The Moscow-based company Synesis, a Skolkovo resident, has developed the TheWall cybersecurity platform to protect web applications from hacker attacks.&nbsp;The platform provides protection at three levels: Web Application Firewall (WAF), Intrusion Detection and Prevention System (IDS / IPS), and Network Layer Filter (NetFilter).

 
 It is possible to add your own native protection rules written from scratch to TheWall platform. At the same time, custom native rules can be created not only for the firewall, but also for the intrusion detection system.

 
 TheWall is already working with the main Synesis products. According to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nptitsyn/de">Nikolay Ptitsyn</a>, managing partner of Synesis, the product is planned to be introduced to existing customers in 5 countries at once. TheWall will protect city video surveillance systems, corporate messengers and IoT device networks, Ptitsyn explained.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/synesis-razrabotala-platformu-kiberbezopasnosti-dlia-zashchity-veb-prilozhenii/">Original (in Russian)</a>

Skolkovo

Synesis has developed a cybersecurity platform to protect web applications

The weekly observer of Moscow's tech stories

<hr />
<h2>
 MARKET IN BRIEF
</h2>

 
 main news about Moscow's projects, developers and technologies

 <div>
 <a class="image_link" target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/face-id-to-pay-fare-will-appear-in-the-moscow-metro-in-2021/">
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<ul>
 <li>Face ID to pay fare will <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/face-id-to-pay-fare-will-appear-in-the-moscow-metro-in-2021/" target="_blank">appear</a> in the Moscow metro in 2021</li>
 <li>Moscow's digital projects to fight the COVID-19 pandemic <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/moscows-digital-projects-to-fight-the-covid-19-pandemic-receive-a-runet-prize/" style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);" target="_blank">receive</a> a Runet prize</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>Sberbank <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/sberbank-plans-to-open-an-international-institute-of-artificial-intelligence-in-russia/" target="_blank">plans</a> to open an international Institute of artificial intelligence in Russia</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>MTS <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/mts-launched-a-russian-base-station-in-its-network/" target="_blank">launched</a> a Russian base station in its network</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>AI-powered knowledge base service for employee support AutoFAQ is <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/ai-powered-knowledge-base-service-for-employee-and-customer-support-autofaq-is-included-in-the-register-of-domestic-software/" target="_blank">included</a> in the register of domestic software  (Card of <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/card/autofaq/" target="_blank">AutoFAQ</a>)</li>
</ul>

<div class="incut-block incut-block-text-small-size">
 GOV AGENDA
 
 A draft law on a tax on cryptocurrency has been <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/a-draft-law-on-a-tax-on-cryptocurrency-has-been-submitted-to-the-state-duma/" target="_blank">submitted</a> to the State Duma
 </div>
 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/" target="_blank">More news →</a>

<hr />
<h2>
 INVESTMENT &amp; IPO DEALS
</h2>

<ul>
 <li>Russian AI company Cleverbots <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/russian-ai-company-cleverbots-attracted-1-million-investment-for-development-in-the-international-market/" target="_blank">attracted</a> $1 million investment for development in the international markets (Card of <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/card/marketplace-cleverbots/" target="_blank">Cleverbots</a>)</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>The developer of digital farms City Farmer <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/the-developer-of-digital-farms-city-farmer-attracted-investments-from-ibs-in-exchange-for-55-of-the-company/" target="_blank">attracted</a> investments from IBS in exchange for 55% of the company</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>Online English school for children Novakid <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/online-english-school-for-children-novakid-raised-4-25-million/" target="_blank">raised</a> $4.25 million</li>
</ul>

<hr />
<h2>
 ANALYTICS AND INSIGHTS
</h2>

 
 researches, monitorings, reports and other analytics of Moscow and Russian IT market

<ul>
 <li><a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/research-70-of-companies-using-ai-say-technology-is-effective/" target="_blank">Rostelecom &amp; Tadviser</a>: 70% of companies using AI say technology is effective →</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li><a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/research-only-12-of-russian-companies-intend-to-cut-costs-on-iot/" target="_blank">Megafon</a>: only 12% of Russian companies intend to cut costs on IoT →</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li><a href="https://ict.moscow/en/research/hi-tech-crime-trends-2020-2021/" target="_blank">Group-IB</a>: the total potential damage of possible ransomware incidents, could exceed $1 billion →</li>
</ul>

<hr />
<h2>
 LONGREAD
</h2>

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/maas-in-global/" target="_blank">The route is built: prospects for the development of MaaS in Moscow and other megacities of the world</a>

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 At the beginning of November Moscow authorities announced plans to launch a MaaS-platform (Mobility-as-a-Service, “mobility as a service”) in the city; it will combine all city and several private transport services. By the end of 2021, the concept of multimodality will be implemented, which means that types of transport will be combined in a single digital space, and routes and fares will be personalised for users.

