The Moscow Department of Transport opened registration for the first 100 participants-testers of the new “Ruli” ("Drive") project. The project allows to rent out your car for a fee, at the initial stage it is possible to rent out the car only to friends and acquaintances.

 
 The application of the <a href="https://i.transport.mos.ru/ruli" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">service</a> allows you to specify a list of people from the contact list who will have access to the car rental announcement, discuss the rental conditions and cost. Data about the car will be available to the owner in real time - the owner will be informed where the car is, what is its current speed and the remaining fuel. To achieve this, telematics equipment will be installed for the first test participants.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/stolichnyi-deptrans-zapustil-testirovanie-servisa-narodnogo-karsheringa-ruli/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

Moscow Department of Transport

The Moscow Department of Transport launched the testing of Ruli, “people’s car-sharing” service

Yandex has officially announced the purchase of Acropol bank for 1.1 billion rubles. The deal will be closed after approval by the Bank of Russia, the company filed a request for this on April 28.

 
 The main purpose of the purchase for the IT company is to obtain a universal banking license, on the basis of which it will be able to develop its own financial services. According to the experts who discussed the upcoming deal, Yandex’s further steps in the FinTech segment are still unclear, since the company does not have a ready-made team for developing in this area.

<hr />
 
 In February, after the launch of the Yandex Pay system, Mikhail Popov from TalkBank <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/reaction-yandex-pay/#Popov" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">told</a> ICT.Moscow that there must be a financial institution behind this service. The analyst of Finam Group Leonid Delitsyn <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/reaction-yandex-pay/#delitsyn" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">noted</a> that “classical banking services (of Yandex) can make sense only as auxiliary services”.

 
 This is not the first Yandex’s attempt to acquire a bank: in September last year, negotiations between the IT company and Tinkoff Bank <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/iandeks-predvaritelno-dogovorilsia-o-pokupke-tinkoff/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">were announced</a>. Then the deal did not take place due to the fact that the parties could not agree on the terms.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/iandeks-obiavil-o-pokupke-banka-akropol/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

The Bell

Yandex buys Acropol bank

Scientists from the Russian Quantum Center (Moscow) have launched a platform with access to a quantum computer. With its help, representatives of science and business will be able to quickly perform complex mathematical calculations aimed at optimizing internal processes: improve logistics, accelerate the production of vaccines and medicines.

 
 The service works with two types of computers: universal for solving any problems and highly specialized, sharpened for a specific specific purpose. In the future, the center plans to allow comparison of the same task on devices operating on different principles to determine the optimal computing resources. 

 
 The platform is in closed testing mode and is not available to everyone. The Russian Quantum Center selects users, accompanies their work and gives access to highly focused functionality. Business representatives in the fields of logistics, telecommunications, finance and production, as well as research centers in Russia and abroad, can apply to work with a computer.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/zapushchena-novaia-oblachnaia-platforma-dlia-dostupa-k-kvantovomu-kompiuteru/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

Kommersant

New cloud platform for quantum computer access launched

Huawei
has agreed with Sitronics (controlled by AFK Sistema), a Russian
manufacturer of telecommunications equipment, on the joint development of servers.

 
 The
first batch of this line will be released in May and will amount to 2.5
thousand servers. The servers will run on Intel processors; in the future,
Russian software will be adapted for building data
storage systems based on this equipment.

 
 The
company expects that the equipment will receive the status of domestic equipment. Huawei will localize
the assembling
process with Sitronics “on the terms of AFK Sistema in order to become the
exclusive supplier of equipment for MTS”. However, AFK Sistema and MTS do not comment on this
information.

 
 Previously, Huawei planned to localize server
production in Russia together with Norsi-Trans, a developer of systems for the Yarovaya
Law. It was assumed that MTS and its
subsidiary provider MGTS could have been
one of the potential customers of Norsi-Trans
equipment based on Huawei solutions. Norsi-Trans and Huawei produced a small batch of servers in 2019, but
the sales were not successful due to the high price, the CEO of the company
Sergey Ovchinnikov says.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/huawei-lokalizuet-proizvodstvo-serverov-v-rossii-sovmestno-s-sitroniks/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

Huawei together with Sitronics will localize server production in Russia

<a href="https://ict.moscow/en/cards/?tags=Unim" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">UNIM</a>, a
developer of software for oncological diagnostics, has signed a contract with
the British AstraZeneca to create a platform for conducting educational councils
of physicians. The Moscow company is adapting its main development for a
foreign partner - the Digital Pathology software.

