Russia’s national savings bank Sberbank has announced the launch of a risk theory and data analysis laboratory in partnership with Moscow State University (MSU) earlier this week.
Dubbed “CMC-Sberbank,” the new lab will function as an R&D center focusing on statistical methods for big data analysis and machine learning.
The laboratory is intended to become a leading Russian academic center for fundamental and applied research in data science, machine learning and artificial intelligence, says Alexander Vedyakhin, Senior Vice President of Sberbank.
Another university Sberbank has announced an R&D project with is the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT, also known as PhysTech). Dubbed “IPavlov,” it will focus on artificial intelligence and neural networks, in particular.
By 2020, the partners expect to develop learning algorithms simulating functional architecture of the human brain. They also aim to design an AI-powered technological platform which will allow supporting a meaningful dialogue with a customer.
“As the outcome of the project, we expect to get new business apps, which will be integrated into Sberbank’s operations and put our customer support to a new level. Besides, as part of the project, Sberbank and MIPT will carry out comprehensive interdisciplinary research, which will help create a world-class ecosystem in the field of deep neural networks,” said Sberbank’s CEO German Gref.
Sberbank’s strategy is more and more oriented towards innovation, in which Gref sees a top priority. Thus last year the bank teamed up with the Internet Initiatives Development Fund (IIDF, or FRII in Russian), a government-backed fund for Internet startups, to launch a fintech accelerator. Sberbank also signed a partnership with the Linux Foundation to join an international blockchain R&D project..