 
 This ambition of Moscow corresponds to the global trend in the field of transport - gradual implementation of MaaS concept in the city. To understand the current state of things and the prospects for the development and application of MaaS in the world, ICT.Moscow studied the experience of the development of this concept by megacities of the world, and also discussed its key features and barriers with experts.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/maas-in-global/" target="_blank">Read full article →</a>

<hr />
<h2>
 DIGITAL SOLUTIONS FROM MOSCOW
</h2>

 
 a showcase of some smart mobility solutions 

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/card/mosgorpass/" target="_blank">Mosgorpass</a>

 
 Moscow passenger mobile application

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/card/metro-moskvy/" target="_blank">MosMetro</a>

 
 Moscow Metro mobile application

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/card/parkovki-moskvy/" target="_blank">Moscow parking</a>

 
 Application for finding and paying for parking

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/cards/?tags=transportation" target="_blank">More solutions →</a>

<hr />
<h2>
 KEY ACTORS IN IT
</h2>

 
 discover people who stand behind the innovative companies and projects in Moscow

 
 Lev Khasis, First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lev.khasis" target="_blank">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://ru.linkedin.com/in/lev-khasis-73387429" target="_blank">LinkedIn </a>

 
 Vladislav Belyaev, Co-founder & CEO of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/autofaqai/" target="_blank">Autofaq.ai</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/vbelyaev89" target="_blank">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://ru.linkedin.com/in/vlbelyaev" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>

 
 Adam Turaev, Strategy Director at Cleverbots | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/adam.turaev.3" target="_blank">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://ru.linkedin.com/in/adamturaev" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a>

 
 Anatoly Karachinsky, President and CEO of IBS Group, Founder of City Farmer | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/anatoly.karachinsky" target="_blank">Facebook</a>

 
 Maxim Azarov, CEO of NovaKid | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/vwpanther" target="_blank">Facebook</a> | <a href="https://pl.linkedin.com/in/mazarov" target="_blank">LinkedIn</a> | <a href="https://www.crunchbase.com/person/maxim-azarov" target="_blank">Crunchbase</a>

<hr />
 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/?filterCategory=Tech-in-Moscow" target="_blank">Previous Tech in Moscow newsletters</a>

ICT.Moscow

Tech in Moscow #16 (30 November - 6 December 2020)

Moscow's digital solutions aimed at combating the COVID-19 pandemic received the Runet Prize in the Technologies vs Coronavirus category. The award ceremony took place on 3 December. 

 
 The projects that were awarded for help in the fight against the pandemic included: the official website of the Moscow Mayor, <a href="https://www.mos.ru/" target="_blank">mos.ru</a>; an electronic medical record, a telemedicine center and an artificial intelligence experiment to analyze medical images; the "Moscow Electronic School" project; the Social Monitoring mobile application (a system of digital passes for movement around the city), a registration system (check-ins) using QR codes in entertainment establishments; special project "Coronavirus: Official Information", which publishes official data on the situation with COVID-19 and measures to counter the spread of the disease; citywide contact center.

 
 Moscow Innovation Cluster has won in the "Economics and Business" category.

 
 The Runet Prize is a nationwide high-tech and Internet award recognizing outstanding service from leading companies. In 2020, the prize will be presented for the 17th time. A total of 1170 applications for participation in 14 nominations were received this year.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/tsifrovye-proekty-moskvy-dlia-borby-s-pandemiei-covid-19-poluchili-premiiu-runeta/" target="_blank">Original (in Russian)</a>

mos.ru

 Moscow's digital projects to fight the COVID-19 pandemic receive a Runet prize

The Moscow Metro plans to roll out fare payment system based on facial recognition starting next spring. Interfax reports this with reference to the words of the Deputy Mayor of Moscow for Transport Maksim Liksutov.

 
 According to him, the system is now being tested on employees with two Russian banks, that already have a face recognition system. The metropolitan metro will provide only infrastructure related to biometrics, and personal payment data to be stored by banks, Liksutov explained in an interview with Echo of Moscow.

<div class="incut-block ">
 
 Our system will allow face recognition, and if you are connected to a bank card with your biometric data, then you will pass with an open turnstile.
 
 <div class="quote-owner">
 <div class="quote-owner__logo">
 <img alt="Maksim Liksutov" src="https://ict.moscow/static/5e9abbde-3ecc-5bf8-82e9-c53b4d7f83ca.png">
 </div >
 <div>
 
 Maksim Liksutov
 
 Deputy Mayor of Moscow
 </div>
 </div>
</div>
 
 In addition, the head of the Department of Transport of the capital spoke about the goal of making the MaaS application available to all users. According to him, the MaaS platform will be open to proposals from developers of any level, even startups.

