    <p>
    Sberbank allocated $83 million for the purchase of Microsoft software and related services. This amount appears as the initial maximum contract price in the bank's topical tender. It was announced on September 28 in the format of an address request for quotations - that is, with a limited number of participants.<a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    Only those companies that receive a personal invitation from the operator of the Sberbank trading platform will be able to claim the money of the state customer. The bank will receive applications from these organizations until the evening of October 6, 2020. Results to be announced on October 28.&nbsp;<a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    Within the framework of this procedure, same Microsoft software, which is already used in industrial systems and at the bank's workplaces, is being purchased, requiring timely updates. “This is connected both with the need to ensure compatibility with software and equipment from other manufacturers, and with the tasks of information security,” the bank said. - In addition, the update of Microsoft software, which was purchased by the bank earlier, is also being purchased. The agreement is valid for three years."<br>Information about the technical requirements is classified. It is only known that work is being carried out in the field of creating artificial intelligence using 80 cloud services. Robots capable of autonomously working with large databases will be used.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/sber-vedet-krupnuiu-zakupku-po-microsoft/">Original (in Russian)</a><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>

CNews

Sberbank carries out a large purchase of Microsoft software in the field of creating artificial intelligence

    <p>
    Gazprom Neft intends
to use the capabilities of artificial intelligence to reduce the number of
laboratory tests of lubricants and increase their efficiency. In the future,
the neural network can independently propose formulation options, said
Alexander Trukhan, General Director of Gazpromneft - Lubricants.<a></a>According to
Trukhan, the company intends to open its own scientific and technical center
for the development of oils at the Moscow Lubricants Plant in Fryazino. With
its opening, Gazprom Neft will become the first Russian company capable of
independently conducting fundamental research in the field of tribology, the
science that studies the processes of friction, wear and lubrication.<a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/gazprom-neft-planiruet-ispolzovat-ii-dlia-razrabotki-masel/">Original (in Russian)</a><a></a>
</p>

TASS

Gazprom Neft plans to use AI to develop oils

    <p>
    LANIT-Integration (part of the LANIT group of companies) together with Intel developed and implemented a system for remote coordination of the actions of medical workers in 39 clinics in Russia.
</p>
    <p>
    The technological solution is based on ergonomic “smart glasses” equipped with a video camera and a compact screen. They are connected with other gadgets in a common information environment. The medical worker who is wearing glasses can broadcast audio and video from the infectious disease wards to the “clean” area. Doctors in the “clean” area can give him/her recommendations and transfer the necessary documents, such as medical history and images, in real time.
</p>
    <p>
    The company representatives claim that the system reduces the risk of infection for doctors, reduces the time that doctors spend using personal protective equipment and allows them to pay more attention to their patients. Doctors can hold medical discussions remotely, train the staff quickly and engage narrowly specialized doctors in consultations.
</p>
    <p>
    Intel’s participation in this project is a part of its global initiative - Pandemic Response Technology Initiative. A grant from Intel helped to implement the system in nine COVID centers in the capital. The solution is already being used in 39 clinics in Russia (August 2020).
</p>
<div class="incut-block ">
                        <p class="quote-icon">
                    We showed our complex system to Denis Protsenko, Head Physician of City Clinical Hospital No. 40 of the Moscow Healthcare Department, and integrated it into the work of this hospital and other 38 COVID centers. The concept of the project was developed last year for the industrial sector.
        </p>
        <div class="quote-owner">
                    <div class="quote-owner__logo">
                <img alt="Ilya Flaks" src="https://ict.moscow/static/53879ba2-e4ef-5aa8-8c04-c69399a7324b.jpg">
            </div >
                <div>
            <p class="quote-owner__title">
                                    <a href="https://www.facebook.com/flaks.ilia/" target="_blank">
                                    Ilya Flaks
                                    </a>
                            </p>
                            <p class="quote-owner__description">Head of the LANIT Competence Center in the field of VR &amp; AR</p>
                    </div>
    </div>
</div>
    <p>
    <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/lanit-integratsiia-i-intel-vnedrit-v-rossii-telemeditsinskii-servis-dlia-borby-s-covid-19/" target="_blank">Original (in Russian)</a>
</p>

LANIT-Integration and Intel have introduced a telemedicine service in Russia to combat COVID-19

    <p>
    On Saturday, October 3, the second strategic session
on artificial intelligence for digital transformation leaders of 62 federal
executive bodies was conducted. Maksut Shadayev, Minister of Digital
Development, Communications and Mass Media, and the representatives of the
largest Russian companies - manufacturers of electronic products and companies
specializing in the implementation of AI solutions - attended the event.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    During the session, representatives of the Ministry of
Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, the Ministry of Internal
Affairs, the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Federal Agency for Youth Affairs
(Rosmolodezh), the Ministry of Health, Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund, the
Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Agriculture presented the projects on
the use of AI in these departments.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    In particular, the Ministry of Emergency Situations
presented a project to identify thermal anomalies, predict the water level and
recognize infrastructure and damage in images. The Ministry of Health put
forward initiatives to create a personal intelligent digital medical 24/7 “concierge
service”, an intelligent second opinion service, and also systems for filling
out medical documents by voice and intelligent processing of information from
wearable devices.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/ministerstva-predstavili-pravitelstvu-proekty-po-ispolzovaniiu-ii-v-vedomstvakh/">Original (in Russian)</a><a></a>
</p>

The Russian Government

Russian ministries presented AI projects implemented in the departments to the government

Kommersant

Moody’s experts assessed the impact of the pandemic on IT companies

    <p>
    According to the survey conducted by Megaplan, a
corporate CRM system, after the end of the self-isolation regime in Russia most
of the expenses of entrepreneurs were related to software. 32% of respondents claim
that they have increased the expenditures for CRM systems. Cloud
infrastructures were ranked second in terms of popularity (18%), followed by
company websites (16.3%). Least popular were chat bots (5.8% of respondents
invested in them), digital marketing (6.4%) and machine learning (8.7%), RBC
reports.<a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    In general, 61.6% of entrepreneurs who participated in
the survey began to spend more on IT equipment. 5% of the survey participants
stated that these costs had been reduced, and 3.9% decided to stop using these
tools for reasons of economy.<a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    The survey was conducted by sending the questionnaire
to the entrepreneurs and leaders of small and medium-sized businesses from the
database. 1284 people took part in the survey.<a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/issledovanie-posle-izoliatsii-bolshinstvo-kompanii-uvelichili-zatraty-na-crm-sistemy/">Original (in Russian)</a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a></a><a></a>
</p>

Research: most Russian companies increased expenditures for CRM systems after self-isolation

    <p>
    The Ministry of
Economic
Development has made structural changes
to the national project “Small and
Medium Enterprises”, which were already approved by
the project committee last week. Now the project is focused on creating
infrastructure that accompanies the growth of SMEs at all stages and consists
of four federal projects. The projects are as follows:
</p>
<ul>
    <li>unified digital
platform. The &nbsp;number of the platform users is expected to increase from
200 thousand people in 2021 to 500 thousand in 2024.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
    <li>involving potential entrepreneurs in small business in the pre-acceleration mechanism. The number of
newly created SMEs is expected to increase from the current 760 thousand to 1.067 million in
2024.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
    <li>central federal
project for the acceleration of SMEs. The project comprises complex
financial loans, including concessional
loans to SMEs, factoring and investment platforms, and tax instruments that
work conjointly.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
    <li>a separate
federal project intended for the self-employed persons.</li>
</ul>

    <p>
    According to the
passport
of the national project, 21.16 million people are working in the SME sector, including 1.2 million self-employed persons who have registered their status with the Federal Tax
Service. Now the goal of the national
project is to increase the number of
people employed in the sector to 23 million people by 2024 (the goal of 25 million was postponed to 2030), the number of self-employed persons is expected to reach 2.1 million by that time.
</p>
    <p>
    Moreover, it is proposed to create “transitional tax regimes” to help the growing small companies adapt to standard tax
regimes.
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/minekonomiki-vneslo-v-natsproekt-podderzhki-malogo-biznesa-strukturnye-izmeneniia/">Original (in Russian)</a>
</p>

The Ministry of Economic Development made structural changes to the national project to support small business

    <p>
    Ozon has confidentially submitted a draft Registration Statement on Form F-1 to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) relating to the proposed initial public offering of its ordinary shares.<a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed offering have not yet been determined. The initial public offering is expected to take place after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions.<br><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>

Ozon

Ozon has submitted a draft registration statement relating to the proposed IPO of its ordinary shares

Volkova Nataliya, Senior project manager of Analytics Department at the IT Department of Moscow Government about the application of predictive analytics and decision support systems in Moscow’s services and systems.

Predictive Analytics and Decision Support Systems: Applications for Smart City

    <p>
    The
Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) announced its participation in the offering
of global depositary receipts (GDRs) and convertible bonds of Mail.ru Group.
The investment amount has not been disclosed.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    RDIF and Mail.ru Group cooperate in several areas, including
AliExpress Russia joint venture. Mail.ru Group will use a portion of the
proceeds from the offering to develop this JV.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    The proceeds will also be used for the development and
organic growth across the existing verticals of the holding and pursuing
M&amp;A opportunities.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    China’s Tencent, Prosus (a division of the South
African Naspers Group), and other investors also participated in the offering.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    At the end of September, the company <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/mail-ru-group-plans-to-raise-600-million-for-development-and-future-deals/">announced</a> its plans
to list GDRs and convertible bonds totaling $600 million due in 2025 on the London
Stock Exchange.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/rfpi-investiroval-v-mail-ru-group/">Original (in Russian)</a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a></a>
</p>

Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF)

Russian Direct Investment Fund invests in Mail.ru Group

    <p>
    In 2022 and 2023, eight times more funds may be allocated to "Information Security" than was originally approved. Such data follow from the published draft federal budget for the next three years. In 2022–2023, it is planned to allocate close to $102 million for these purposes, while initially they expected to redistribute $12 million for each year.  
</p>
    <p>
    The version of the passport of the federal project "Information Security" has already been synchronized with the presented figures. From 2021 to 2024, funding for this area may amount to $337 million. Whereas in the current version of the passport of the federal project for the same period it was planned to allocate only $97 million. 
</p>
    <p>
    The version of the passport of the federal project says that almost half of the budget will be allocated to the creation and operation of a national technology center for the implementation of modern cryptography methods. This is the most capital-intensive event of the Fedproject. In 2022 and 2023, $51 million and $54 million will be spent for these purposes, respectively. In total, the center will need $147 million of state funding.  
</p>
    <p>
    Also, funds can be used to analyze the security of state information systems (search for perimeter vulnerabilities, conduct penetration testing). According to Alexei Parfentiev, head of the SearchInform analytics department, the most costly part may lie on the technical implementation of the federal project. These activities include projects to filter Internet traffic, counter computer attacks and create cyber polygons.
</p>
    <p>
    The Ministry of Digital Development continues to work on the formation of the Digital Economy national program. While budgeting is still underway, it's too early to talk about exact items of expenditure, adds <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/yarnikh">Andrey Yarnykh</a>, head of strategic projects at Kaspersky Lab.
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/traty-na-informbezopasnost-v-rossii-planiruiut-uvelichit-v-vosem-raz/">Original (in Russian)</a>
</p>

Izvestia

Russia will increase spending on information security

    <p>
    In late September, the United States and the United Kingdom <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-usa-britain-ai/u-s-uk-sign-agreement-on-artificial-intelligence-idUKKCN26G33H">had signed</a> a new agreement to cooperate on research and development of artificial intelligence. It provides for the promotion of research in the field of AI, the creation of an ecosystem of developments in this area, as well as opposing the use of such developments by authoritarian-repressive regimes.<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://www.state.gov/declaration-of-the-united-states-of-america-and-the-united-kingdom-of-great-britain-and-northern-ireland-on-cooperation-in-artificial-intelligence-research-and-development-a-shared-vision-for-driving/">Declaration of the United States of America and the United Kingdom on Cooperation in AI  Research and Development</a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    ICT.Moscow gathered the opinions of representatives of domestic companies on the possible impact of this event on the development of AI in Russia.<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
<h2>
    Impact on the industry: barriers or opportunities?&nbsp;&nbsp;
</h2>

    <p>
    The agreement between the United States and Great Britain could potentially negatively affect Russian developers of AI solutions, believes Alexander Tyulkanov of the Skolkovo Foundation. The expert draws attention to the provision of the document that these countries plan to oppose the use of artificial intelligence technologies by "authoritarian-repressive regimes."&nbsp;&nbsp;<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
<div class="incut-block ">
                        <p class="quote-icon">
                    It seems that any assessment of a particular regime as authoritarian or repressive is inevitably subjective. Therefore, such provisions of the Declaration can be used to protect the economic interests of the United States and Great Britain in relations not only with the generally recognized repressive regimes like North Korea, but also with other countries. First of all, with China. Taking this into account, and in the context of the topic “the threat of Russian hackers” that is constantly spread in the foreign press, Russian developers and exporters could potentially suffer as well.&nbsp;&nbsp;
        </p>
        <div class="quote-owner">
                    <div class="quote-owner__logo">
                <img alt="Alexander Tyulkanov" src="https://ict.moscow/static/2eda3996-59a7-5c10-b871-44842350bdb3.jpg">
            </div >
                <div>
            <p class="quote-owner__title">
                                    <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alexander.tyulkanov/" target="_blank">
                                    Alexander Tyulkanov
                                    </a>
                            </p>
                            <p class="quote-owner__description">Deputy Department Director for the Regulation of Cyberphysical Systems and Big Data at Skolkovo Foundation</p>
                    </div>
    </div>
</div>
    <p>
    Andrey Neznamov from Sberbank is more optimistic and notes that the signing of this agreement will practically not affect domestic developers.<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
<div class="incut-block ">
                        <p class="quote-icon">
                    In the case of the US and UK act, everything looks quite promising. But this is unlikely to have a direct impact on Russian companies. Indirectly, it may mean that foreign companies can get several small but important advantages over Russian ones.
        </p>
        <div class="quote-owner">
                    <div class="quote-owner__logo">
                <img alt="Andrey Neznamov" src="https://ict.moscow/static/e2231f5c-17ce-56a9-8be7-ac2b549ecb8b.jpg">
            </div >
                <div>
            <p class="quote-owner__title">
                                    <a href="https://www.facebook.com/avneznamov" target="_blank">
                                    Andrey Neznamov
                                    </a>
                            </p>
                            <p class="quote-owner__description">Executive Director of the Center of Data Research for Government Agencies at Sberbank</p>
                    </div>
    </div>
</div>
    <p>
    Alexander Korobkov, CEO of Macroscop, believes that "cooperation at the state level can potentially become a support for certain market players, as well as introduce a number of restrictions for others." However, he emphasizes that for an objective assessment of the situation, it is necessary to know the context and details of this agreement, which have not yet been published.<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
<div class="incut-block ">
                        <p class="quote-icon">
                    In the absence of this information, all other things being equal, I do not see any threats or any benefit from this agreement for Russian IT companies. The field of information technology is international. Cooperation at the business level proceeds independently of any interstate agreements. As in any business, regardless of geography, choosing a particular product, customers will focus on the quality of the product, ease of use, cost and the ability to get technical support.
        </p>
        <div class="quote-owner">
                    <div class="quote-owner__logo">
                <img alt="Alexander Korobko" src="https://ict.moscow/static/52ee8ec0-805e-5ff9-b275-919e5cc1d68d.jpg">
            </div >
                <div>
            <p class="quote-owner__title">
                                    <a href="https://www.facebook.com/koravl" target="_blank">
                                    Alexander Korobko
                                    </a>
                            </p>
                            <p class="quote-owner__description">CEO of&nbsp;Macroscop</p>
                    </div>
    </div>
</div>
    <p>
    This kind of agreement will not become a barrier to the export of Russian solutions, says Oleg Kivokurtsev, co-founder of Promobot. He believes that this is primarily about fundamental research in the field of artificial intelligence, and this kind of international research groups is a frequent practice, as a result of which, thanks to the difference in the approaches of scientists, unique solutions appear.&nbsp;<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
<div class="incut-block ">
                        <p class="quote-icon">
                    Since the agreement is based on research objectives, the cooperation itself includes interaction between laboratories, universities and other research institutions. Accordingly, grants will be allocated for these developments, which research groups will master. As a result, technologies that can be used on the market&nbsp;will appear, having&nbsp; a positive effect on competition in this area, both in Russia and in the world.
        </p>
        <div class="quote-owner">
                    <div class="quote-owner__logo">
                <img alt="Oleg Kivokurtsev" src="https://ict.moscow/static/4212dfb7-bcfd-5011-a7b9-15a7759d75b2.jpg">
            </div >
                <div>
            <p class="quote-owner__title">
                                    <a href="https://www.facebook.com/oleg.kivokurtsev" target="_blank">
                                    Oleg Kivokurtsev
                                    </a>
                            </p>
                            <p class="quote-owner__description">CBDO and Founder at Promobot</p>
                    </div>
    </div>
</div>
    <p>
    Vladimir Arlazarov, Head of Smart Engines, also agrees with Kivokurtsev. Such agreements will have a positive effect on the regulation of the use of technology, he believes.<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
<div class="incut-block ">
                        <p class="quote-icon">
                    I believe that such agreements and the expansion of multinational contacts will only benefit the development of science and technology related to artificial intelligence. In addition, it can accelerate the equalization of legal regulations for the use of AI technologies, which will have a positive impact on sales.
        </p>
        <div class="quote-owner">
                    <div class="quote-owner__logo">
                <img alt="Vladimir Arlazarov" src="https://ict.moscow/static/dc06dd93-d001-576d-865b-fd806d4fec56.jpg">
            </div >
                <div>
            <p class="quote-owner__title">
                                    <a href="https://www.facebook.com/vladimir.arlazarov" target="_blank">
                                    Vladimir Arlazarov
                                    </a>
                            </p>
                            <p class="quote-owner__description">CEO at Smart Engines, Ph.D.</p>
                    </div>
    </div>
</div>
<h2>
    Russia in the international AI arena
</h2>

    <p>
    In August, the Concept for the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics until 2024 (hereinafter - the Concept) was approved in Russia. Alexander Tyulkanov from the Skolkovo Foundation was among the developers of the concept. According to him, the authors of this document, among other things, proceeded from the need to defend Russia's interests in the field of AI at the international level.<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
<div class="incut-block ">
                        <p class="quote-icon">
                    The Declaration [between the US and the UK] is neither the only nor the most significant international document in this area. Obviously, some problems, including standardization in the field of artificial intelligence technologies, as well as harmonization of approaches to humanitarian-oriented regulation of the use of these technologies, can only be solved together, with the help of international organizations, such as ISO, UNESCO, the Council of Europe. As part of their work on the relevant documents, there is now an objective opportunity to take into account the interests of developers, including Russian and Russia can and should take advantage of this opportunity.
        </p>
        <div class="quote-owner">
                    <div class="quote-owner__logo">
                <img alt="Alexander Tyulkanov" src="https://ict.moscow/static/09fa2ea1-5c3f-59db-b9b5-7354b61a9652.jpg">
            </div >
                <div>
            <p class="quote-owner__title">
                                    <a href="https://www.facebook.com/alexander.tyulkanov/" target="_blank">
                                    Alexander Tyulkanov
                                    </a>
                            </p>
                            <p class="quote-owner__description">Deputy Department Director for the Regulation of Cyberphysical Systems and Big Data at Skolkovo Foundation</p>
                    </div>
    </div>
</div>
    <p>
    Andrei Neznamov from Sberbank, who also participated in the development of the Concept, also recalls that this is not the first case of local unification of countries for the development of AI, but it cannot be said that the declarations gave any special impetus, the expert says. Meanwhile, Neznamov emphasizes that such agreements are beneficial to the development of technologies.<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
<div class="incut-block ">
                        <p class="quote-icon">
                    Even if the agreement remains merely a formality, this brings AI to the state and public agenda for a while. If the documents signed are working agreements, then they are able to give a serious competitive advantage to the members of the union. I am convinced that Russia should strive to form similar intercountry partnerships and agreements.&nbsp;&nbsp;
        </p>
        <div class="quote-owner">
                    <div class="quote-owner__logo">
                <img alt="Andrey Neznamov" src="https://ict.moscow/static/600540f2-222f-522c-b063-8c797b0e0c59.jpg">
            </div >
                <div>
            <p class="quote-owner__title">
                                    <a href="https://www.facebook.com/avneznamov" target="_blank">
                                    Andrey Neznamov
                                    </a>
                            </p>
                            <p class="quote-owner__description">Executive Director of the Center of Data Research for Government Agencies at Sberbank</p>
                    </div>
    </div>
</div>
    <p>
    All this is consonant with the opinion of Vladimir Averbakh from Sberbank. Speaking at CIPR-2020 as part of the session "What will be the development of artificial intelligence in Russia?", the expert noted that one of the new trends now is the international regulation of AI. The topic&nbsp; of AI and the question of the operation of autonomous systems is raised everywhere, including Council of Europe, UNESCO, Averbach noted. According to him, Russia does not have much time to declare itself on the international artificial intelligence arena.&nbsp;&nbsp;<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
<div class="incut-block ">
                        <p class="quote-icon">
                    We have a window of opportunity of 2-3 years when we are in an equal starting situation with the rest of the world. The topic is new, the race is underway, but at the moment there are no superprincipled lags. And we need to use the window of 2-3 years at maximum power.&nbsp;&nbsp;
        </p>
        <div class="quote-owner">
                    <div class="quote-owner__logo">
                <img alt="Vladimir Averbakh" src="https://ict.moscow/static/812f0ad7-cdc7-532c-8420-7e83cbabd6ae.jpg">
            </div >
                <div>
            <p class="quote-owner__title">
                                    <a href="https://www.facebook.com/vladimir.averbakh.5" target="_blank">
                                    Vladimir Averbakh
                                    </a>
                            </p>
                            <p class="quote-owner__description">Head of the Center of Data Research for Government Agencies at Sberbank</p>
                    </div>
    </div>
</div>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/reaktsiia-otrasli-sotrudnichestvo-stran-v-oblasti-ii/">Original (in Russian)</a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>

Representatives of Russian companies on the possible impact of the US-UK cooperation on the development of AI in Russia.

