Digitalization of science

2023

Putin instructed to provide scientists with access to supercomputers

On November 24, 2023, President RFVladimir Putin instructed to provide scientists with access to supercomputers. The head of state made the corresponding statement at the plenary meeting of the conference on artificial intelligence technologies.

I ask the government, the alliance, the Russian Academy of Sciences to propose a mechanism that will ensure access for domestic scientists to existing and created supercomputers in Russia, graduate students, students who are already engaged in scientific and practical activities in the field of artificial intelligence should receive special benefits for using the computing infrastructure, Putin said.

Vladimir Putin instructed to propose a mechanism that will ensure access for domestic scientists to supercomputers

He also instructed to significantly increase the power of supercomputers, because this is critical for the further development of generative artificial intelligence.

I draw the attention of the government and the alliance companies. The current capacities of Russian supercomputers should, of course, be increased by at least an order of magnitude, the Russian president said.

In his speech, Putin called it obvious that with the introduction of artificial intelligence in various spheres of life, humanity is starting a new chapter of its existence. According to the president, AI cannot replace living specialists, but it can become a serious help for them.

Seven Russian supercomputers are included in the world Top 500 rating, the Vedomosti newspaper reported on October 6, 2023. The United States has 150 cars in it, China - 134. Next come Germany with 36 supercomputers and Japan with 33. As of June 2023, Russia ranked 12th in the ranking.

Three Russian supercomputers (Lyapunov, Chervonenkis and Galushkin) belong to Yandex, two more (Christofari and Christofari Neo) to Sberbank and one each to Moscow State University (Lomonosov) and MTS (GROM).^[1]

The process of awarding academic degrees in Russia has been translated into electronic form

Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree on improving the scientific certification system. In particular, according to a document published at the end of October 2023, the process of awarding academic degrees in Russia has been translated into electronic form.

As the press service of the Cabinet clarifies, the change concerns the phased introduction of electronic document management when submitting certification cases for applicants for academic degrees. It will significantly speed up the process of state scientific certification. From the end of October 2023 to April 15, 2024, together with a paper copy of the certification case, the dissertation councils will submit electronic versions of the cases to the Ministry of Education and Science. To do this, representatives of dissertation councils will have to use the Federal Information System of State Scientific Certification. After the specified period, certification cases will be considered only in electronic form.

Mikhail Mishustin

In addition, according to the adopted innovations, graduate students with at least 10 scientific publications significant for the development of science, technology and technology will be able, if desired, to submit a dissertation for defense in the form of a report containing an overview of such articles. Thus, graduate students will be able to pay more attention to their research and quickly defend their Ph.D. thesis.

As explained to Kommersant in the Ministry of Education and Science, at the first stage, the innovation will extend to dissertations in the field of technical, physical, mathematical and other natural sciences.

The directions assigned to the priorities of scientific and technological development require significant experimental research and take a lot of time in graduate school, so it is not always possible to draw up the text of the dissertation and the necessary accompanying documents on time. The list of relevant scientific specialties will be determined by the Higher Attestation Commission (HAC), the department added.

Government of the Russian Federation Resolution of October 26, 2023 No. 1786

How the digital transformation of science is taking place in Russia

In Russia, there is an acceleration in the digitalization of various fields of activity, including the field of science and technology. In addition, state information systems are actively developed and implemented. This is stated in the report, which was published on August 25, 2023 by the National Research University Higher School of Economics.

The study is based on the results of a survey of representatives of 577 universities and scientific organizations conducted in November 2022. The respondents were the heads of organizations or their deputies for scientific activities. To assess the factors of digitalization of science, a five-point scale was used: values ​ ​ 1-2 indicate a negative situation and (or) its deterioration within three years; 3 - neutral indicator (no expected changes); 4-5 - positive state (predicted improvement in perspective).

In Russia, there is an acceleration in the digitalization of various fields of activity, including the field of science and technology

According to most leaders, scientists in Russia as a whole are well versed in digital technologies and modern methods for conducting research (applied programming, computer modeling, collecting and processing big data, etc.). The estimate in this area as of 2022 is 3.82 points out of five possible with a projected increase to 3.95 points by 2025.

Among various scientific services, the respondents best rated the quality of libraries, including the fullness of funds and the level of development of scientific literature search services - 3.79 points out of five in 2022. However, in the future, experts believe, the value will decrease to 3.5 points.

The level of access to databases of scientific and technical information and patents in 2022 was estimated at 3.61 points, followed by a decrease to 3.21 points. This is explained primarily by the current geopolitical situation. At the same time, in scientific organizations, internal corporate information networks are actively created - knowledge bases, portals, information systems. The score in this area in 2022 is 3.7 points with an expected increase to 3.94 points by 2025.

The availability of patent analysis services (patent search, patent purity analysis) is estimated at 3.67 points at the end of 2022. But that could drop to 3.56 points by 2025. In terms of the availability of specialized software for research, changes are not expected - 3.33 points in 2022 and the same indicator in 2025. At the same time, the availability of bibliometric analysis services will increase from 3.31 to 3.35 points.

The assessment of the experience of using scientific and technical policy measures conducted as part of the study showed that among various non-financial instruments, the state information systems of the RD RD RD (a database containing information on the assessment and monitoring of the effectiveness of the activities of scientific organizations) and EGISU NIOCTR (unified state information system for accounting for research, development and technological works of civil purpose) received maximum points. Moreover, the latter is becoming more and more in demand by organizations of various types, transforming from a system for recording scientific results into a comprehensive system for monitoring, planning and coordinating research.

The portal "Scientific and Technological Infrastructure of the Russian Federation," containing information about the centers for collective use of scientific equipment and unique scientific installations, was used by less than half of the respondents (43%), although it is likely that the situation may change in the near future as the needs for scientific equipment expand, including Russian production, - the study notes.[2]

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