The first Data Fusion international conference is devoted to cross-industry data synergy and qualitatively new model approaches to data fusion. The event is taking place in a hybrid format over the course of two days with a physical venue at Skolkovo Technopark. The event was organized by the Skolkovo Foundation in collaboration with VTB Group.
The Skolkovo Foundation chairman, Arkady Dvorkovich, called the conference and Digital Fusion Contest a “global-scale event bringing together some of the best speakers, making it a truly international platform.”
Arkady Dvorkovich: “We want to find new ideas, technologies, strategies, and people, which will allow the state, business, and people to feel comfortable in the digital data sphere.” Photo: Sk.ru
“The combination of companies such as Facebook, Huawei, Yandex, and other partners has allowed us to remain on the crest of this wave,” said Mr. Dvorkovich. “We are glad that this event will allow us to find the best specialists in big data analysis and that it will draw attention from the world outside as to what is happening in Russia’s AI sector in terms of data collection and processing in all walks of life.”
The chairman stated that all the focus is now on the people who are developing advanced technologies and defining how we are going to live in the near future. “We are glad that VTB, in partnership with Skolkovo, will become a leader in this sphere and that here, at our venue and online, amazing things are happening and we will find the best solutions and talents.”
The international Data Fusion program will serve to mobilize intellectual resources in the field of data science, according to Mr. Dvorkovich. “We want to find new ideas, technologies, strategies, and people, which will allow the state, business, and people to feel comfortable in the digital data sphere. VTB is a key Skolkovo Foundation partner and one of the strategic directions of our cooperation is the creation of a technology holding in the field of big data.”
Data Fusion is a new approach to work with big data and AI technologies. This work format with big data and AI technologies, which uses combined data from multiple sources, allows separate companies to gain access to accumulated knowledge and experience of the entire market. Vadim Kulik, the vice president and chairman of the VTB board of management, stated that the synergic effect from Data Fusion will not only allow us to solve local problems and improve the efficiency of individual processes but also to bring business to a new level.
Big data has been a “must-have” over the last ten years. “If you just accumulate data but don’t process it and make money, then you’ll be forced out of the market quickly. If you focus on processing only your own data, you’ll be squeezed out of the market. The big push for cross-industrial data is now the mainstream of society’s economic development.”
Mr. Kulik also addressed the understandable concerns society has with regard to a key question: Who has this data and how are they using it? Data Fusion technology reconciles the two parts of that important question because it allows you to combine data, create meaning, while at the same time preventing misuse.
“This approach combines synergy when using data from different business sectors and helps develop and implement fundamentally new products and services for clients. Data Fusion is a new level in the development of data science and artificial intelligence technologies,” said Mr. Kulik. “Created in the framework of VTB’s and Skolkovo’s strategic partnership, the annual Data Fusion conference is not just an effective venue for discussion and sharing experience, it is a tool for generating new revolutionary ideas and for bringing business to a fundamentally new stage of development.”
Vadim Kulik: Data Fusion conference - a tool for generating new, revolutionary ideas and for bringing business to a fundamentally new stage of development. Photo: Sk.ru
Around five thousand people are expected to take part in Data Fusion, including around a hundred speakers from Russia and other countries. Specialists will assess the prospects of using the Data Fusion concept for creating new products and increasing business efficiency, will review practical cases and share the results of this approach. The Data Fusion contest winners will be announced at the end of the conference. Tournament participants compete for a two-million-ruble prize pool by attempting to solve practical data science problems created by VTB Group specialists. Vadim Kulik opened the conference by announcing the launch of the Data Fusion Award, which from now on will be awarded to teams for special achievements in promoting this field.