According to
the estimates of the GSM Association (GSMA), the Russian telecom operators’
expenditures in 2023-2030 for the deployment of 5G networks will be 84% higher
compared to the option in which 3.5 GHz gold band would be used for 5G communications,
Kommersant reports. In Russia operators are offered 4.8-4.99 GHz spectrum.

 
 According to analysts,
by 2025 5G will account for about 43 million connections in Russia. In terms of
these indicators, Russia will approach the world average, but will lag behind
the leading markets.

 
 Also by 2025 5G
will contribute more than $5.2 billion to the domestic economy, which is
equivalent to a 0.3% increase in GDP, and over the period 2022–2030 the Russian
economy will gain in total $60 billion from 5G.

 
 The GSMA
recommends using licensed shared access if it is impossible to free up the 3.5
GHz band.

 
 GSMA research “5G in Russia: the impact of spectrum on
development prospects”

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://data.gsmaintelligence.com/research/research/research-2020/how-spectrum-will-shape-the-outlook-for-5g-in-russia">Read research</a>

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/gsma-stroitelstvo-setei-5g-mozhet-oboitis-na-84-dorozhe-iz-za-menee-podkhodiashchego-diapazona-chastot/">Original (in Russian)&nbsp;</a> &nbsp;

Kommersant

GSMA: building 5G networks could cost 84% more due to less suitable frequency band

The decision on the 5G network deployment has been made. This was stated by Maksut Shadayev, Minister of Digital Development during the ‘government hour’ in the Federation Council.

<div class="incut-block ">
 
 Now I can confirm with satisfaction that we have reached an agreed solution with the Ministry of Defence and other bodies: we have received frequencies that can be used for the 5G network deployment. We have prepared a plan for converting the spectrum in order to move the military communications to the other bands. [...] And most importantly, a political decision was made that all equipment that would be used to create 5G would be of domestic production. The necessary funds will be allocated for this work.
 
 <div class="quote-owner">
 <div class="quote-owner__logo">
 <img alt="Maksut Shadayev" src="https://ict.moscow/static/fe8a1340-99ba-525c-b38a-c9e04b78e3f5.jpeg">
 </div >
 <div>
 
 <a href="&lt;a href=&quot;https://www.facebook.com/m.shadaev&quot;&gt;https://www.facebook.com/m.shadaev&lt;/a&gt;" target="_blank">
 Maksut Shadayev
 </a>
 
 Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation
 </div>
 </div>
</div>
 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/shadaev-seti-5g-v-rossii-budut-stroitsia-tolko-na-otechestvennom-oborudovanii/">Original (in Russian)</a>

REGNUM

5G networks in Russia will be built using only domestic equipment

A 5G Demo Center was launched in the Smart City pavilion at VDNH for testing and supporting urban
services based on 5th generation communications. The
priority industries for the testing of 5G-based services are transport, medicine, urban safety and
education.

 
 MTS is the partner of the Moscow IT department in obtaining
the necessary permits for the deployment of the pilot 5G segment, and Ericsson
became the first supplier of telecommunications
equipment. In September the DIT of
Moscow <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/moscow-and-rostec-have-agreed-to-develop-5g-together/">entered into</a> a cooperation agreement with Rostec, which will also
supply 5G equipment in the future.

 
 Big technology
companies, start-ups, research institutes and industry-specific universities will have access to 5G networks for
testing solutions. Patent and technical integrity of
solutions and equipment will be respected during the work conducted at the 5G Demo
Center.

 
 Earlier it was<a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/stali-izvestny-podrobnosti-o-rabote-novoi-5g-laboratorii-v-moskve/">
reported</a> that piloting the services
for the city in the Demo Center was one of the areas of work on the development of 5G in Moscow. The city also intends to strengthen cooperation with operators in their pilot zones.