<div class="incut-block ">
 
 It will open up completely new opportunities for operators, carriers and transport companies. A single application will allow them not only to promote their services to a larger audience, but also create an equal competitive environment between market participants, because users themselves will decide which one to choose. Participation in a single urban system is a sign of quality, reliability and compliance with high standards. At the same time, we will not oblige the company to participate.
 
 <div class="quote-owner">
 <div class="quote-owner__logo">
 <img alt="Maksim Liksutov" src="https://ict.moscow/static/6759d530-d0b2-593d-8c77-3a57e47f6147.png">
 </div >
 <div>
 
 Maksim Liksutov
 
 Deputy Mayor of Moscow
 </div>
 </div>
</div>
 
 Read more about the prospects for the development of MaaS in Moscow and other megacities of the world <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/maas-in-global/">here</a> →

Interfax

Face ID to pay fare will appear in the Moscow metro in 2021

Sberbank plans to open an international institute of artificial intelligence in Russia. The plans to open such an institute in January 2021 were announced by the head of Sberbank German Gref on the first day of the AI ​​Journey conference. According to him, the main mission of the institute is to provide an interdisciplinary approach to research to create general artificial intelligence.

 
 A German scientist based in Switzerland, one of the world's most famous specialists in the field of artificial intelligence, Jürgen Schmidhuber, was invited to become an Honorary Director of Science of the Institute. 

 
 At the first stage, the institute will be academic, that is, focused on the symbiosis of fundamental research and their orientation towards applied areas of activity.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/sberbank-planiruet-otkryt-v-rossii-mezhdunarodnyi-institut-iskusstvennogo-intellekta/">Original (in Russian)</a>

TASS

Sberbank plans to open an international Institute of artificial intelligence in Russia

Despite the global economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, only 12% of Russian companies using IoT technologies intend to reduce their IoT costs. Such conclusions were made by MegaFon in the study "IoT index in Russia", which was conducted jointly with the Kantar marketing agency.

 
 The study involved 780 large, medium and small businesses from different industries. According to the report, organisations using IoT solutions most often cite the benefits obtained as cost reduction (41%), efficient data collection (41%) and workforce optimisation (40%).

 
 Andrey Kolesnikov, chairman of the Association of the Internet of Things (AIV), believes that only capital-intensive companies have decided to cut costs on IoT. According to him, we can talk about systemic projects requiring serious capital investments. The growth of the Russian IoT market in the future 4-5 years will be in the range of 6-9% per year, the expert predicts.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/issledovanie-tolko-12-rossiiskikh-kompanii-namereny-sokratit-raskhody-na-iot/">Original (in Russian)</a>

ComNews

Research: only 12% of Russian companies intend to cut costs on IoT

Successes of medical AI, the race between the United States and China, the hype around autonomous vehicles and other topics of November about artificial intelligence from the @ict_moscow_ai Telegram feed in one digest.

<hr />
<h2>
 Successes of medical AI<a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a>
</h2>

 
 At the beginning of the month it was announced than Botkin.AI system for medical images analysis using artificial intelligence from Intellogic had <a href="https://vademec.ru/news/2020/11/05/zaregistrirovano-pervoe-programmnoe-obespechenie-s-ii-dlya-analiza-meditsinskikh-snimkov/" target="_blank">received</a> a registration certificate from Roszdravnadzor and had been admitted to circulation on the Russian market starting from November 3, 2020.

 
 The company <a href="https://old.sk.ru/news/b/news/archive/2019/05/29/botkinai-poluchil-100-mln-rubley-investiciy.aspx" target="_blank">raised </a>100 million rubles (equivalent to $1.3 million)  investment for the startup last year. This solution <a href="https://ict.moscow/projects/ai/news/1215/" target="_blank">became</a> the second medical software using AI that is registered in Russia, the first one was the solution for analyzing images using AI.

 
 Also in November Moscow <a href="https://tass.ru/obschestvo/10098247" target="_blank">reported</a> that more than 500 thousand CT images has been analyzed using AI in the capital, and announced the results of the first year of the experiment for introducing artificial intelligence into the Moscow healthcare system: currently about 300 Moscow medical institutions use artificial intelligence services developed by 21 companies. Next year the authors of the project <a href="https://www.mos.ru/news/item/83143073/" target="_blank">plan</a> to increase the number of types of medical research using artificial intelligence from 4 to 10.

<hr />
<h2>
 China is trying to overtake the USA<a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a>
</h2>

 
 CB Insights analysts <a href="https://t.me/blockchainRF/3290" target="_blank">presented</a> a list of the 10 most expensive AI companies in the world: 3 out of 10 are from China, the rest are from the USA. Later, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology <a href="https://ict.moscow/projects/ai/news/1266/" target="_blank">released</a> the China Internet Development Report 2020, which said that China had overtaken the United States in the number of patent applications in artificial intelligence. In total, 694 thousand applications were submitted in the country, and in the period from January to October of this year the number of applications almost reached 102 thousand. This is 56% more than during the same period of 2019.

