets the vector of joint actions by government, business, and academia to develop the data economy in Russia,” says Yuri Hohlov, chairman of the board of directors of the Institute of the Information Society. “We are committed to closing the big data standardization gap.” Terminology standards are the first in the IT industry, and then all the others are added to them, he explains.

According to Hohlov, eight more national standards in the field of big data are to be adopted, concerning their reference architecture, security, analysis methods, use cases, etc.

As of the end of 2019, the Boston Consulting Group estimated the volume of the Russian big data market at RUB 45 billion with a growth rate of 12% over the past five years. According to the calculations of the Big Data Association, the volume of the big data market in Russia is 10-30 billion rubles. At the same time, according to the average forecasts of Russian and foreign experts, this indicator is expected to grow to 300 billion rubles by 2024.

A terminological standard is really necessary, says Nikita Utkin, chairman of the Cyber-Physical Systems Technical Committee at Rosstandart: “It should allow big data market participants to communicate in one language – terminological uniformity is needed, for example, for drawing up procurement documents, technical specifications and technical documentation.”

“It will be possible to rely on this terminological apparatus when creating regulatory documents,” says Christina Proskurnina, head of Big Data at CROC.

The representative of Mail.ru Group believes that standardization of terms is a useful thing, as it reduces misunderstandings between market participants: “If the proposed terminology helps in structuring communication on a given topic, it’s not bad. Especially for those companies that are just getting started with big data.”

There are already several international standards for big data in the world that define concepts and terms, says director of the Institute for Internet Research Karen Ghazaryan: “Therefore, Rosstandart’s actions are quite logical. But for business, this standard does not change anything, it is, in fact, just a dictionary of terms with which participants in the big data market are already perfectly familiar.”

Rather, it is a dictionary for officials, who often have a vague idea of what big data is – it will only help companies with government purchases, summed up Ghazaryan.

“I would like the business to be more deeply involved in the development of big data standards,” Utkin concludes.

Source: Vedomosti newspaper, 15 Ju;y 2021