Policies

Russian state fund to launch startup accelerators in Bahrain

May 15, 2019 May 19, 2019

RVC, the Russian state fund-of-funds dedicated to innovation, has announced a partnership with Alkeri Partners, a venture capital and private equity firm from the Kingdom of Bahrain, to create a series of GenerationS corporate accelerators for Russian and international startups in Bahrain. Run by RVC, GenerationS is a Russian state-backed acceleration platform that connects startups with corporations. …

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Report: AI arms race is starting, states and private companies should stop it

May 9, 2019 May 10, 2019

The Netherlands-based international peace organisation PAX has just released a report on “The State of AI: Artificial Intelligence, the Military and Increasingly Autonomous Weapons.” The authors warn that “an AI arms race is in its infancy” with “potentially catastrophic results for humanity if states do not ensure human control over emerging weapons technology.” The report urges governments to work together: “States should …

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President Putin signs controversial “sovereign Internet” bill into law

May 3, 2019 May 3, 2019

Unsurprisingly the Russian president signed into law on May 1 a bill which aims to “ensure the safe and sustainable functioning” of the Internet in the country. The authorities say the law will defend the country against foreign aggression, serving as insurance, in case Russia’s global Internet access is shut off from abroad. Supporters of …

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Russian state institutions join forces to create new energy venture fund

May 3, 2019 May 7, 2019

In an attempt to lower Russia’s reliance on foreign technology in the oil industry, four state-controlled institutions have teamed up to launch a new venture fund called ‘New Industry Ventures.’ These institutions are Gazprom Neft, one of Russia’s leading oil companies, Gazprombank, a financial arm of the state-controlled energy giant, RVC, the state fund of …

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Russian billionaire, defense conglomerate and satellite navigation operator team up to create nationwide IoT network

April 25, 2019 April 25, 2019

GLONASS-TM, a company launched in early 2018, intends to deploy an Internet-of-Things network across Russia as part as a “government assignment.” The network will be used to monitor, collect and analyze data in a variety of fields. It will help “control the state of the country’s transportation infrastructure, security systems, meteorological and ecological monitoring and …

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How advocacy group Roskomsvoboda emerged in Russia to combat Internet censorship

April 19, 2019 April 19, 2019

In the last seven years, the Russian government has drastically tightened its regulation of the Internet, and it has shown no signs of slowing down: on April 16, the State Duma passed a new law enabling the isolation of the Russian segment of the Internet from the World Wide Web. Opposition to the government’s onslaught …

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Popular Russian online stores and publishing houses banned from Ukraine

March 25, 2019 July 13, 2019

Ukrainian Internet users have been blocked from accessing three popular Russian online stores: Ozon.ru, LitRes.ru and Labirint.ru. The ban followed a recent decision by Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) that expands the list of legal entities under economic sanctions. The sanctions, among other things, include limitations on their commercial activity and a prescription to block …

Why lawmakers consider ‘isolating’ Russian Internet

March 22, 2019 March 25, 2019

Next month, the State Duma will likely vote on a second reading of legislation drafted by lawmakers Lyudmila Bokova, Andrey Klishas and Andrey Lugovoy that would guard against and simultaneously facilitate the isolation of the Russian Internet. In mid-February, the bill’s first reading passed with support from 334 of the Duma’s 450 deputies; 69 lawmakers didn’t vote at …

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BRICS countries could launch integrated payment system

March 8, 2019 March 13, 2019

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are currently developing a common payment system designed to be used from any of the five countries with their local currencies. The Russian newspaper Izvestia has described some details of this project based on exchanges with representatives of the Russian sovereign fund RDIF and the Russian Bank Association, …

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Online voting is coming to Russia

March 4, 2019 March 2, 2019

Just before Russia’s most recent presidential elections in 2018, several fundamental changes were made to the country’s election laws. Absentee ballots were replaced with the so-called Mobile Voter system, which allowed voters to switch precincts ahead of the election either online or in person. Both election observers and opposition politicians immediately criticized the new system. Less than one year later, Russian …

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Baring Vostok case not about politics, but perhaps about geopolitics

March 2, 2019 April 1, 2019

“Sources close to the Kremlin” told independent TV station Dozhd that the arrest of Baring Vostok founder Michael Calvey on Feb. 15 – which President Putin at least knew about and perhaps endorsed – were caused by suspicions that the private equity firm funded Russian opposition groups. “They tried to shake things up before the …

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Russia to ban smartphones in the military over social media fears

February 28, 2019 February 28, 2019

Last week the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament, approved a bill banning military personnel from using smartphones on duty. As reported by AP, the new law formalizes restrictions earlier ordered by the Defense Ministry. Servicemen will no longer be allowed to post photos, videos and information about themselves, other soldiers and their …

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