 
 The news agenda of the last month also included messages on bilateral cooperation between Russia and China. At the beginning of November it was announced that Russia and China <a href="http://duma.gov.ru/news/49910/" target="_blank">had agreed</a> to exchange experience in legal regulation. The areas of exchange include the regulation of digital economy, artificial intelligence technologies, personal data security, and legislative support of information security and scientific and technical cooperation. Russian RVC and Chinese DeepBlue Technology <a href="https://www.comnews.ru/content/211378/2020-11-02/2020-w45/rvk-i-kitayskaya-korporaciya-deepblue-technology-budut-razvivat-proekty-oblasti-umnykh-gorodov" target="_blank">signed</a> a memorandum on cooperation in the field of smart cities and industry 4.0. The first project will be aimed at attracting Russian teams for participation in the Smart City project of the Chinese city of Anshan. Priority search areas are intelligent and robotic systems, visual recognition and intelligent detection systems, solutions in artificial intelligence and big data analysis for manufacturing industries, production security systems.

<hr />
<h2>
 Growing hype around AI and autonomous vehicles<a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a>
</h2>

 
 Rostelecom <a href="https://ict.moscow/projects/ai/news/1225/" target="_blank">released</a> another notable report by publishing the fourth annual monitoring of global digitalization trends. For the second year in a row, AI remains the most notable trend. This is also <a href="https://ict.moscow/projects/ai/news/1234/" target="_blank">confirmed</a> by the quarterly review of the most notable media trends in IT by ICT.Moscow. According to the review, artificial intelligence was mentioned from 15.4 to 17 thousand times a month from July to September of this year.

 
 Rostelecom also notes that autonomous vehicles trend has been growing rapidly over the past 5 years. Experts see a significant growth in the market of technologies for unmanned vehicles (merger of VW Group and Ford to create unmanned taxis and delivery services, expansion of the partnership between Uber and Toyota, active investment by large corporations in this area). According to Rostelecom analysts, the main barriers to commercial use are infrastructure and regulations.

 
 NP “GLONASS” also claims that regulation and the lack of uniform technical standards as one of the barriers. In December the Moscow Region will <a href="https://iz.ru/1084300/2020-11-08/v-rossii-zapustiat-testirovanie-sistemy-bespilotnogo-vozhdeniia-v-potoke" target="_blank">launch</a> the testing of the system of transport autonomous driving in traffic using V2X (vehicle-to-everything) equipment from six developers: Fort Telecom, MVS Group, Kaspersky Lab, Sreda Solutions, Keysight and FSUE NAMI. Based on the results of the launch, the domestic Russian standard for data exchange within the V2X infrastructure will be developed.

 
 Regarding the UAVs area, the first center for the operation of unmanned aircraft systems was <a href="https://ict.moscow/projects/ai/news/1214/" target="_blank">launched</a> in Russia on the basis of the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI. The unit is the first and only one in Russia and has already been granted an official national status. It was also announced that the Ministry of Transport had ordered to develop an information support system for unmanned aircraft flights in the Russian Federation.

 
 The unmanned vehicles area is actively developing abroad as well. The UK has made an important step in this direction: at the beginning of the month, the testing of six autonomous vehicles <a href="https://bespilot.com/news/913-oxford?fbclid=IwAR0I7hfohhR-kECUZaF9BTa5qnmXhO14Mb9INskfOIELC8Wzus9rdJqX2jQ" target="_blank">began</a> in Oxford under the government’s <a href="https://www.endeavourprogramme.com/" target="_blank">Endeavor</a> program. This is the country’s first autonomous vehicle testing program on public roads. The testing will be conducted during the year in three major British cities, including London.

<hr />
<h2>
 AI monetization<a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a><a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a>
</h2>

 
 In November, companies continued to announce purchases of start-ups, report on finding new markets and technology profitability. For instance, TechCrunch <a href="https://www.benzinga.com/m-a/20/11/18200266/intel-makes-its-second-ai-acquisition-in-a-week" target="_blank">wrote</a> about another deal by Intel - this time the company purchased the Israeli developer cnvrg.io.

 
 In Russia Sberbank <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/sberbank-expects-ai-profit-expansion/" target="_blank">claimed</a> it expected an increase in profits from artificial intelligence. The technology will generate about 6% of the targeted net profit of Sberbank this year, as the company plans to use this technology in almost all processes in the expanding range of products. On November 30, the same idea was voiced by the first deputy chairman of the board of Sberbank Alexander Vedyakhin at the online presentation of Investor Day: Strategy 2023. He said that the company intended to issue more than 90% of all loans in 2023 using artificial intelligence.

 
 Meanwhile, Tinkoff bank <a href="https://ict.moscow/projects/ai/news/1213/" target="_blank">announced</a> that it would create a separate department for the development of AI technologies. In another segment, Gazprom Neft and Zyfra Group <a href="https://ict.moscow/projects/ai/news/1255/" target="_blank">announced</a> the creation of a separate business - a joint venture for developing digital solutions in the oil and gas sector, including using AI. And VisionLabs (part of the Sberbank ecosystem) has <a href="https://ict.moscow/projects/ai/news/1264/" target="_blank">opened</a> an office in Dubai to promote its AI solutions in the UAE market. The company plans to continue its expansion by opening representative offices in Singapore and the USA, and is also considering the possibility of entering the markets of Latin America and Japan.

<hr />
 
 * * *

 
 Another notable event of November for the Russian AI industry was the <a href="https://t.me/ict_moscow_ai/1226" target="_blank">inclusion</a> of a Russian representative in the work of the interstate group for conducting global consultations in the Ad hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence of the Council of Europe. Andrey Neznamov, Sberbank’s executive director of the Center for Data Research for Government Bodies, was elected as the chairman of this group.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/ai-digest-november20/" target="_blank">Original (in Russian)</a>

Digest about AI in Russia: top news in November

On December 1, the Russian government submitted to the State Duma a bill recognising cryptocurrency as property and establishing tax liability for unlawful failure to declare information or declare false information about transactions with cryptocurrency.

 
 This bill is proposed to amend the first and second parts of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. They provide that individuals and legal entities are obliged to inform in electronic form about obtaining the right to dispose, including through third parties, of digital currency, to submit a report on transactions with digital currency and on its balances. Information must be provided to the tax authority if the amount of receipts or write-offs of digital currency in a calendar year exceeds 600 thousand rubles (equivalent to $8 thousand). For failure to inform about obtaining the right to dispose of the cryptocurrency, a fine of 50 thousand rubles ($670) is imposed. For failure to provide data on transactions with cryptocurrency, as well as for non-payment of tax on transactions that were settled using digital currency - fines calculated as a percentage of the amounts described in the document. 

 
 The bill was developed by the Ministry of Finance in mid-November and is included in the package of documents regulating the circulation of cryptocurrency and establishing responsibility for violation of the established rules.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://sozd.duma.gov.ru/bill/1065710-7">Bill No. 1065710-7 (in Russian)</a>

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/v-gosdumu-vnesen-zakonoproekt-o-naloge-na-kriptovaliutu/">Original (in Russian)</a>

D-Russia

A draft law on a tax on cryptocurrency has been submitted to the State Duma

Online English language school Novakid (a Skolkovo resident) raised $4.25 million in round A. The Hungarian PortfoLion (part of the OTP Group) was the lead investor. The American fund LearnStart, which is part of the LearnCapital investment company, the Korean venture fund BonAngels, the LETA Capital fund and the venture fund TMT Investments also invested in the startup. The investment amount of TMT Investments amounted to $500 thousand, the shares of investments of the other participants were not disclosed.

 
 The funds are planned to be used to support the growth and development of innovations in the project.

 
 Novakid was founded in 2017 by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/vwpanther" target="_blank">Maxim Azarov</a> and Dmitry Malin. The company is registered in the USA.

 
 <a href="https://rb.ru/news/novakid-tmt-investments/" target="_blank">Original (in Russian)</a>

RB.ru

Online English school for children Novakid raised $4.25 million

The integrator of solutions based on artificial intelligence <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/card/marketplace-cleverbots/">Cleverbots</a> has raised $1 million from the AST Group of companies, one of the Russian agroindustrial conglomerates.

 
 Cleverbots plans to use the funds received to scale the business and further develop it in the Russian and international markets. 

 
 According to the director of strategy of the company, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/adam.turaev.3" style="background-color: rgb(250, 250, 250);">Adam Turaev</a>, offices in Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates, where AST has already opened its offices, can become launching sites.

 
 In addition, the startup intends to expand the development team fivefold and the sales team threefold. Participation in government tenders and development of its own product solutions will also become key areas of the company's development.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/cleverbots-privlek-1-mln-investitsii-dlia-razvitiia-na-mezhdunarodnom-rynke/">Original (in Russian)</a>

Cleverbots

Russian AI company Cleverbots attracted $1 million investment for development in the international markets

<a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/card/autofaq/">AutoFAQ</a>, Moscow-based&nbsp;AI-powered knowledge base service for employee and customer support via dialog systems is included in the register of domestic software. This was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/vbelyaev89/posts/2807945682820138">announced </a>by the co-founder and CEO of the platform <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/vbelyaev89">Vladislav Belyaev</a> on his Facebook page. The corresponding <a target="_blank" href="https://reestr.digital.gov.ru/upload/iblock/b50/%D0%9F%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%B7%20634%20%D0%BE%D1%82%2030_11_2020.pdf">order</a> was signed by the Ministry of Digital Affairs on November 30. 

 
 Vladislav also noted that inclusion in the register of domestic software will be especially important from January 1, 2021. Starting from this date, the article of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation on operations not subject to taxation will be valid in a new edition, and licenses for software sold in Russia (both foreign and domestic) not included in the register will be <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mont.com/ru-ru/news/4277">taxed</a> at 20%.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://reestr.minsvyaz.ru/reestr/208586/?sphrase_id=447956">AutoFAQ platform in the register of domestic software (in Russian)</a>

<div class="incut-block incut-block-text-small-size">
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/card/autofaq/">AutoFAQ</a> card on ICT.Moscow
 </div>
 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/platforma-autofaq-vkliuchena-v-reestr-otechestvennogo-po/">Original (in Russian)</a>

AutoFAQ

AI-powered knowledge base service for employee support AutoFAQ is included in the register of domestic software

Sberbank introduced a service for making a diagnosis using neural networks

Rostelecom and the TAdviser analytical center studied the effects of implementing solutions based on artificial intelligence (AI) in Russian companies.According to experts, 70% of companies that use or pilot AI technologies in 2020 are already receiving financial benefits. The cumulative effect from the introduction of the technology in 2019 for 62 organisations amounted to 60 billion rubles. More than 90% of respondents expect the financial results to be maintained or increased from AI solutions at the end of 2020.

 
 In general, artificial intelligence technologies are already being implemented or tested in 85% of companies. First of all, solutions using such technologies are used to optimise internal business processes.

 
 Chatbots, personalised offering and speech analytics are the most commonly used solutions in the mainstream (B2C) segment. The B2B segment primarily uses predictive maintenance technologies, decision assistants for production operators and unmanned vehicles, including aircraft.The study involved 100 Russian companies from key industries.<a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/research/effekty-ot-vnedreniia-reshenii-na-baze-iskusstvennogo-intellekta-v-rossiiskikh-kompaniiakh/">Effects of implementing solutions based on artificial intelligence in Russian companies research (in Russian)</a>

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/issledovanie-70-kompanii-primeniaiushchikh-ii-otmechaiut-effektivnost-tekhnologii/">Original (in Russian)</a>

Rostelecom

Research: 70% of companies using AI say technology is effective

Yandex announced the launch of its own ad service - <a target="_blank" href="https://o.yandex.ru/">Yandex.Ads,</a> through which users can sell, buy and exchange goods.

 
 Customers will be able to add personal notes to posts that will only be available to the author. Sellers may not provide a phone number and communicate with the buyer through the built-in messenger. In the future, the messenger will check the links exchanged between the buyer and the seller, and warn about suspicious activities. Accounts also have an activity indicator. It is calculated automatically depending on the use of Yandex services and should help you decide on a deal.The project is created by the ad services team. This segment already includes Auto.ru, Yandex.Real estate and Yandex.Rabot. In the third quarter of 2020, the revenue of the direction <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/vyruchka-iandeksa-v-tretem-kvartale-2020-goda-vyrosla-na-30-god-k-godu/">increased</a> by 16% and amounted to 1.58 billion rubles (equivalent to $20.8 million). Among the service's competitors are such sites as <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/card/avito/">Avito</a> and Yula.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/iandeks-zapustil-servis-obiavlenii/">Original (in Russian)</a>

Yandex

Yandex launched an ad service Yandex.Ads

Overview of the world experience in the implementation of the concept of Mobility-as-a-Service and the prospects for its development

The route is built: prospects for the development of MaaS in Moscow and other megacities of the world

The European Commission has developed new rules for data governance. The project was published on the Commission’s website on November 25 and will increase the availability of data for business and research while meeting consumer protection requirements under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of 2016, Kommersant reports.

 
 The document provides for two types of data governance: commercial and free of charge. The EU will allow companies to share commercially important user data only through an independent intermediary who will transmit the information in a secure manner and format. According to Alexander Zhuravlev, chairman of the commission for legal support of digital economy of the Moscow branch of the Association of Lawyers of Russia, this will complicate the work of American IT giants and affect Russian business. The project establishes restrictions on the transfer of data to countries, the level of data protection in which does not correspond to the European level.

 
 “Only the European offices of Russian companies will be able to participate in the data exchange, they will have access to arrays of useful data, but will not be able to freely share them with the headquarters”, -&nbsp; the expert explains.

 
 According to Alexander Zhuravlev, e-mail and gaming services available to Europeans, including Yandex and Mail.ru Group, Aviasales and OneTwoTrip, air carriers, marketplaces that aim to scale a business, including Wildberries and Ozon, medical services, and AI and big data companies can be interested in such data exchange.

 
 Yandex, Mail.ru Group, Wildberries, Ozon and Aviasales did not comment on the project. Kaspersky Lab also notes that the proposal of the European Commission may still be changed. At the same time, the company has already moved the infrastructure for processing and storing the data of European users to Switzerland, which has an agreement with the EU that recognizes an adequate level of protection of personal data.

 
 Russian companies that want to do international business are interested in exchanging data with the EU, the adoption of the regulation may entail a number of restrictions, says Alexey Neyman, the Executive Director of Big Data Association. According to the expert, currently Russian companies also do not have such an opportunity, since Russia is not included in the list of countries that guarantee an adequate level of data protection under the GDPR. Cross-border exchange occurs mainly in the form of reports, which are final analytical products, and not the data itself, the expert says.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/eksperty-novye-pravila-evrosoiuza-po-obmenu-dannymi-mogut-uslozhnit-rabotu-rossiiskikh-tsifrovykh-servisov/">Original (in Russian)</a>

Kommersant

Experts: new EU data exchange rules could complicate the operation of Russian digital services

Sberbank will launch a “superapp” and its own multi-category marketplace in 2021. VC.ru wrote about this <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qJiU0goYkE&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;ab_channel=%D0%A1%D0%B1%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%A2%D0%92">citing </a>Lev Khasis, the First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of the company. The group plans to become one of the three leaders in the Russian e-commerce market by 2023.

 
 “We are not starting from scratch, we have invaluable experience with Beru”, - Lev Khasis notes. Sber has already made three attempts to build an e-commerce business, all of which have been unsuccessful, he says. Nevertheless, e-commerce should become the flagship business of the group, Lev Khasis adds.

 
 Khasis also announced plans to acquire the majority stake in SberMarket. The company will invest 12 billion rubles in SberMarket, the funds will be used for development. SberMarket was a part of the <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/smi-uznali-o-raznoglasiiakh-sberbanka-i-mail-ru-group-v-ramkakh-sovmestnogo-predpriiatiia/">joint venture</a> between Sberbank and Mail.ru Group.

 
 In July Sberbank and Yandex <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/yandex-announced-the-division-of-assets-with-sberbank/">split</a>&nbsp;joint projects - Yandex.Market and Yandex.Money. The media reported about possible negotiations between Sberbank and Ozon on the purchase of a stake in the company. But in the IPO prospectus in the fall the retailer <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/ozon-unveils-a-new-ipo-prospectus-and-plans-to-raise-up-to-948-million/">warned</a> investors about possible legal proceedings with the bank.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/sberbank-zapustit-sobstvennyi-marketpleis-v-2021-godu/">Original (in Russian)</a>

VC.ru

Sberbank will launch its own marketplace in 2021

RBS-100 base station of the 4th generation (communication standard is LTE 1800) developed by “Tenet” (Kazan), was launched in the MTS network. This is the first device of its kind in Russia, which operates under the control of Russian software and is suitable for commercial use, Vedomosti writes citing the representatives of both companies.

 
 Alexey Alekhin, the head of the project at Tenet, explains that the base station software were produced in Russia, and the components were imported. In the future, when the Russian components are produced and there are requests from the market and business, they can be integrated into this equipment.

 
 MTS has not yet spoken about the price of the devices, and the company notes that the question about further purchases of Tenet equipment will be discussed after testing the first commercial station.

 
 At the end of October, a working prototype of a base station for 5G and 4G (LTE) was presented by Skoltech. The station also uses domestically produced software and imported hardware platform. The prototype was assembled and launched jointly with MTS, it operates in the frequency range of 4.9-4.99 GHz on the territory of Skolkovo. In 2021 the full-scale testing of the equipment will begin in Skolkovo 5G experimental zone, and its series production will start at the facilities of Novosibirsk company Eltex by the end of 2022.

 
 In September, the prototype of the 5G base station was presented by Rostec. It will operate in accordance with international standards and will be compatible with the equipment of any manufacturer supporting the standards. However, it is not specified when the series production of the device will begin.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/mts-zapustila-na-svoei-seti-rossiiskuiu-bazovuiu-stantsiiu/">Original (in Russian)</a>

Vedomosti

MTS launched a Russian base station in its network

The developer of digital farms City Farmer (a Skolkovo resident) attracted investments from IBS in exchange for 55% of the company. The amount of funds raised has not been disclosed. 

 
 The partnership is aimed at promoting startup solutions in the Russian market. It is expected that City Farmer will receive technological support from IBS for organising service support for farm clients. The companies will also develop intelligent control systems for growing processes. In addition, the startup will be able to use the partner's marketing and sales channels.