 
 This year,
AstraZeneca plans to organize an educational project on the platform, the
project will be aimed at raising the standards of lung cancer diagnostics. The
project is scheduled to start in June and will last for five months. According
to the founder and co-owner of UNIM <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alexey.remez" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Alexey Remez</a>, the cost of the contract with
AstraZeneca amounts to several tens of thousands of dollars.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/moskovskaia-it-kompaniia-unim-adaptiruet-svoiu-platformu-dlia-astrazeneca/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

Vedomosti

Moscow IT company UNIM adapts its platform for AstraZeneca

ICT.Moscow jointly with the Moscow Government launches the <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/projects/smartcitymoscow/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Smart City Moscow</a> section. It includes information on 68 Moscow projects in the field of "smart cities",  which is published in English for the first time. Project include <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/projects/smartcitymoscow/case/5g-demo-center/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">5G Demo Center,</a> <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/projects/smartcitymoscow/case/experimental-legal-regime-in-the-field-of-ai/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">an experimental legal regime in the field of AI</a>, <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/projects/smartcitymoscow/case/analysis-of-radiology-images-using-ai" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">analysis of radiological images using AI</a> and others. 

 
 All projects are divided into the following "smart city" categories: human and social capital, digital government, urban environment, urban economy, end-to-end technologies, digital technologies and communications. Each project includes description, key results, and an indication of relevant UN Sustainable Development Goals.

 
 The following materials are also included in the section:&nbsp;

<ul>
 <li>a selection of more than 600 open data sets on urban infrastructure facilities</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>more than 30 sets of data collected by the Department of Prospective Projects of the IT Department of Moscow Government according to ISO37120 and U4SSC international standards</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>news, research, monitoring, reports and other "smart city" analytics</li>
</ul>

 
 This section will be useful for foreign companies, governments and analysts to study the Moscow practices and look for new ideas for their projects. The section will be regularly updated in the future.&nbsp;

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/na-ict-moscow-dostupen-pervyi-angloiazychnyi-katalog-moskovskikh-reshenii-smart-city/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

ICT.Moscow

ICT.Moscow launches the first English-language catalog of Moscow smart city solutions

The head of Sberbank Herman Gref commented in an interview with RBC on
the <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/reaktsiia-otrasli-sberbank-i-mail-ru-group-mogut-razdelit-sovmestnyi-biznes" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">information</a> that had previously appeared in the media about possible
disagreements with Mail.ru Group within their joint venture.

 
 “We have significantly fewer competitive areas with Mail.ru Group (than with
Yandex). We have a very good relationship and find solutions to similar complex
problems that arise. It would be nonsense to say that they do not arise,
because the two ecosystems are in contact”, - Gref explained.

 
 The disagreements between Sberbank and Mail.ru Group within the joint
venture <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/smi-uznali-o-raznoglasiiakh-sberbanka-i-mail-ru-group-v-ramkakh-sovmestnogo-predpriiatiia" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">became known</a> in November last year. The media reported that the parties
could not determine what would become the basis of their common ecosystem: the
financial services of Sberbank or VKontakte, a social network owned by Mail.ru.

 
 In addition, Gref spoke about the need to regulate ecosystems in the
interview. According to him, it is necessary to maintain competition in the
domestic market and enable small players to maintain their competitiveness. “In
this sense, I agree: the big companies should be under control. In no case
should they be allowed to retreat into themselves and close the market to competition.
This is what regulation is needed for. And so far no one knows what kind of
regulation is needed, because the online ecosystem is a new reality”, - the
head of Sberbank said.

 
 Another question was dedicated to the influence of technology giants and
ecosystems on the political and economic processes of states. According to
Gref, this topic is exaggerated and represents a “pure hype”. “No ecosystem
will ever be able to compete with the state. The state can easily deal with any
ecosystem. But this lag in regulation may exist to ensure that ecosystems do
not cross the red lines in some areas... States are clumsy, they study the
situation for a long period of time, but then they make tough decisions that
are binding on everyone”.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/german-gref-s-mail-ru-group-u-nas-znachitelno-menshe-konkuriruiushchikh-napravlenii-chem-s-iandeksom/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

CEO of Sberbank Herman Gref: “We have significantly fewer competitive areas with Mail.ru Group than with Yandex”

The
National Center for Informatization, which is a part of Rostec, is creating a
medical decision support system using machine learning and AI. It is being created
by order of the Ministry of Health and will become part of the Unified State Healthcare
Information System (EGIZS). For this project, software for analyzing big data
will be purchased, and this software should be included in the unified register
of domestic software.

