Work on the development of “end-to-end” digital technologies in Russia in the next five years will be determined by special strategic documents – road maps. The preliminary versions of the documents developed by businessmen and scientists were presented for the first time at the Digital Industry of Industrial Russia conference (CIPR-2019) in Annapolis.
A separate roadmap will be prepared for each of the technologies.
According to the Digital Economy national project, these documents should take into account the needs of leading companies in the digital economy.
Blockchain as a driver of the economy
One of the most interesting topics was the blockchain, or distributed ledger system. We are talking about a decentralized database in which information storage devices are not connected to a common server. The main advantage of the blockchain is security, since no one can fake or replace the information recorded in the blockchain.
The technology roadmap focuses on both the development of the technology itself and its implementation in various areas. “Now one of the big problems of the distributed registry system is the speed of its operation,” explains Timor Burunbaev’s, head of the project office for the digital economy of the Roster State Corporation.
Among the problems of the blockchain technology itself, the experts identified, in particular, the following: it takes a lot of time to integrate the system into business processes (about 120 hours), it is also quite a long time to audit smart contracts, in addition, it is necessary to reduce the block confirmation time.
According to Burunbaev’s presentation, in the field of finance and insurance, blockchain is expected to significantly reduce the costs of clearing and settling transactions, as well as halving the duration of transactions. The use of blockchain in manufacturing industries will lead to a significant reduction in the cost of document management and quality control of raw materials. In the field of logistics, blockchain will halve the cost of moving goods, as well as reduce the number of errors in their shipment.
Blockchain technology, according to experts, will also be able to increase public confidence in the public administration processes in which it will be applied. Also, the blockchain will help reduce the administrative costs of the state for the provision of public services. Thanks to the use of new technology, the circulation of counterfeit medicines will be halved, as well as the costs of processing and storing personal medical data. The list of priority areas for the use of blockchain in Russia is planned to be expanded in the future, Burunbaev’s notes.
Artificial intelligence and the virtual world
To better understand the importance of such an end-to-end digital technology as artificial intelligence (AI), suffice it to say that there will be no Yandex without it, Alexander Krnov, head of the company’s machine intelligence laboratory, said at the presentation of the roadmap. “For us, AI technology is the main working tool, and if it is removed, then the business will simply disappear completely, there will be no Yandex. The entire Yandex is a thin shell of services based on artificial intelligence technology,” he explained.
Experts proposed the following “cutting” of areas (or sub technologies): computer vision, natural language processing, speech recognition and synthesis, neuroprostheses (solutions for human interaction with gadgets) as well as neural interfaces, neurostimulator and neurotensin (that is, solutions will help track human brain activity and influence it). Recommender systems and intelligent decision support systems, as well as promising AI methods and technologies, are singled out as a separate area.
Businesses are already actively implementing elements of AI in their work. Yaroslava Sheave, head of the AK Bars Bank’s innovation laboratory for digital technologies, said at the presentation that already now 94% of people get into one of the bank’s main offices not with a card, but with the help of a face recognition system. Another example is that 60% of calls that enter the contact center through the chat channel are processed using AI, which increased the speed of their processing by five times, Sheave explained.
“The trend that can definitely be identified is assistants, but not for home use, such as Yandex’s Alice, but for business. The approach that we are now seeing is a secretary for every employee in the business. We started with a contact center, the next step is a personal investment advisor,” he said.
According to experts, first of all, for the further development of this market, it is necessary to develop methods for confirming the stability of the AI system. According to them, there are no clear criteria by which, for example, it would be possible to determine who is better at a task – an unmanned vehicle or a real professional driver. At the same time, an unmanned vehicle will not be forgiven for mistakes, the first serious accident, the culprit of which will be recognized as an unmanned vehicle, will throw back their introduction by 5-10 years.
“Our country is taking the initiative on the need to develop standards that fix certain certification requirements for the use of artificial intelligence. Fulfillment of these requirements will allow the use of AI technologies in solving a number of important tasks, the incorrect solution of which can lead to negative consequences. So far, this greatly limits the possibilities for their practical application, ”said Sergey Garbo, chairman of the technical committee based on the RVC “Artificial Intelligence”.
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies are now best known to avid gamers, but in five years they may become familiar attributes in school classrooms and doctors’ offices.
