The
Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation proposed the
creation of a subcommission on the development of artificial intelligence (AI).
The Office expects to form this association as part of the Government
Commission on Digital Development, the use of information technology to improve
the quality of life and the conditions for doing business. The subcommission
should help prepare the National Strategy for the Development of Artificial
Intelligence until 2030.
The
Ministry of Economic Development has developed a draft decree of the Government
of the Russian Federation, which involves the allocation of a subcommittee for
the development of artificial intelligence as part of the Government Commission
on Digital Development, the use of information technology to improve the
quality of life and the business environment. The initiative was published on
the portal of legal acts on Wednesday.
The
Office proposes to create a sub-commission in pursuance of the decree of the
President of the Russian Federation dated May 7, 2018 No. 204 "On national
goals and strategic objectives of the development of the Russian Federation for
the period until 2024" (in the decree, as one of the priority areas, there
is a need to ensure the accelerated implementation of digital technologies in
the economy and social sphere) and the National Strategy for the Development of
Artificial Intelligence until 2030 (at the moment, according to the explanatory
note to the LA, the draft National Strategy is being worked out by interested
government bodies and organizations). Recall that the President of Russia
instructed the National Strategy on AI to be developed by July 1, however, the
document prepared by Sberbank met with sharp criticism from the scientific
community and other interested parties (see ComNews news dated July 9, 2019).
The
Ministry of Economic Development plans to develop an appropriate provision in
which the functions and tasks of the subcommission on the development of
artificial intelligence will be spelled out. The implementation of the draft
resolution will not require the allocation of additional budgetary funds from
the federal budget, the explanatory note says. Yesterday, the Ministry of
Economic Development did not provide ComNews explanations on its own
initiative.
As
the chairman of the board of directors of 3i Technologies Alexey Lyubimov
argues, if you follow the logic that the subcommittee for the development of
artificial intelligence is created in pursuance of the National Strategy for
AI, then it should deal mainly with strategic issues. "So far, we don’t
understand the mechanisms of interaction between this government structure and
the market. It is not clear what ideas will dominate the subcommission.
However, the very fact that such a structure appears is an important step in
creating a consistent technological policy in the field of AI," he said.
Denis
Lisin, General Director of Clover Group, a Russian developer of predictive
services for industry, believes that the creation of a subcommission will
accelerate both the development and understanding of artificial intelligence in
general. “Thanks to the subcommission, experts will have a vision of this area
and strengthened action in relation to its development,” he said. “In our
opinion, the subcommission will expand the focus of this technology from retail
and the banking sector to all types of industries. Today, developments in this
area are used in oil and gas industry, in mechanical engineering, machine tool
industry, mining industry, energy and other industries, but the number of
measures supporting developers, as well as stimulating the development of
Russian developers OK, now critically low. "
Denis
Lisin expects that the subcommittee will include representatives of relevant
ministries (the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Communications,
the Ministry of Economic Development), as well as business representatives
involved in this area, and probably experts who were part of the working groups
for the development of draft roadmaps for developing end-to-end digital
technologies (industrial Internet, artificial intelligence, big data). The
Clover Group also plans to join the work of the subcommission to present an
expert position. "At the moment, the subcommittee is just being created,
so our participation is being discussed, no official invitations have been
received," he said.
Yandex
also plans to take part in the work of the subcommittee, the company’s press
service told ComNews.
The
author of the development of the National Strategy Strategy for AI - Sberbank
yesterday did not respond to a request from ComNews. Representatives of the
Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and the Ministry of Communications and
Mass Media (together with PJSC Gazprom Neft participated in the development of
the National Strategy for AI) were not available for comment yesterday. The
press service of Gazprom Neft refrained from commenting.
Recall
that at the beginning of the week, the Russian government and the RDIF
management company signed an agreement of intent (order dated September 3, 2019
No. 1964-r). The agreement is aimed at attracting mutually beneficial
cooperation of production, scientific, educational and other organizations for
the development of artificial intelligence in Russia. Together, the parties
will take on the development of an AI roadmap.
