Synergy of Astra Group and St. Petersburg State University will strengthen artificial intelligence in the field of education

2024: AI Development Agreement

Astra Group and St. Petersburg State University (St. Petersburg State University) signed a cooperation agreement on June 7, 2024. The parties are aimed at comprehensive interaction in the development of artificial intelligence and ethical aspects of its application, as well as at teaching students the skills of working with Astra Group software products to ensure the educational process. The agreement was signed by Alexander Gutin, Director for Marketing and Educational Programs of Astra Group, and Sergey Mikushev, Vice-Rector for Scientific Work of St. Petersburg State University.

source = GC Astra

St. Petersburg State University will use GitFlic (a product of Astra Group), a software development platform, to simplify the creation of its AI products. The solution is presented in two typical application scenarios: the cloud service (according to the github model) and the corporate development environment (according to the gitlab model). The Astra Group team intends to expand and complement the platform with both intelligent tools for working with code (an analogue of Copilot) and the components necessary for creating solutions with artificial intelligence, machine learning and working with big data (open language models, tools for their further training and tuning, as well as ready-made frameworks). For June 2024, the vendor is ready to provide the university with the GitFlic platform for code collaboration.

Within the framework of cooperation, Astra Group and St. Petersburg State University agreed to exchange resources, information materials, experience, conduct joint academic and scientific events aimed at popularizing Russian software developers. The parties will also implement projects and educational initiatives to study, implement and maintain IT systems based on Astra Group software products. The company considers this area of ​ ​ partnership as an opportunity to open authorized training centers and Astra Laboratories on the basis of industry and reference universities.

Interaction involves training St. Petersburg State University teachers to administer and work with OCAstra Linux. The acquired knowledge and skills will allow teachers to transfer them to students of specialized disciplines. Another vector of cooperation will be the implementation of programs to support students of St. Petersburg State University - Astra Scholarship and Astra University.

The agreement was a natural continuation of the close partnership associated with the support by Astra Group of the program of the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science of St. Petersburg State University in the framework of projects. R&D

We plan to adapt the GitFlic platform to work with artificial intelligence, so we consider cooperation with St. Petersburg State University a strategically correct step. Helping the university in creating AI solutions, our development team will be able to test hypotheses to improve the functionality of the platform, verify its architecture and actively develop it together with St. Petersburg State University through the GitFlic extensions developed by the university. Cooperation in all other areas of the agreement will contribute to the training of IT personnel that takes into account the needs of real sectors of the Russian economy, "said Alexander Gutin, director of marketing and educational programs at Astra Group.

As of June 2024, a huge amount of scientific research is being carried out at St. Petersburg University, including in the field of the development of end-to-end technologies. This work is carried out by the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science of St. Petersburg State University. It is important for us to meet the needs of our time and develop new products that contribute to the development of domestic operating systems, the creation of which is being developed by Astra Group. I hope that the agreement will be the starting point in the development of a whole series of AI-based products that can be used in conjunction with the innovative solutions of Astra Group, "said Sergey Mikushev, Vice-Rector for Scientific Work of St. Petersburg State University.