ICT.Moscow

Global AI: Russian experts on country cooperation in artificial intelligence

Federal News Agency (FAN)

Moscow State University graduate patented a new method of blood analysis using neural networks

    <p>
    According Rafik
Zagrutdinov, head of Moscow Construction
Department, smart technologies will be implemented at construction sites in Moscow to ensure safety and
control of the work process.
</p>
    <p>
    The pilot site was
the construction of the medical cluster in Skolkovo. Drones will be used there to monitor work processes, and online cameras will make it possible to
monitor compliance with safety measures
and the quality of work performed.
</p>
    <p>
    Moreover,
cameras with Face ID functions and thermometers will be installed
at the entrances to the sites. The cameras will also make it possible to personalize
the process of receiving safety induction.
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/na-moskovskikh-stroikakh-vnedriat-iskusstvennyi-intellekt/">Original (in Russian)</a>
</p>

Interfax

Artificial intelligence will be implemented at Moscow construction sites

    <p>
    Moscow service ReRooms that offers online interior design and renovation services in the one-stop-shop format has attracted 18 million rubles from the Moscow Seed Fund. The company plans to use the funds to develop its own marketplace, multiply the number of suppliers and goods, and improve customer experience through the development of technological solutions.
</p>
<div class="incut-block incut-block-text-small-size">
            <p><b>Contacts: </p>
            <p></b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/yuri.goldberg" target="_blank">Yuriy Goldberg</a>, Managing Partner of ReRooms<b></p>
            <p></b></p>
    </div>
    <p>
    <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/cervis-dlia-onlain-zakaza-dizain-proekta-kvartiry-rerooms-privlek-18-mln-rublei-na-razvitie-marketpleisa/" target="_blank">Original (in Russian)</a>
</p>

RB.ru

Service for online ordering of a design project for apartments ReRooms raised $230 thousand for the development of a marketplace

    <p>
    “My Moscow”, the<a target="_blank" href="https://www.mos.ru/mobile/"> official mobile app</a> of the mos.ru
portal, won the silver prize at the Smart Sustainable City Awards international
competition of the World Organization of Smart Sustainable Cities (WeGO). According
to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/natalysergunina">Natalia Sergunina</a>, Deputy Moscow Mayor, Moscow won the award in the
“Efficient Government” category.<a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    The first place went to Goyang-si (South Korea).<a></a><a></a>
</p>
<div class="incut-block ">
                        <p class="quote-icon">
                    Such an international acclaim as the WeGO Award once again proves the fact that online services are highly popular in Moscow. This also motivates us to develop new services and to improve available services in line with modern trends and popular opinion, while developing the capital’s digital system.
        </p>
        <div class="quote-owner">
                <div>
            <p class="quote-owner__title">
                                    <a href="https://www.facebook.com/eduard.lysenko.7" target="_blank">
                                    Eduard Lysenko
                                    </a>
                            </p>
                            <p class="quote-owner__description">Head of the DIT of Moscow</p>
                    </div>
    </div>
</div>
    <p>
    The Smart Sustainable City Awards competition is held
every three years and singles out the best e-government projects. In 2017,
Moscow got a special mention in the E-Government Services category.<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/prilozhenie-moia-moskva-stalo-vtorym-v-konkurse-umnykh-ustoichivykh-gorodov-wego/">Original (in Russian)</a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a></a><a></a>
</p>

mos.ru

My Moscow app took second place in WeGO smart sustainable cities competition

The Ministry of Education and Mail.ru Group are developing Russian TikTok for schoolchildren

    <p>
    In September, the Center of Diagnostics and Telemedicine announced the creation of a platform for self-testing of medical services. The first working prototype of the platform is hosted on the GitHub service, and developers from all over the world can take part in improving it by adding verification criteria depending on the purpose of the services.<a target="_blank"></a><a target="_blank"></a><a target="_blank"></a>
</p>
<div class="incut-block ">
                        <p class="quote-icon">
                    The platform provides an unlimited number of accesses to single samples of data instances from the test set in order to fine-tune the algorithms. It has uniform terms of use, and it is possible to test several services simultaneously. The platform also records the time that the software spends on data processing, and the developers receive an automatic report on the results of the testing.
        </p>
                        <p>
                    