 
 Artificial
intelligence will be used to analyze anonymized data on the basis of electronic
medical records in the Unified State Health Information System. Medical
records, medical test results, X-rays and CT scans will be processed. This will
allow to automatically make diagnosis with a certain degree of probability and
recommend the optimal therapy.

 
 According
to the experts with whom ICT.Moscow spoke, the Unified State Healthcare
Information System will unite the country’s medical institutions into a single
digital network and thus become the basis for building a medical ecosystem.&nbsp;

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/dlia-egisz-budet-razrabotana-sistema-podderzhki-priniatiia-vrachebnykh-reshenii/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

A medical decision support system will be developed for the Unified State Healthcare Information System

Sberbank plans to start
issuing its own digital financial asset - Sbercoin. This will become possible after
the registration of the blockchain platform, which is currently undergoing
final approvals with the regulator, is completed. This information was
announced by the Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank <a href="https://www.facebook.com/anatoliy.popov" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Anatoliy
Popov</a>.

 
 Anatoliy Popov said: “When the
registration is completed, we will place the Sbercoin issue prospectus”. Popov
also said that the Sberbank blockchain platform would be available not only to
the bank, but also to other companies that want to issue their own digital
assets.

 
 At the beginning of this year,
Sberbank <a href="https://tass.ru/ekonomika/10515967" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">filed an application</a> with the Central Bank to register its own
blockchain platform for issuing digital currency.

 
 The law “On digital financial assets”,
which <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/cryptocurrency-law/#kaluhov" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">was adopted by</a> the State Duma in July 2020 and came into force in January
2021, allows companies to issue their own digital assets and exchange them for
other digital assets.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/sberbank-planiruet-nachat-vypusk-sberkoina-v-blizhaishee-vremia/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

Banki.ru

Sberbank plans to issue Sbercoin soon

Sberbank

Sberbank agreed to purchase Muzlab streaming audio service

Forbes

Group-IB plans to hold an IPO

mos.ru

For the first time, Moscow organizes Smart Cities Moscow, an international online forum dedicated to the development of smart cities

The government proposed registering on the “Gosuslugi” portal from birth

As follows from the Digital Citizen Profile project passport, Russian government and Rostelecom, the operator of the Unified Biometric System (UBS), are planning to restart the platform. Until 2030, Rostelecom will invest 6.6 billion rubles (equivalent to $87 million) in the project in order to collect information (face and voice profiles) of about 50 million of Russians.

 
 If earlier biometrics were collected only through banks, now it is planned to connect government agencies, including the&nbsp;multifunction centers of providing state services (MFC). Submission of data will be free, and the mechanism will be implemented at the expense of organizations - banks, notaries, authorities. The ministry explained that the collection will be organized throughout the country.

 
 In addition, it is planned to endow the&nbsp;Unified Biometric System (UBS) with the status of a state information system (GIS). According to experts, in this case the state will be in charge of the system,&nbsp;not the company.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/stali-izvestny-plany-po-razvitiiu-edinoi-biometricheskoi-sistemy/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

Plans for the development of the Unified Biometric System are released

The Russian government plans to launch the Gosdoki mobile application in 2021. Until 2024, it will allow electronic submission of up to 30 types of electronic documents, including Individual insurance account number (SNILS) , compulsory medical insurance (OMS), Taxpayer Personal Identification Number (INN), driver's license, etc. Paper equivalents of these documents (except for the passport) will no longer be issued. 

 
 The development of the application is envisaged by the project "Digital Profile of Citizen", for which the National Innovation System working group is responsible. It is assumed that the creation of the application will cost 1.3 billion rubles (equivalent to $17.8 million), developer of the app has not yet been announced.

 
 In mid-February, Russian President Vladimir Putin <a href="https://www.cnews.ru/news/top/2021-02-16_v_rossii_nachnetsya_totalnaya" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">ordered</a> an experiment to replace a number of personal documents with their digital counterparts by the end of autumn 2021.

 
 Prior to that, it was<a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/moscow-plans-to-develop-a-mobile-application-for-an-electronic-passport-by-the-end-of-2021/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> reported</a> that in Moscow a mobile application for an e-passport may appear at the end of 2021. Later, it also became known about the intention of the Ministry of Digital Development to <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/ministry-of-digital-development-plans-to-conduct-an-experiment-to-replace-driving-licenses-with-qr-codes/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">conduct an experiment</a> to replace driver's licenses with QR codes in some regions of Russia this year.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/v-etom-godu-v-rossii-poiavitsia-prilozhenie-dlia-zameny-bumazhnykh-dokumentov-na-elektronnye/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

An application to replace state paper documents with electronic ones will appear in Russia this year

Sberbank is acquiring an 80% stake of the Moscow company InSales, which develops a CMS platform for online stores. According to the terms of the deal, another 20% remains with the three founders of the company and top managers. The deal is expected to be closed in the second quarter of 2021.

 
 The parties expect to develop the platform, expand the service offering, enter new market segments and create a single tool for managing online commerce in all electronic storefronts, including the necessary B2B services for Internet entrepreneurs on the basis of the platform.

 
 Contacts:

 
 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/timgorshkov" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Timofey Gorshkov</a>, CEO and Co-founder of InSales

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/sberbank-priobretet-80-insales/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

Sber will acquire an 80% stake in InSales

Ozon plans to acquire 100% of the charter capital of Oney Bank from Sovcombank. The deal will take place if approved by the Central Bank. The acquisition will allow the online retailer to develop its fintech business by expanding the range and improving the quality of services offered to customers and sellers of the platform.

 
 The day before, Ozon CEO <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alexander.shulgin.10" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Alexander Shulgin</a> <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/russian-online-retailer-ozon-plans-to-apply-for-a-banking-license/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">said</a> in an interview with the Financial Times that the company plans to obtain a banking license for the development of fintech services. However, he did not specify how it is technically planned to organize the company's entry into the banking market. 

 
 Contacts:

 
 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/vae.ovasapyan" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Vae Ovasapyan</a>, Vice President for Financial Services of Ozon

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/ozon-soobshchil-o-planakh-priobresti-100-aktsii-onei-banka-u-sovkombanka/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

Ozon

Ozon plans to acquire Oney Bank from Sovcombank

The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation has developed a draft government decree on simplifying the receipt of subsidies by Russian AI developers. The implementation period for each project should not exceed six years, the developer will be able to receive up to 500 million rubles (equivalent to $6.4 million) annually. At the same time, he will have to invest his own funds in the project, at least 30% of the total amount.

 
 Applicants for subsidies will be selected through a competition. The company must be registered in Russia, exist for at least three years or be included in the list of strategic enterprises (or be a subsidiary of such an organization). The head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov noted that in 2021 the allocated amount of subsidies could amount to 1.5 billion rubles. (equivalent to ($19.4 million).

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/minpromtorg-predlagaet-uprostit-poluchenie-subsidii-rossiiskimi-ii-razrabotchikami/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

The Ministry of Industry and Trade proposes to simplify the receipt of subsidies by Russian AI developers

<a href="https://ict.moscow/en/card/youdrive-pool/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">YouDrive</a> car sharing service became part of Citymobil's unified transport application, which is now called CityDrive. This is reported by VC.ru with reference to the company's statement. At the first stage, carsharing cars will be displayed in the Citymobil application, but users will be able to book and rent a car only in the CityDrive application.

 
 In addition, Citymobil has officially presented a unified platform for urban mobility: in addition to YouDrive, it includes the Urent electric scooter rental service, which the taxi service added in August 2020. In the future, the company plans to add other services to the application.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/youdrive-stal-chastiu-edinogo-transportnogo-prilozheniia-sitimobila/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

VC.ru

YouDrive became part of Citymobil's unified transport application

Members of the FinTech Association (AFT), including VTB, Gazprombank, Promsvyazbank, the National Payment Card System and the Moscow Exchange, has become the founders of&nbsp; Distributed Register Systems LLC company. The company will become one of the centers of excellence for the use of blockchain in the Russian financial market.