 
 An interactive map
of 5G pilot zones in the capital is available in the special ICT.Moscow <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/projects/5g/">project</a> about 5G in Moscow.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/v-moskve-otkryli-5g-laboratoriiu-dlia-resheniia-gorodskikh-zadach/">Original (in Russian)</a>

5G laboratory was opened in Moscow for solving urban problems

MTS, Ericsson and
Gazprom Neft deployed a dedicated 5G-ready network in the 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz
bands. The network was deployed on 5G-ready Ericsson
equipment at the Palyanovskoye field in the
Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, the “Gladkoye” oil depot in
the Leningrad Region and the industrial zone in Muravlenko in the Yamalo-Nenets
Autonomous Okrug with a single digital services control center in the Gazprom
Neft technopark in Saint Petersburg.<a></a>

 
 Voice
communication, video surveillance, telemetry (data transmission from sensors at
production facilities), geolocation (obtaining information about the location of video cameras and sensors) services and an audio-visual assistant system with an AR headset to
control work
performance are organized at the sites.<a></a>

 
 In October MTS
StartUp Hub and Gazprom Neft StartupDrive accelerator agreed on a partnership
to conduct pilots for residents of the 5G Center in Gazprom Neft
and pilots for solutions of the StartupDrive accelerator in MTS.<a></a>

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/mts-vmeste-s-ericsson-razvernula-vydelennuiu-5g-ready-set-dlia-neftianoi-promyshlennosti/">Original (in Russian)</a><a></a>

 
 <a></a>

Ericsson

MTS and Ericsson deployed a dedicated 5G-ready network for the oil industry

The value of communication services provided to
enterprises in July 2020 compared to July 2019 increased by 6%; compared to
June 2020, the value decreased by 0.8% and amounted to 178.4 billion rubles. The
data are presented in the “Branches of the Russian economy: production,
finance, securities. Communications” report
(bulletin) (No. 1392).<a></a><a></a>

 
 The value of paid communication services to the population in July 2020 amounted to 115 billion
rubles, it
has decreased by 8.2% compared to July
2019, and increased by 2% compared to the
previous month. The value of
communication services to the population in the period from January to July 2020
decreased by 6%. Revenues from communication services in Russia in January-March 2020 decreased by
1.5% compared to 2019 and amounted to 403.5 billion rubles.<a></a><a></a>

 
 According to
Rosstat, tariffs for communication services in the Russian Federation in July
2020 increased by 4.2% compared to the same period of 2019, and also increased by 0.2% compared to June 2020. In the
first seven months of 2020, tariffs increased by 1.4% compared to the previous year.<a></a><a></a>

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://akmanalytics.ru/index.php?route=product/product&amp;product_id=207">Report “Branches of the Russian
economy: production, finance, securities”. Communications” (No. 1392).</a><a></a><a></a>

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/obem-uslug-sviazi-okazyvaemykh-predpriiatiiam-vyros-na-6">Original (in Russian)</a><a></a><a></a>

AK&M

The value of communication services provided to enterprises in Russia grew by 6%

Sberbank announced that it had signed a memorandum of
intent between a mobile virtual operator SberMobile (the brand of Sberbank-Telecom LLC), Tele2 and
Huawei. As part of the agreement, a working group will be created to study the
technological possibilities of 5G.<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>

 
 Desk study will be conducted in several phases in
order to develop new business models in 5G networks, as well as the ways to
monetize the technology and the options for scaling and use in various segments
and industries. The tests will be carried out jointly with Sberbank ecosystem
companies, including Cognitive Pilot, using SberMobile platforms, Tele2
infrastructure and Huawei developments.<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>

 
 The partnership will study possible application of 5G for
a smart analytics platform based on artificial intelligence, autonomous
vehicles fleet management, transport infrastructure and monitoring of
agricultural processes. 5G technology will allow to transmit of data video
stream from unmanned vehicles for real-time interaction of the vehicle fleet,
remote control of equipment and providing an accurate picture in real time
based on visual data from the site.<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>

 
 Another area of ​​research is the creation of a
digital twin of the city during the construction of the smart quarter in Rublevo-Arkhangelskoye
district in Moscow. With the help of Internet of Things technology, a unified
situational center for the management of buildings and infrastructure of a
smart quarter will be created, as well as systems for monitoring construction
work at the sites in real time.<a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/sbermobail-tele2-i-huawei-protestiruiut-5g/">Original (in Russian)</a><a></a><a></a><a></a><a></a>

Sberbank

Mobile virtual operator SberMobile, Tele2 and Huawei will test 5G

During <a target="_blank" href="https://cipr.ru/">CIPR 2020 </a>conference, The Moscow Government and Rostec State Corporation have agreed to develop fifth-generation communication technologies.&nbsp;

 
 The agreement provides for cooperation in organizing the work of the first 5G laboratory in Russia dedicated to solving urban сhallenges. The city will act as a testing ground for the implementation of wireless technologies.