        </p>
        <div class="quote-owner">
                    <div class="quote-owner__logo">
                <img alt="Sergey Morozov" src="https://ict.moscow/static/48dc403f-d5e6-5b49-a400-5e13cbe4d64b.jpg">
            </div >
                <div>
            <p class="quote-owner__title">
                                    <a href="https://www.facebook.com/smorozov.md" target="_blank">
                                    Sergey Morozov
                                    </a>
                            </p>
                            <p class="quote-owner__description">Chief regional radiology and instrumental diagnostics officer, Center of Diagnostics and Telemedicine</p>
                    </div>
    </div>
</div>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank"></a><a target="_blank"></a>
</p>
<div class="incut-block ">
                        <p class="quote-icon">
                    Anyone can improve the platform and add the necessary metrics to it, using which the operation of the algorithm will be evaluated for certain medical purposes (for example, for the analysis of radiographs or mammograms). However, the process of adding will be monitored: only those scientifically-based metrics will be added to the platform operating on the basis of the Center.
        </p>
        <div class="quote-owner">
                    <div class="quote-owner__logo">
                <img alt="Nikolay Pavlov" src="https://ict.moscow/static/088836c7-f814-5c77-93a2-db69f8c5e7e2.jpg">
            </div >
                <div>
            <p class="quote-owner__title">
                                    <a href="https://www.facebook.com/praegustator" target="_blank">
                                    Nikolay Pavlov
                                    </a>
                            </p>
                            <p class="quote-owner__description">platform developer, project manager in the sector of medical informatics, radiomics and radiogenomics, Center of Diagnostics and Telemedicine</p>
                    </div>
    </div>
</div>
    <p>
    Initially, it will be possible to use the
platform to work only with chest CT scans to detect signs of coronavirus
infection, but in the future it will cover other medical fields.<a target="_blank"></a><a target="_blank"></a><a target="_blank"></a>
</p>
    <p>
    The priority vector of development covers the aspects
included in the experiment: detection of lung and breast cancer, tuberculosis,
other lung pathologies, multiple sclerosis and other diseases. In the future,
after the necessary requirements for the security of the transferred data are
met, the platform can be used in an experiment to expand its capabilities and
simplify participation and change of versioning for developers of AI services.<a target="_blank"></a><a target="_blank"></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a href="https://github.com/Center-of-Diagnostics-and-Telemedicine/ai-testing-platform" target="_blank">Link to GitHub repository</a><a target="_blank"></a><a target="_blank"></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/v-rossii-sozdali-platformu-dlia-samoproverki-meditsinskikh-servisov-iskusstvennogo-intellekta/" target="_blank">Original (in Russian)</a><a target="_blank"></a><a target="_blank"></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank"></a><a target="_blank"></a>
</p>

ComNews

A platform for self-testing of medical AI services was created in Russia

    <p>
    The Russian authorities began to discuss the opportunities
for cooperation with Huawei. According to Vasiliy Shpak, Head of the Department
of Radioelectronic Industry, Ministry of Industry and Trade, Russia is ready to
provide Huawei with access to the Russian market of equipment in the public
sector (to public procurement) in exchange for its technology.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    Nevertheless, it is not reported what technologies of
the Chinese vendor are of interest to the state. Shpak also did not specify
what exactly he means by providing Huawei with access to public procurement,
since its products are already widely represented on the equipment market in
the public sector. According to the information of the media outlet, Shpak
presumably meant preferences for the Chinese vendor.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    The parties have not yet reached specific agreements during
the talks that have begun. “So far we have not made much progress in this area,
but there is mutual interest, and we are in constant dialogue with them all the
time”, - Shpak says.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    Negotiations with Huawei are conducted against the
background of preparations in Russia to ban state purchases of foreign radio
electronics.&nbsp;<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/rossiia-i-huawei-obsuzhdaiut-vozmozhnosti-sotrudnichestva/">Original (in Russian)</a><a></a>
</p>

Russia and Huawei discuss opportunities for cooperation

Research: the growth rate of online educational platforms has dropped to pre-quarantine level

    <p>
    Experum, a platform for finding experts and mentors in solving business problems, raised almost $245 thousand. Co-founder and former CEO of Qiwi <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sergey.solonin" target="_blank">Sergey Solonin</a>, investment banker Mikhail Broitman and one of the project’s co-founders <a href="https://www.facebook.com/evgeniy.larionov.5" target="_blank">Evgeniy Larionov</a> are among the investors. The company expects to use the funds to scale up the technology for recruiting experts and mentors. Experum also plans to increase company valuation to $10-15 million in 2021.
</p>
    <p>
    Solonin and Broitman took stakes in the project at the end of July. Broitman owns 2% of Experum, and Solonin owns 1%.
</p>
    <p>
    <a href="https://ict.moscow/en/card/experum/" target="_blank">Experum</a> card on ICT.Moscow
</p>
    <p>
    <a href="https://ict.moscow/news/platforma-experum-privlekla-pochti-19-mln-rublei-na-masshtabirovanie-tekhnologii/" target="_blank">Original (in Russian)</a>
</p>

