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Alexander Vedyakhin: 15 foreign companies accede to the AI Ethics Code

Representatives of 15 foreign companies accede to the AI Ethics Code developed by the AI Alliance, during the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum. Companies from Nigeria, Zambia, Cyprus, Senegal, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Israel, Mozambique, Mali, Kenya and South Africa have joined a large community of artificial intelligence experts, comprising almost 200 organizations.

“Over 180 Russian companies and organizations have already joined the Code, and today participation in the Code has expanded to include 15 new companies from 12 states. We are very pleased that the geographical scope of the Code participants is rapidly expanding both within our country and globally. No doubt, it is crucial that various organizations pay attention to the issues of AI ethics and the responsible development of new technologies, which will certainly give an impetus to their advance in the world,” said Alexander Vedyakhin, First Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank.

The Code was elaborated by the AI Alliance in cooperation with academic community with the support of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation and the Analytical Center of the Government of the Russian Federation. Sberbank, Yandex, MTS, VK, Gazprom Neft, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, and other leading companies and institutions, were among the first to sign the document.

The AI Alliance is an association of technology companies for developing artificial intelligence in Russia and securing the leadership in the global technology market for Russia and the companies of the Alliance. Its members include Sberbank, Gazprom Neft, Yandex, VK, RDIF, SIBUR, UCC Uralchem, Rusagro, Severstal, Samolet, etc. At the moment, the Alliance is working in four key areas: Education, Practice and data, Regulations, and Quantum Technologies.

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“We highly value the results of our joint work at the summit. I am sure the achieved results are creating a good foundation for further deepening the Russia-Africa partnership in the interests of our nations’ prosperity and wellbeing.”

President of the Russian Federation
Vladimir Putin

The Russia–Africa Summit, which is taking place in Sochi on 23–24 October 2019, encapsulates the historically friendly relations between the African continent and the Russian Federation. This Summit carries great significance as it is the first of its kind to emerge during a period of major global and international transformations. In response to the aspirations of the people it is representing, the Summit intends to build a comprehensive framework for expanding Russian–African relations into broader horizons of joint cooperation across different fields.

The African nations and Russia share a common understanding of international relations, based on the principles of respect for the rule of international law, equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of states, and the peaceful resolution of disputes. Both sides affirm their commitment to support multilateral actions to oppose new international threats, be they terrorism and extremism in all their forms, or declining growth rates. The two sides share a firm conviction regarding the importance of developing trade flows and supporting mutual investment in such a way as to ensure security, peace and development for the African and Russian people.

African countries have huge potential and opportunities that will allow them, once efforts to streamline their economies have been achieved, to emerge as real global players. In recent years, the nations of this continent have achieved major successes spanning the political, economic, social and administrative spheres. Africa has flourished in terms of growth over the past decade, reaching a continent-wide growth rate of 3.55% in 2018.

The African Union Summit, which was held in Niger in July 2019, continued the efforts of the African countries and saw the African Continental Free Trade Agreement come into force, along with its operational instruments. The agreement is one of the key objectives of Agenda 2063, an African development strategy that has been created to address the African people’s desire for prosperity and decent living standards.

These successes are opening up wide-ranging prospects for cooperation between African countries and the Russian Federation, and confirm the determination of African governments and their people to cooperate with multiple partners in order to establish mutually beneficial relations.

With this in mind, we express our hopes that the Russia–Africa Summit will help in the establishment of constructive strategic relations, based on partnership between two sides across various fields, and in the service of fulfilling the hopes and aspirations of the African people and their friends in Russia.

President of the Arab Republic of Egypt
Abdelfattah ALSISI