The first meeting of the Council on Artificial Intelligence of the Chelyabinsk Region chaired by Governor Alexey Texler was held at School 21 of South Ural State University. The event brought together experts in the field of digital technologies, representatives of science, education and business.
According to the head of our region, the Chelyabinsk Region pays special attention to the development of artificial intelligence, actively implementing the decree of the President of the Russian Federation and the provisions of the "Artificial Intelligence" federal project.
"Today, the issue of implementing artificial intelligence technology has become relevant. The Chelyabinsk Region has the potential to use such solutions both in the sphere of public administration and in the real sector of the economy, industry, agriculture, as well as in many other areas. Our region can act as a project laboratory for testing and implementing elements of artificial intelligence," the Governor noted.
In the videoconferencing mode, Deputy Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of Russia Grigory Borisenko spoke about the current tasks of developing artificial intelligence in Russia. He noted that by the end of 2024, our region had entered the top 10 regions in digital transformation and had actively participated in the formation of key solutions for their implementation in the sphere of public administration at the regional level.
"It is very important for us that such councils are being created in the regions, because this means that we are moving to a systemic process of implementing measures. For us, one of the highest priorities is the implementation of solutions, their application in practice. In June of this year, the President signed a government decree on the creation of a special Artificial Intelligence Development Centre, which will help federal, regional and municipal authorities effectively exchange information," said Grigory Borisenko.
The goal of developing artificial intelligence in the Chelyabinsk Region is to improve the quality of life of the population and increase the competitiveness of the region through the effective use of AI technologies in key sectors of the economy, social sphere and public administration.
"The first experience of implementing artificial intelligence in our region was back in 2020. And we have set several tasks for the development of artificial intelligence till 2023," noted Deputy Governor, Deputy Chairman of the Council on AI Aleksandr Kozlov. "Firstly, this is the organizational component and interaction with key partners; next, ethical regulation of the use of artificial intelligence, providing initial data for training AI models, developing personnel in the field of artificial intelligence, primarily graduates of higher education programmes, supporting scientific research and development, as well as educational events for the population."
During the meeting, the participants discussed priority areas for the implementation of artificial intelligence technologies in the Chelyabinsk Region. Representatives of leading IT companies, including one of the key players in this area, Sber, made reports.
"The application of artificial intelligence is very broad. Starting from the sphere of medical services, image recognition and ending with the sphere of education. Our company is implementing many projects in the sphere of artificial intelligence, for example, School 21, which is aimed at developing IT competencies. This year we also plan to launch a robotics cluster for children," shared Andrey Ruchay, Manager of the Chelyabinsk Branch of Sber.
Rector of South Ural State University Alexander Wagner delivered a report on the "Application and Priority Areas of Development of AI Technologies". In the new academic year, the centres for top-level academic programmes in the field of artificial intelligence ("VirtUM") and in information technology ("Digital Ural") will begin their work at the premises of SUSU. Industrial partners of the university will be actively involved in the implementation of the project, the goal of which is to train world-class specialists within the framework of higher education using advanced knowledge and applied cases.
"Over the past few years, the development of artificial intelligence technologies has occupied a special place among our key areas. In this regard, special attention is paid to the creation of specialized research and education centres, laboratories and departments," said Alexander Wagner. "Today, dozens of specialized departments and 15 research and education centres and laboratories are successfully operating within the structure of South Ural State University. More than 400 research employees are working there, and more than 2000 students are studying here. For the sustainable development of AI in our region and our country as a whole, it is extremely important to organize a large-scale build-up of competencies in the field of applying artificial intelligence technologies in all areas of training of specialists."
Within the framework of the Council's activities, Alexander Wagner also proposed to work on the issue of creating a cyber range in the Chelyabinsk Region, on the territory of the Inter-university Campus. A number of SUSU partners are already ready to cooperate in this direction. The format of a mirror laboratory and cyber range of the Innopolis University can be chosen as a basic model. The Rector also emphasized that a modern digital infrastructure will become a serious incentive for the development of academic programmes and technical projects: a Data Processing Centre for Collective Use should be formed at the premises of the Inter-university Campus.
As a result of the meeting, a number of priority areas for the further development of artificial intelligence in the Chelyabinsk Region were approved. As the meeting participants emphasized, our region has all the necessary resources to become one of the leaders in the field of practical implementation of AI in all spheres of life.