 
 Within the framework of a separate legal structure, the development of IT services and technologies using both the <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/card/masterchain/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Masterchain</a> and other blockchain platforms is planned. The Association will transfer the rights for the Masterchain and other services to the operator. Member of the AFT and other market companies will be able to use the operator's new services and products on an equal footing, the association said.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/v-rossii-poiavilsia-blokchein-operator/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

Russian FinTech Association

The first blockchain operator was established in Russia

CEO of <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/cards/?tags=Ozon" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Ozon</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alexander.shulgin.10" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Alexander Shulgin</a> told the Financial Times that the company plans to obtain a banking license for the development of fintech services.

 
 According to him, the information that Ozon has will allow making decisions on the amount of the loan to the seller offering his goods on the marketplace platform. At the same time, Shulgin did not specify how it is technically planned to organize Ozon's entry into the banking market.

 
 In February, Ozon <a href="https://www.forbes.ru/newsroom/finansy-i-investicii/421293-ozon-uchredil-sobstvennuyu-mikrofinansovuyu-kompaniyu" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">established</a> a microfinance company MCC Ozon Credit LLC. The company also has a service called <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/card/ozon-invest/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Ozon.Invest</a>, which offers lending opportunities to marketplace sellers. 

 
 Earlier, Ozon's competitor, Wildberries, <a href="https://www.rbc.ru/rbcfreenews/6026928a9a7947582bac1b67" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">acquired</a> the bank to develop existing and launch new services for buyers and entrepreneurs.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/ozon-planiruet-poluchit-bankovskuiu-litsenziiu/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

Interfax

Russian online retailer Ozon plans to apply for a banking license

<a href="https://ict.moscow/en/cards/?tags=VisionLabs" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">VisionLabs</a> has become the best in the overall standings in the verification and identification of independent testing of NIST face recognition algorithms.

 
 As in 2020, the company's algorithms showed the best results among about 180 presented solutions on the most difficult verification tests (datasets contained several million photographs of people from more than a hundred countries):

<ul>
 <li>Border - recognition of people from photographs taken while going through passport control at the airport in uncontrolled shooting conditions;</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>Visaborder - comparison of photos from different categories of Visa (photo taken for documents in a studio) and Border.</li>
</ul>

 
 Also, the VisionLabs algorithm showed the best speed of extracting a biometric template from an image in the top 6 and became the first in the investigation category, where the recognition process is carried out by means of one-to-many comparison.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/visionlabs-stal-luchshim-v-obshchem-zachete-po-verifikatsii-i-identifikatsii-testirovaniia-nist/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

VisionLabs ranked the best in the NIST facial recognition algorithm test

The Bank of Russia published the revised Concept of the Digital Ruble which takes into account the outcomes of the public discussion of the previously presented report.

 
 The target model for the introduction of a new form of currency provides that the Bank of Russia is the issuer of digital rubles and the platform operator. Financial organizations pen wallets for their clients on the central bank's platform and conduct operations. 

 
 Stages of project implementation:

 
 December 2021 - creation of a prototype of the digital ruble platform

 
 January 2022 - development of amendments to the legislation of the Russian Federation

 
 I quarter. 2022 - launch of testing a prototype of the digital ruble platform

 
 2022 - testing of a prototype of the digital ruble platform

 
 Based on the testing results, a roadmap for the implementation of the target digital ruble platform will be formed. 

 
 The development of the platform is planned in two stages. The first involves the connection of credit institutions and the Federal Treasury, the implementation of C2C, C2B, B2C, B2B, G2B, B2G, C2G, G2C operations. As part of the second stage - the connection of financial intermediaries, the introduction of an offline regime, the exchange of the digital ruble for foreign currency and the possibility of opening wallets for non-resident clients.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/tsb-opredelilsia-s-kontseptsiei-tsifrovogo-rublia/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

Bank of Russia

Russia's Central Bank has decided on the concept of the digital ruble

Sberbank and Rostelecom have agreed to co-develop digital identification technologies, including biometrics.

 
 The new joint venture, Digital Identification Technologies,&nbsp; will design, develop, and replicate identification technologies to promote digital transformation across different economy sectors. The preliminary agreement of intent covering the establishment of a joint venture was signed by the chairman of the board of Sberbank, German Gref, and the president of Rostelecom, Mikhail Oseevsky.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/sberbank-i-rostelekom-sozdadut-sp-v-sfere-tsifrovykh-tekhnologii-identifikatsii/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Original (in Russian)</a>

Market in Brief