The Ministry of Digital Development proposes to stimulate the introduction of AI by state-owned companies

The Ministry of Digital Development proposes to stimulate the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) by state-owned companies by including such projects in digital transformation strategies. As the head of the department, Maksut Shadayev, explained, this is already a well-established mechanism – the authorities used it when transferring state-owned companies to Russian IT solutions. Meanwhile, the question of data for machine learning – one of the key in the field of AI – remains unresolved. If earlier the Ministry of Digital Development assumed that amendments to the law “On Personal Data”, which regulate the circulation of anonymized information necessary for this, would be considered in the spring session of the State Duma, now this issue is being postponed.

The head of the Ministry of Digital Development, Maksut Shadayev, yesterday at a meeting of President Vladimir Putin with the government, said that his department proposes to encourage state-owned companies to use artificial intelligence technologies by including such projects in digital transformation strategies. “They (strategy.— “b”) we are very well administered, there are strict indicators, monitoring, and even in directives (which the White House manages state-owned companies.— “b”) – deprivation of the bonus if the goals are not achieved, ”he said. The minister noted that these documents are a well-established mechanism worked out in the process of transferring state-owned companies to Russian IT solutions. The department expects that this measure will give the necessary acceleration to the process, since sometimes state-owned companies “swing heavily.”

However, as the head of the Ministry of Economy Maxim Reshetnikov noted at the meeting, one of the key conditions for the development of the AI ​​industry is developers’ access to anonymized data. Recall that the State Duma has long been considering amendments to the law “On Personal Data”, which regulate the circulation of depersonalized information necessary for this process (data specially cleared of the “personal” component). In the first reading, the draft was adopted in February 2021. In June 2023, Maksut Shadayev expected that the final bill would be approved during the final spring session of the State Duma, but now this process is shifting. “By now, the amendments for the second reading have been agreed. The result was a design that proceeds from the protection of the interests and rights of citizens and at the same time still provides developers with access to big data. We very much hope that this will be adopted at the beginning of the autumn session,” the head of the Ministry of Digital Development said.

According to Maxim Reshetnikov, in addition to the issue of data, it is necessary, among other things, to create conditions for the creation of Russian computing capacities, moreover, a multiple of what is currently available, including in the form of large computing clusters, in the future – using Russian components.

To encourage business to implement AI, the Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Finance also agreed to test an approach starting next year, in which the use of technology should become one of the conditions for providing state support in a number of industries, including agriculture, transport, industry and healthcare. According to Maxim Reshetnikov, “a lot of practice has already been developed in these areas.” The point is that when a company receives a subsidy from the budget above a certain amount, it will have to implement one or another solution using AI.

According to the head of the Ministry of Digital Development, the issue of introducing artificial intelligence is already on the agenda of each region or department. Maksut Shadayev proposed to make the deputy heads of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and the authorities in charge of digital transformation issues responsible for the implementation of AI. “Then we will have the introduction of digital technologies, and work with data, and artificial intelligence will be in the same hands, and it will all be linked together,” he explained.

Venera Petrova