<div class="incut-block ">
 
 In October, the Moscow Department of Information Technology intends to open a 5G Demo Center in the Smart City pavilion at VDNH. 5G Demo Center is an accelerator for small and medium enterprises, universities and research institutes developing solutions based on fifth generation networks. They will be able to use, among other things, the types of equipment that in the future will be used for the commercial deployment of 5G.
 
 <div class="quote-owner">
 <div>
 
 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/eduard.lysenko.7" target="_blank">
 Eduard Lysenko
 </a>
 
 Head of the Department of Information Technologies of Moscow
 </div>
 </div>
</div>
 
 Also, within the framework of cooperation, an information exchange regarding the real needs of both business and the city in terms of 5G services and trends in the development of urban infrastructure will be possible.&nbsp;

 
 According to Vasily Brovko, Director for Special Assignments of Rostec State Corporation, one of the projects for the joint development of 5G will be pilot zones on domestic equipment in the 5G demo center.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/moskva-i-rostekh-budut-vmeste-razvivat-5g/">Original (in Russian)</a>

Rostec

Moscow and Rostec have agreed to develop 5G together

According to Kearney, Russians’ spending on communications and online services may grow by 31%. In absolute terms, this will be equivalent to an increase of around €7 per subscriber a month.

 
 According to a survey of 16 thousand people in 28 countries of the world, conducted by Kearney&nbsp; in the Q4 2019 and the Q1 2020, Russian subscribers spent about €21 per month on these services (two-thirds on communications). Meanwhile, in Eastern Europe, consumers spend on the same almost twice as much - €40 per month, and in Western Europe - €94.

 
 Kearney has developed an index of consumer connectivity, where Russia only ranked 17th, which indicates potential for growth. The index takes into account the local price levels, consumer income and costs of digital services, including fixed and mobile communications, pay TV, media content and digital entertainment, as well as the costs of connected devices (voice assistants, smart home, video surveillance, etc.).

 
 Analysts believe that the most promising areas for revenue growth in Russia are entertainment services, the cost of which in Russia can potentially grow by 48% - from the current €6 to €8.9.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/kearney-raskhody-rossiian-na-uslugi-sviazi-i-tsifrovye-servisy-mogut-vyrasti-na-31/">Original (in Russian)</a>

Research: Russians’ spending on communications and online services may grow by 31%

According to TelecomDaily, the number of broadband Internet subscribers in Russia has grown by
290 thousand in the second quarter of 2020 and reached 33.79 million subscribers. The
growth in the number of new contracts in the first quarter in relation to the
the end of 2019 is 0.5%, and the growth in the second quarter in relation to
the first quarter is 0.9%.

 
 Rostelecom holds 36% of the
market, ER-Telecom and MTS hold 11% each, Beeline - 8%, TTK - 6%, other
broadband providers together hold 28% of the market.

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/issledovanie-kolichestvo-abonentov-platnogo-tv-v-rossii-dostiglo-44-332-mln/">Original (in Russian)</a>

TelecomDaily

The number of broadband subscribers in Russia has grown by 290 thousand in the second quarter of 2020

Beeline
started to build 5G-ready network (supports LTE standard and will support 5G)
at all stations, in all underpasses and tunnels of the Moscow Metro, Kommersant
reports with reference to the operator’s representative. 

 
 The
project is supposed to be completed in November 2020, the network will be
launched firstly on five busiest lines. The amount of investment has not been
disclosed, but, according to the source referred to by the newspaper, it can be
over 3 billion rubles during a period of three years. 

 
 Currently,
Vimpelcom’s network is already available at 61 out of 218 underground metro
stations, the company representatives claim.

 
 The
partner of the project is Huawei, the equipment of which the operator used to
upgrade the network to 5G-ready in Moscow.

 
 Megafon completed 4G
coverage of all Metro stations at the beginning of 2019, and the amount of
sections between stations where its services are available is “close to 100%”,
the representatives of the company say. Tele2 representatives note that the
network is available at all stations, and at the new ones Ericsson equipment is
being installed. One year ago, MTS managed to provide subscribers with the same
internet quality in the metro and ground transport after it had completed the
construction of underground LTE network using Nokia equipment, according to the
operator’s press service. 