 
 According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, City Farmer LLC was established in 2018. The founders of the company are Viktor Nikitin and <a href="https://www.facebook.com/anatoly.karachinsky" target="_blank">Anatoly Karachinsky</a> - 45% and 55%, respectively.

 
 Anatoly Karachinsky is the President of IBS Group. As a result of investments, the entrepreneur gained control over the "City Farmer". The startup is engaged in the production and maintenance of digital agricultural farms. Each of them is a modular object. The main farm processes (irrigation, ventilation, lighting, humidification and others) are controlled remotely using artificial intelligence technologies.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/razrabotchik-tsifrovykh-ferm-siti-fermer-privlek-investitsii-ot-ibs/" target="_blank">Original (in Russian)</a>

 The developer of digital farms City Farmer attracted investments from IBS in exchange for 55% of the company

Tech in Moscow #15 (23 - 29 November 2020)

In Moscow, an electronic passport of a citizen in a pilot project may appear before December 1, 2021. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it is planned to carry out legal and technical preparatory work by this time.


 
 
It is assumed that the electronic passport, together with a mobile application complementing it, will provide citizens with a qualified electronic signature and "will become the key to public and commercial services."


 
 
The new passport will be a plastic card with an electronic data carrier of domestic production. It will contain the information contained in a valid paper passport. In this case, the basic information about the citizen will be marked on the plastic card itself.

 
 The system project of the infrastructure for registration, issuance and use of a passport with an electronic carrier is being developed by the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation.&nbsp;

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/v-moskve-planiruiut-do-kontsa-2021-goda-vvesti-elektronnyi-pasport-v-pilotnom-proekte/">Original (in Russian)</a>

A pilot introduction of an electronic passport may appear in Moscow by the end of 2021

Sberbank acquired 8% in Brand Safety LLC, the company that manages the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.watchout.ai/">Watchout!AI </a>service. It analyzes content and only embeds ads in brand-friendly context. The entire company was valued at 125 million rubles. (equivalent to $1.6 million).

 
 The service will be integrated with Sbermarketing solutions, including for servicing external customers.

 
 The project started in 2019 and was included in the list of finalists of the Sberbank accelerator and 500 Startups. The service recognizes text and reveals the negative using artificial intelligence, the declared accuracy is 96%. The company names the Israeli Cheq and the American GumGum among foreign analogues.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/sberbank-priobrel-doliu-v-ii-servise-dlia-razmeshcheniia-reklamy-s-analizom-konteksta-kontenta/">Original (in Russian)</a>

Sberbank acquired a stake in an AI service for placing ads with content context analysis Watchout!AI

The pharmaceutical company Petrovax, together with Intellodzhik, are conducting a study of Longidaza among patients who had COVID-19. Study is based on the Botkin.AI artificial intelligence platform. This is the first in Russia and one of the first projects in the world, in the process of which AI technologies are used to determine the degree of lung damage, including over time damage in patients who have undergone coronavirus.

<div class="incut-block incut-block-text-small-size">
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/card/botkinai/" target="_blank">Botkin.AI</a> card on ICT.Moscow
 </div>
 
 The Botkin.AI platform based on artificial intelligence allows for the most accurate analysis of CT studies, obtaining data on the degree of lung damage as a result of coronavirus infection, as well as identifying a group of patients who need priority attention of doctors.

 
 The study is taking place in 14 clinical centers in Russia and Kazakhstan with the participation of 200 volunteers.

 
 <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/rossiiskaia-kompaniia-issleduet-preparat-dlia-lecheniia-oslozhnenii-covid-19-s-pomoshchiu-ii/" target="_blank">Original (in Russian)</a>

Russian companies Petrovax and Intellodzhik are investigating a drug to treat complications of COVID-19 using AI

Yandex has switched its Internet search engine to a new text analysis technology based on transforming neural networks. The company notes that this is the most significant event for this product over the past 10 years. YATI technology (Yet Another Transformer With Improvements) allowed Yandex search engine to better assess the semantic relationship between user requests and the content of documents on the Internet.&nbsp; According to the developers, the difficulty that arises on the path to training a transformer is the computational complexity of the task. The new models scale well in quality, but at the same time they are millions of times more complex than those that were used before. Therefore, it is necessary to launch a specialized computing cluster and distributed training on it.

 
 Now the model is simultaneously trained on about 100 accelerators, which are physically located in different servers and communicate with each other via the network.

 
 More information about the technology is available on the company's <a target="_blank" href="https://habr.com/ru/company/yandex/blog/529658/">blog</a> (in Russian)

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/iandeks-vnedril-v-svoei-poisk-novuiu-neirotekhnologiiu/">Original (in Russian)</a>

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