Innopolis University Institute of Artificial Intelligence

2020: Creation of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence on the basis of Innopolis University

On December 10, 2020, Innopolis University announced the opening of the first Institute of Artificial Intelligence in Russia at its base. The division of the Russian IT university will be engaged in scientific and educational activities and the development of AI projects in the oil and gas industry, medicine, geographic information technologies, industry, new materials and microelectronics. The development of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence involves the creation of an international consortium, which will include the largest Russian and foreign companies.

Vice-Rector, Head of the Department for Project and Research Activities of Innopolis University Iskander Bariev called the Strategic Goal of the Institute of Artificial Intelligence the creation of a world-class AI competence center. To do this, it is planned to maintain a balance between the implementation of projects for the needs of business and the state, education and the creation of new technologies thanks to ongoing scientific research. Industry projects will be synchronized with the achievement of the indicators of the national project "Digital Economy" and the federal project "Artificial Intelligence," he stressed.

Russia's first artificial intelligence institute launched

Innopolis University, as noted at the university, has been developing since 2014 using artificial intelligence technologies for industry, the oil and gas industry, energy, medicine, forestry and agriculture. In 2019, all AI projects were combined as part of a single center.

The merger of the existing center and laboratories into the Institute of Artificial Intelligence was initiated by the order of the Deputy Prime Minister of the RFDmitry Chernyshenko. On December 3, the Supervisory Board of Innopolis University, headed by the Deputy Prime Minister, instructed the leadership of the Russian IT University to develop educational programs in artificial intelligence, and clearly synchronize large-scale design activities with indicators of national goals.

Digital transformation is one of the five national goals outlined by the President. The process of introducing digital tools is actively going on nationwide, and artificial intelligence today is an extremely promising direction. Of course, there is a serious request for highly qualified personnel. And most recently, the President instructed to introduce artificial intelligence courses into educational programs. The creation of an institute for artificial intelligence, as well as the development of educational programs based on higher education in the regions of the country will meet this demand and stimulate the process of digital changes, the main task of which is to increase the level and quality of life of people, - says Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation

On December 4, 2020, Vladimir Putin instructed the government to promptly introduce draft laws on experimental legal regimes for the use of artificial intelligence technologies.

In August 2020, the Presidium of the Government Commission on Digital Development approved the federal project "Artificial Intelligence," which reflects six tasks set by the President of Russia in the National Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence: supporting research, establishing an integrated legal framework, developing and developing software, improving the availability and quality of data, increasing the availability of hardware, increasing the availability of skilled personnel, and raising public awareness. The division of the Russian IT university will cover five of the six goals.

Employees of the new Institute of Artificial Intelligence of Innopolis University are working on geomechanical modeling and in-tube diagnostics services for PJSC Gazprom, projects using AI for Rosatom Group of Companies and Aeroflot PJSC, algorithms for recognizing objects from space and aerial shooting for forestry and agriculture. A digital platform for automatic diagnosis of pathologies for medical images is being created on the basis of the institute, and medical image analysis services are already piloted in medical organizations of the Republic of Tatarstan and Moscow.

Adil Khan, professor, head of the Laboratory of Machine Learning and Data Presentation at Innopolis University, who works on algorithms for human-oriented devices and image recognition systems, became the scientific director of the new institute.

The institute will create and develop educational programs in artificial intelligence based on undergraduate, master's and graduate studies at Innopolis University. According to Khan, the Institute of Artificial Intelligence will conduct breakthrough research and look for solutions to existing scientific problems to become a leading world-class center. This is necessary for any research team, and especially for those who work in such a dynamically developing field as artificial intelligence. The Institute will continue to conduct scientific research in the field of machine learning, using the experience gained, he said.

The team will continue to research on creating machine learning methods based on translation to new domains (domain adaptation), and will continue to find a solution to the problem of using small-volume training samples. Research will continue in the field of the use of AI in healthcare in the field of automation of diagnosis of medical images and other clinical data - AI4Medicine. A new direction will be the use of artificial intelligence technologies to create materials - AI4Materials. We have already begun research on the creation of physical models of two-dimensional materials and heterostructures based on machine learning methods. Research is planned to develop the design center of microelectronics, including for use in augmented and virtual reality technologies - AI4Electronics. AI4Developers will also be an important area for us. The Institute will reduce the barrier for developers to enter the artificial intelligence market: for this, the team is developing tools for the datasaintist community and industry libraries, - explained the head of the Center for Artificial Intelligence of Innopolis University Ramil Kuleev

For developers and IT specialists, advanced training courses in the field of data science will be created, for the industry - additional education programs: AI for application in industry, finance, healthcare and other fields.^[1]

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