Sberbank : AI solutions from Sber hackathon participants to help assess tech and research prospects

Sber held a hackathon to determine priority tracks (frontiers) for science and technology in the framework of the national competition Digital Breakthrough 2021. The participants developed AI-based solutions that would enable the state and companies to set cutting-edge tasks for technological development, plan research, and allocate funding for the most promising areas. The best solutions of the hackathon were presented at the 6^th annual CIPR conference (Digital Industry of Industrial Russia).

Over 120 people grouped into 30 teams took part in Sber's Frontiers of Science hackathon: university students, young specialists, and industry experts from around the country. It was possible to participate in the event in person at 12 Russian IT hubs.

The teams developed 20 system prototypes based on machine learning to determine the frontiers of science. The participants' solutions analyze changes in research indicators (number of publications, citation rates, etc.) by year, country, etc., detect the formation of new areas of research, and assess the maturity stage of technologies (readiness for industrial application).

Technology is developing at such speeds worldwide that no futurist can predict what fields will see a breakthrough in the future or what areas of research will turn out to be dead ends. In order to predict scientific development and determine truly promising fields, hundreds of millions of information sources need to be analyzed. This task can only be completed with the help of artificial intelligence. The participants of our hackathon proposed inventive ways to address this issue.

Over 100 AI-themed hackathons are set to be held in various regions of Russia by 2024, and Sber is an active participant in their organization.

Alexander Vedyakhin

First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank