Streamlining Government Support for Artificial Intelligence Developers in Russian Federation

Nowadays, the impact of new solutions, systems and products using Artificial Intelligence (AI) on progress and innovation in society, as well as the role of AI in public administration, has significantly increased. The signing of 2019 Decree of the President of the Russian Federation on the development of Artificial Intelligence in the Russian Federation indicated the relevance of AI development in Russia. The development of the Federal project «Artificial intelligence» is set to begin this year, leading to the execution of measures aimed at supporting companies that develop and implement AI technologies (AI-companies). The study was based on a hypothesis that there is a lack of government support for IT-companies willing to develop AI. The main goal of the study was formulated either to confirm or to refute this hypothesis: to conduct a comprehensive study of state support for IT-companies in the Russian Federation in terms of creating and developing AI, as well as to develop recommendations for improving measures of state support for AI-companies. The paper analyzes the existing conceptual approaches to define AI, the distinctive features of AI in comparison with other technologies, state regulation of AI as a technological innovation is studied, and methods of direct financial state support are researched as well as indirect tax incentives for AI-companies. The empirical basis of the work is a sociological survey of experts and specialists from companies and governmental agencies engaged in the AI field. The results of the work are the developed recommendations for improving measures of state support for creation and development of AI, in addition to the developed requirements for classifying companies in the field of AI and criteria for being attributed to projects in the field of AI, which can be used by Federal authorities in the development of acts within the framework of AI legislature, as well as rules for providing government subsidies to companies in AI field. Moreover, the author has developed a number of recommendations for improving the provision of direct financial support from the operators as a part of a system of measures to support projects for the development of end-to-end digital technologies, which will increase the efficiency of budget expenditures.