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/vympelkom-investiruet-v-razvitie-mobilnoi-seti-v-moskovskom-metro/">Original (in Russian)</a>

Beeline invests in the mobile network in the Moscow Metro

MTS became the first
company in Russia to obtain a license for providing 5G mobile services. The
license that expires on July 16, 2025 was granted to MTS by Roskomnadzor to
create a network that will cover almost all regions of Russia (83 out of 85).
Communication will be provided in 24.25-24.65 GHz frequency range in accordance
with 5G/IMT-2020 standard.

 
 Company representatives note
that large enterprises and business will become the first users of the 5G
network.

 
 “5G standard will allow corporate clients to actively use artificial
intelligence, IoT, AR and VR technologies for remote control of equipment,
driverless vehicles development, interactive educational programs and creation
of the latest quality control systems at production sites” commented Alexey Kornya, President of MTS.

 
 The license was granted to MTS
on the basis of the decision of the State Commission for Radio Frequencies
dated March 17, 2020 allowing “an indefinite range of persons to use 24.25-24.65
GHz frequency band by radio electronic means of 5G/IMT-2020 standard in the
territory of the Russian Federation".

 
 <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/news/mts-poluchila-litsenziiu-na-sozdanie-seti-5g/">Original (in Russian)</a>

MTS received a license to create 5G networks

The increase<a target="_blank" href="https://www.vedomosti.ru/technology/articles/2020/06/24/833298-mobilnuyu-telefoniyu"> was facilitated</a> by COVID-19 pandemic and self-isolation regime. The duration of calls using mobile phones has increased in Russia after last year’s decrease. This is evident from the materials published by the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation (MinComSvyaz). According to the estimates of the Ministry, in the first quarter of 2020 subscribers talked for 111.5 billion minutes, which is 3 billion minutes more than in the same period of 2019.

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 <a target="_blank" href="https://www.vedomosti.ru/technology/articles/2020/06/24/833298-mobilnuyu-telefoniyu">Read more →</a>

The demand for mobile telephony has increased in Russia

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Experts - about the growth of the industry and the benefits of implementing VR / AR solutions, forecasts and new challenges


Main things about VR/AR today: new trends and different vision of established trends

At least 77% of Russian residents aged 18-65 are ready to use unmanned taxi, reports NTI Autonet (results of the survey <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GMwOH0LSiBnKSqzGFovrBQQrnyJfMemCHtVMlQyT4pY/edit?usp=sharing">available</a> on ICT.Moscow). In one year this indicator has increased - in 2019 a similar survey showed that over 60% of residents were ready to use autonomous cars.

<div class="incut-block ">
 
 This survey confirms that the readiness for using new technologies in everyday life is directly connected with the their experience and interaction with technology. We are glad that the number of people ready to use unmanned cars grows together with the development of technologies.
 
 <div class="quote-owner">
 <div>
 
 NTI Autonet
 
 press service
 </div>
 </div>
</div>
 
 Moscow’s result was higher
than the average result in the country - 79%. The number of autonomous cars
tested in Moscow is the largest in the country.

<div>
 <img alt="" data-openpopup="0"
 src="https://ict.moscow/static/1200x/6d2ade39-cd03-5585-80ef-3301d8b298ad.png">
</div>

 
 Source: NTI Autonet, 2020 (data <a target="_blank" href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GMwOH0LSiBnKSqzGFovrBQQrnyJfMemCHtVMlQyT4pY/edit?usp=sharing">available</a> on ICT.Moscow)

 
 10.5 thousand people aged
18-65 took part in the survey. Younger residents aged 25-34 more positively
perceive autonomous taxi: 83.3% of them are ready to use such means of
transport. 73% of people over 45 also said they could use autonomous taxi, even
though this age group is considered to be more conservative. According to NTI
Autonet, such results indicate the possibility of self-driving taxi rapidly
becoming a part of everyday life.