Experum raised almost $245 thousand for technology scaling 

    <p>
    According to
the revised version of the passport of the federal project “Information
Security”, Russia plans to develop a platform for monitoring phishing sites and
personal data leaks by 2021. <a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    The platform
will be used to monitor government information systems and accounts in the
Unified Identification and Authentication System (used on the government
services website) and interact with citizens. The compromised data will be
transferred to a single database, and the resources that use it will be
automatically blocked. Moreover, the system will identify the source of the
leak and look for intruders. 1.4 billion rubles from the federal budget from
2021 to 2024 will be spent on the creation of the platform, as was reported by
the media outlet with reference to the project document.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    The passport
of the federal project also includes information about the development of an “anti-virus
multi-scanner” for scanning files. Earlier, Nikolai Murashov, Deputy Director
of the Russian National Coordination Center for Computer Incidents, spoke about
its development at Infoforum-2020 in January 2020, clarifying that trial
operation would begin in early 2021.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/v-rossii-sozdadut-platformu-dlia-monitoringa-za-deiatelnostiu-moshennicheskikh-saitov/">Original (in Russian)</a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a></a>
</p>

Russia will create a platform for monitoring the activities of fraudulent sites

    <p>
    In 2019, the
Russian video games and e-sports market amounted to $2.1 billion, which is 13%
more than in the previous year. By the end of 2024, the market value will reach
$2.8 billion with an average annual growth rate of 5.6%, PwC experts forecast
in their review of the global and Russian entertainment industry.<b></b><a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    According to
analysts, the Russian video games and e-sports market is 11th in the world and
5th in Europe in terms of size. The number of active players is, according to
various estimates, from 30 million to 50 million people.<a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    Experts also
note that the COVID-19 pandemic had a positive impact on revenue growth in the
country’s video game industry. According to AliExpress, there was a 2.3-fold
increase in the sales of digital copies of games in April, compared to the same
period last year. According to Yandex.Money, in April the turnover of payments
for purchases of content within games was 23% higher than in March, and the
purchases of the games grew by 22%. PwC analysts predict that in the second
half of the year audience behavior will stabilize and the dynamics will return
to normal levels.<a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://www.pwc.ru/ru/publications/mediaindustriya-v-2020-2024.html">Russian
Entertainment and Media Outlook (in Russian)</a><a></a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/issledovanie-rynok-videoigr-i-kibersporta-v-rossii-budet-rasti-na-5-6-v-god/">Original (in Russian)</a><a></a><a></a>
</p>

Research: The market of video games and e-sports in Russia will grow at 5.6% rate per year

    <p>
    The Ministry
of Economic Development approved the draft bill of the Ministry of Digital
Development, Communications and Mass Media that obliges owners of technological
communication networks to store traffic for three years for provision to
special services. In its review the department notes that the draft “did not
identify provisions that introduce excessive administrative and other
restrictions and obligations for business entities and other activities”.<b></b><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    According to
the Yarovaya Law, which entered into force on July 1, 2018, telecom operators
in Russia are required to store all user traffic in the country, including
voice messages and SMS, text messages, images, audio, video and other
electronic messages of the users. Companies are obliged to provide this
information at the request of the special services.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    At the end of
June, Mintsifry published a draft bill for public discussion. According to the
draft, the owners of technological communication networks (networks designed to
ensure the production activities of organizations and enterprises) are also
required to store such information. It must be stored for three years in the
territory of the Russian Federation and, if necessary, provided to the special
services.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    The Russian
Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs has already criticized the document. The
Union believes that the implementation of the law will lead to significant increases
in costs for the owners of such networks, and can increase the risks of
disrupting the technological processes of enterprises and reduce the level of safety
of these processes.<a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://regulation.gov.ru/projects#npa=105410">Text of the
draft bill of Ministry of Digital Development (in Russian)</a><a></a>
</p>
    <p>
    <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/minekonomrazvitiia-podderzhalo-zakonoproekt-o-trekhletnem-khranenii-trafika-tekhnologicheskikh-setei/">Original (in Russian)</a><a></a>
</p>

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