Experts from the Sber Research and Development Center in St. Petersburg visited the St. Petersburg Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SPC RAS) to discuss joint initiatives in artificial intelligence, automation and digital security. The visit became an important step towards strengthening cooperation between industry and science in order to develop advanced technologies.
Experts from the Sber Research and Development Center in St. Petersburg visited leading laboratories of the St. Petersburg Federal Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Among the priority objectives of the meeting was the integration of efforts and resources in interdisciplinary research, ensuring harmonious interaction between scientific, educational and industrial communities to solve priority problems of the North-West region and promote St. Petersburg as a scientific center of Russia.
Laboratory of Autonomous Robotic Systems demonstrated educational robots for teaching students and schoolchildren, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles developed for processing agricultural land.
Researchers of the Laboratory of Computer-Aided Integrated Systems presented the project "Pushkin Digital" - a large-scale digital database dedicated to the legacy of Alexander Pushkin. This project is aimed at preserving and popularizing cultural heritage via advanced technologies. The techniques of machine text analysis developed in the Laboratory can be useful for the Sber's educational services.
Visitors were particularly interested in the developments of the Laboratory of Applied Artificial Intelligence. The Laboratory researchers spoke about performing interdisciplinary research in artificial intelligence and information technology, presented new approaches to determining psychological traits in the era of digital transformation and demonstrated the capabilities of AI by the example of AI temperament and AI career guidance. In addition, the researchers of LAAI noted the success in implementation of joint educational programs with Sber for training the bachelor's and master's degree students in "Artificial Intelligence and Data Science" at the St. Petersburg State University.
"It is important that we develop theoretical concepts, and also successfully apply them in practice, proving the effectiveness of interaction between science and business. We already have a number of successful joint projects, and we are confident that their number will only grow," said Maxim Abramov, head of the Laboratory of Applied Artificial Intelligence of SPC RAS.
In the Laboratory of Speech and Multimodal Interfaces, the visitors were introduced to a speech analysis system capable of assessing a person's psycho-emotional state and determining the degree of reliability of human statements. These technologies can be used in financial services to assess risks and detect fraud.
Head of the International Digital Forensics Center for Andrey Chechulin spoke about technologies for detecting cyberattacks and methods for countering digital threats. The Center's tools can be useful for ensuring the security of Sber's digital ecosystems.
"Today, we were presented the projects developed at leading scientific laboratories, and they have points of contact with the areas being developed by our Center. Scientific progress stimulates technological innovations, and business is an important driver for their implementation. We are convinced that combining our competencies will allow for developing products and solutions demanded both in the economic sphere and in society as a whole," - following the tour, Yulia Rakovskaya, Head of Sber's Research and Development Center in St. Petersburg, emphasized the importance of interaction between science and industry.
The visit of Sber representatives to SPC RAS confirmed the strategic importance of cooperation between science and business in developing advanced technological solutions. Discussion of specific points of interaction opened up the prospects for joint projects in artificial intelligence, automation and digital security.