<h2>
 Other evaluation of autonomous vehicles perception in Russia<a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a>
</h2>

 
 Other surveys also show that
Russian residents are ready for using unmanned transport. For example, this
indicator was monitored by KPMG analysts while compiling the Global report
entitled “<a target="_blank" href="https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2019/02/2019-autonomous-vehicles-readiness-index.html">Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index 2019</a>”. To evaluate the readiness of customers to embrace the technology,
Branded Research company conducted a focus group survey in 25 countries. People
in India, Mexico, UAE and Russia reportedly have
the most optimistic perception of autonomous transport.

<div>
 <img alt="" data-openpopup="0"
 src="https://ict.moscow/static/1200x/964ea9b0-b73f-57cc-ab0f-977e654d9395.png">
</div>

 
 Source: <a target="_blank" href="https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2019/02/2019-autonomous-vehicles-readiness-index.html">KPMG</a>, 2019

<div class="incut-block incut-block-text-small-size">
 In 2020 KPMG analysts haven’t conducted public opinion polls regarding unmanned transport perception. Instead, in the “<a target="_blank" href="https://home.kpmg/xx/en/home/insights/2020/06/autonomous-vehicles-readiness-index.html">Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index 2020</a>” report other factors were taken into account, for example, the number of people living near autonomous vehicles testing areas. Nevertheless, this indicator cannot be considered objective for Russia, as KPMG took into consideration only the test sites <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.org/program/government-innovation/bloomberg-aspen-initiative-cities-autonomous-vehicles/">included</a> in the Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Aspen Institute project. Neither Moscow, nor Kazan are included there.
 </div>
<h3>
 USA
readiness for autonomous vehicles<a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a>
</h3>

 
 Google’s project Waymo is the
leader in terms of the distance covered by autonomous vehicles. By the
beginning of the year, its cars drove 20 million miles (for comparison - Yandex
cars drove 4 million miles or 6.4 million km). Nevertheless, studies show that
Americans are not so enthusiastic about the technology.

 
 A survey conducted at the
beginning of 2020 in the USA by Partners
for Automated Vehicle Education<a target="_blank" href="https://pavecampaign.org/pave-poll-americans-wary-of-avs-but-say-education-and-experience-with-technology-can-build-trust/"> showed </a>that 48% of Americans “will never get” in an
autonomous taxi. Around three fourths of Americans say the unmanned transport
technology is not ready yet.

<div class="incut-block incut-block-text-small-size">
 <a target="_blank" href="https://pavecampaign.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/PAVE-Poll_Fact-Sheet.pdf">Partners for Automated Vehicle Education poll (pdf)</a>
 </div>
 
 The respondents of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and World Economic Forum
(WEF) <a target="_blank" href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Press%20release.pdf">survey</a> also say that the technology is still immature. However, they say
that it is of primary importance to change the culture and the perception of
this means of transport.

<h3>
 Autonomous
vehicles testing<a class="ce-block__copy-anchor-btn"></a>
</h3>

 
 Currently, the testing of automated vehicles in
Russia is carried out in accordance with the Russian government decree No.1415 &nbsp;“On Conducting an Experiment in
Testing the Use of Highly Automated Vehicles on Public Roads”.
Unmanned vehicles can drive on public roads in 13 regions.

 
 The current version of the
decree does not imply the use of unmanned transport in commercial services and
also requires a driver in the car, NTI Autonet notes.

 
 The regulation in the field of
autonomous transport is currently being developed. It will allow to switch from
autonomous car testing to their full use in services. In May, the Ministry of
Economic Development supported the draft plan for staged implementation of
unmanned vehicles until 2023.

 
 In July, Yandex Self Driving Cars team (the company is involved in the
development of the document)&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/an-interview-with-yandex-self-driving-dars-on-the-prospects-of-driverless-future/">told</a> ICT.Moscow that the plan was being finalized
and by the end of August it would be presented to the Russian president.

An overview of various research studies on the perception of autonomous vehicles in Russia

Self-driving taxis are more expected in Russia than in the USA

At the end of July, IT company Yandex <a target="_blank" href="https://yandex.ru/company/researches/2020/ai-news">published</a> a research report titled “Artificial intelligence in news headlines”. It included all materials of Yandex.News since 2010 the headlines of which included such combinations of words such as “artificial intelligence”, “machine learning” and “neural network”, as well as “AI” acronym.

 
 The authors focused on the context where artificial intelligence (AI) was mentioned in the news: what it created, determined and forecast. After the study had been published in the media, the news with reference to Yandex PR team about the places that different cities took based on the number of AI mentions (Saint Petersburg - second place, Perm - fourth place, and Kazan entered top-7 cities) came out.

 
 ICT.Moscow requested data from Yandex and tried to figure out how the number of AI mentions has changed in the context about cities and in general over the past 10 years and what topics the media focused on.

<div class="incut-block incut-block-text-small-size">
 The initial data was provided by Yandex, around 61.5 thousand publications featured by Yandex.News were collected in total. Data analysis and interpretation were carried out by ICT.Moscow.
 </div>
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 Out of the 61.5 thousand materials, 84% are from 2017-2020. In 2017 the number of publications exceeded 11 thousand, and over the past three and a half years AI was mentioned in the headlines of 51.5 thousand pieces of news.

 
 Despite the fact that 2020 is not over yet, negative dynamics can be currently seen (for the first time since 2010). If the average number of publications per month is considered, the year 2020 is at the level of 2017 - about 950 materials per month. 

<div class="incut-block incut-block-text-small-size">
 In relation to the total number of publications in Yandex.News from 2010 through July 2020 (about 282 million), the number of news items mentioning AI in the headlines was 0.02%. This indicator has increased over nine years - from 0.0013% in 2010 to 0.0532% in 2019.
 </div>
 
 The technology was mentioned most often in 2019 (over 17.5 thousand times, 1.5 thousand times per month on average). It can be compared to the total number of AI references in media publications (not only in headlines, but in the texts also) which ICT.Moscow monitors within IT media trends monitoring. These dynamics also indicates a slight decline in the media’s interest in artificial intelligence compared to the previous year. 

 
 After Yandex’s data was processed, a ranking of top-20 cities which were most frequently mentioned in the AI news headlines was compiled.

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 The ranking cannot be considered absolute, as the number of mentions can vary upon the counting methods.

<h2>
 Moscow is the leader of the ranking
</h2>

 
 Moscow is leading by a significant margin: over one thousand mentions about the capital were found. Over half of all references in the context of artificial intelligence over ten years are from 2020, which is not over yet. The sharp increase in the number of mentions of Moscow happened against the background of overall decline in the number of references of this technology in the headlines.

 
 The main newsworthy event was the launch of experimental legal regulation in the field of AI: in different variations it was mentioned over 200 times. The other relatively frequently mentioned topics were:

<ul>
 <li>fighting COVID-19, first of all - diagnostics using AI in Moscow medical facilities;</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>a <a target="_blank" href="http://www.openculture.com/2020/03/watch-scenes-from-czarist-moscow-vividly-restored-with-artificial-intelligence-may-1896.html">video</a> of Moscow shot in 1896 and restored using a neural network</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>launch of a <a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/projects/ai/">knowledge base</a> on artificial intelligence</li>
</ul>

<h2>
 Notable issues in other cities
</h2>

 
 Other Russian cities are less often but still quite frequently mentioned in the headlines of the news about AI. Saint Petersburg is the second most frequently mentioned city after Moscow, and over half of the mentions within the context of artificial intelligence are from 2019. The announcement about the opening of the national center for industrial artificial intelligence can be called the “news of the year” in the northern capital. The coffee shop where AI will be used to determine customer tastes was also mentioned quite often, as well as the establishment of Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

 
 The high position of Perm in the ranking was ensured by 2018 FIFA World Cup. When the event was being held, the news frequently featured predictions about the finalists and the winner of the competition. One of predictive AI models was developed in Perm University. As a result, the city was mentioned most frequently in the AI news headlines in 2018. However, a similar solution was presented by Perm scientists in 2013, in the lead-up to the Sochi Olympics (nevertheless, the city was not mentioned in the title of the publication). 

 
 Kazan, where digital technologies are being actively developed and implemented, was ranked 7th and was mentioned in several dozen more publications than Tyumen, which was ranked 8th. It should be noted that Innopolis which is located near Kazan was counted separately, it was also included in top-20 and was ranked 12th. Like in the case of Moscow, the largest number of Innopolis mentions occurred in 2020. The main newsbreaks were a web series about AI called “The last program” shot in Innopolis, and (also like in Moscow) - the development of neural networks for COVID-19 diagnostics.

 
 Skolkovo Innovation Center, which is not a city but can be considered an independent significant toponym, was mentioned 77 times over the past ten years. It was firstly mentioned in 2010, when it was founded. Then ABBYY received Skolkovo grant for development in the field of artificial intelligence. Since 2014, the Center was mentioned almost every year (except 2015), initially within the context about AI conferences, and later - in connection with the establishment of the Center for artificial intelligence development and other practical developments (for fighting cancer, for instance).

<h2>
 Perception of the technology
</h2>

 
 The study of the materials about artificial intelligence which was most often spoken about only in the last three-four years (see the graph with the total number of AI mentions in headlines by year) made it possible to assess how the perception of the technology has changed over time. In the beginning of 2010s, “artificial intelligence” was not perceived as an IT tool, but as a description of the behavior of computer game programmed characters. From 2014-2015 such interpretation became less common.

 
 In 2010, the media audiences were not used to seeing artificial intelligence as a standard IT tool. It is evident from the publications in the major media sources where AI self learning was interpreted as an evolution of artificial intelligence by analogy with living organisms. The concept of self-driving transport also was not formed: such developments (of Google, for example) were called “vehicles with artificial intelligence”. Nevertheless, already in 2010 Sergey Sobyanin, the Mayor of Moscow, spoke about the prospects of implementing intelligent systems in the urban environment. In particular, the Mayor proposed to implement them in the traffic management systems in order to reduce traffic jams.

 
 2013 can be called a turning point in the mass perception of artificial intelligence. In that year there was a more than two-fold increase in the number of publications about this technology. After that the dynamic of mentioning increased until 2018, when the growth decreased slightly.

 
 In 2013, artificial intelligence was practically no longer associated in the media with something fantastic, and was seen as a tool for fulfilling specific tasks, such as predicting the behavior of people at public events, recognition and processing of accounting documents, monitoring information from aircraft sensors, etc.

 
 Also, in 2013 people started talking about implementing AI in medicine: one of the most significant newsbreaks was the IBM Watson supercomputer, the artificial intelligence of which was used for treating cancer. At the same time, the publications about self-learning algorithms forecasting the emergence of dangerous strains which can cause a pandemic also appeared. 

<h2>
 Hype and corporations
</h2>

 
 Over the past 10 years, artificial intelligence technology has often been mentioned in the context of “hype” topics. It is well illustrated by the case of major sports events. The examples of neural networks developed in Perm were mentioned above in the text, but they are by no means the only ones. For example, during the 2018 World Cup, the artificial intelligence of Microsoft was also actively making forecasts.

 
 The AI references in headlines experienced the most rapid growth in 2016-2018, when the number of publications increased by 3-6 thousand per year (see graph). Just at this time, major players of the IT market were frequently mentioned in the news: Google (more than 600 publications in 2016 compared to around 250 in 2015), Sberbank (about 200 mentions in 2017), and Yandex itself (over 200 references in 2017).

 
 Thus, an increase in the number of references of the technology in news headlines is accompanied by an increase in the number of references of major IT players. Quite often the companies themselves created media hyping statements: a rock album recorded using a neural network for example, or the prospect of replacing thousands of Sberbank employees with artificial intelligence.

 
 By the way, the news about Sberbank dates back to 2016. In recent years, the company has recorded the fastest growth rate in terms of references in the context of artificial intelligence. In 2019, the bank overtook IT corporations on this indicator: it appeared in the headlines more than 500 times, whereas Google, which is usually leading, was mentioned only 350 times.

<hr />
 
 The analysis of news in the sphere of artificial intelligence over the past 10 years showed how much the perception of technology has changed during that time. Previously it was perceived as something fantastic, then it gradually became associated with an IT tool that can solve very specific tasks. And the understanding of AI as an analogue to the human mind started to be mentioned with the subscript “strong” (once in 2013 in a specialized IT publication, starting from 2016 - also in other sources).

 
 The dynamics convincingly demonstrates that various AI solutions in Russia have become firmly associated not only with hype topics, but also with cities. Most often - with Moscow, especially when it was announced that a legal experiment in the field of artificial intelligence was being launched locally. But other cities also make themselves known, regularly appearing in the headlines of the news about AI. It is not always about development: often about piloting, implementation, and practical use. The media usually covers these topics, meaning their target audience is interested in such issues.

An overview of AI mentions in news headlines in Russia since 2010.

Research: the most notable in AI news headlines in Russia over the past 10 years

Leadership of Russia according to Coursera and Mirosoft estimates,
commercial prospects of self-driving vehicles and other topics of the month - ICT.Moscow collected the most significant AI-related news of July in one digest.

<hr />
 
 Success of the Russian AI

 
 In July, Coursera <a target="_blank" href="https://www.coursera.org/gsi?ranMID=40328&amp;ranEAID=a1LgFw09t88&amp;ranSiteID=a1LgFw09t88-k7TyLSf8XEZbOeXVWZ9ZFA&amp;siteID=a1LgFw09t88-k7TyLSf8XEZbOeXVWZ9ZFA">published</a>&nbsp;a ranking of countries by the level of
training of IT specialists in different spheres. Russia was ranked first in two
out of three categories - “Technologies” and “Data Science”. Analysts named
Russia the country with the most highly-qualified specialists in software
development and working with data.

 
 As a part of the Global Pilots program for supporting
Russian startups, Microsoft Corporation has chosen the most notable artificial
intelligence projects. Their authors managed to reach an agreement on pilot
projects, establish contacts with international suppliers, start negotiations
with investment funds and receive grants.

<hr />
 
 High efficiency in medicine

 
 At the beginning of July it became known that
artificial intelligence algorithms had had<a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/over-150-thousand-radiology-images-were-processed-in-moscow-with-the-help-of-artificial-intelligence/"> processed</a> 150
thousand chest radiological scans in Moscow, mostly for diagnosing COVID-19. So
far, the technology has been available in 48
in-patient clinics and 193 polyclinics. At the beginning of the month it was announced that AI would process not only
CT scans, but also X-ray scans to diagnose other diseases. The service has been
connected to 17 Moscow medical facilities.

 
 Against this background, the level of trust to
the technology among patients is increasing. It is confirmed by studies
<a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/50-of-muscovites-positively-rate-the-use-of-ai-in-medicine/">conducted</a> by the Diagnostics and Telemedicine Center of the Moscow Healthcare
Department. The results are as follows:

<ul>
 <li>50% of Moscow residents positively assess the application of
AI in medicine</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>80% of them called the use of the technology reasonable</li>
</ul>

<ul>
 <li>70%&nbsp; claimed that the
quality of medical health had improved.</li>
</ul>

<hr />
 
 AI is becoming more deeply-rooted in call centers

 
 Mango Telecom, Russian business telephony operator expanded the application
of artificial intelligence in call centers and launched a speech analytics
module to control the work of operators and to find out how actively they
promote goods or services.

 
 Neuro.net estimates that
63% of all center workers expect that AI will partially replace people in their
professional sphere. 13% of people are sure that AI will fully replace them.

<hr />
 
 Commercial prospects of self-driving vehicles

 
 At the beginning of July journalists of “RIA Novosti” filmed the
testing of Yandex.Rover, the company's autonomous delivery robot. ICT.Moscow
talked to the team of Yandex Self Driving Cars, and found out that the company uses Rovers in the streets of
Moscow on a regular basis to collect data and train machine learning
algorithms.

 
 In an interview
with ICT.Moscow, a representative of Yandex described where and under what
conditions the first commercial vehicles, both Rovers and
cars, would be introducted. The company noted that a phased plan for the introduction of the unmanned
vehicles in Russia would be further
developed. It will be submitted to the president in
August.

<div class="incut-block incut-block-text-small-size">
 &nbsp; You can read the interview&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://ict.moscow/en/news/an-interview-with-yandex-self-driving-dars-on-the-prospects-of-driverless-future/">here</a>
 </div>
 
 Other Russian companies are also developing self-driving transport. In mid-July, the unmanned truck “Kamaz” was launched on
the territory of the Innopolis University. In northern Russia, the testing of unmanned trucks continues: the
government of Ugra has signed an agreement with one of the oil-producing
enterprises about another experiment in this field.

 
 Also in July it became known about the plans of
the Russian Ministry of Transport and “Russian Railways” to test computer
vision technologies for unmanned trains at a virtual test site.

Leadership of Russia according to Coursera and Microsoft, continued government support for AI, other topics of the month.

Digest about AI in Russia: top news in July

MINDSMITH experts about current blockchain trends