OVISION is the developer of a contactless pass entry system using facial recognition technology; the company recently marked the 3000th Skolkovo Foundation (VEB.RF Group) resident. The system helps manage large streams of people, ensures facilities' security, allows for contactless payment using facial recognition, and processes images 2.5 times faster than competitors.
OVISION's complex solution does not just comprise identification algorithms but also the devices themselves. The company's capacity and location in St. Petersburg allow it to produce over 500 devices per month. It plans to increase that number to 1,500-2000 and to expand its product range. O.GATE is a terminal designed for building entrances, but another similar device called O.MINI, which is designed for offices and apartments, is also being added. In addition, the company plans to run a pilot project at Skolkovo's residential quarter.
The facial recognition algorithms created by OVISION can process an image in 0.25 seconds at 99.5% accuracy -- two and a half times faster than competitors. However, the antifraud system eliminates unauthorized access to a facility using a picture or a photo. The company develops the software and mobile applications available on iOS and Android and will be modified for new system tasks such as login management and facial recognition payment.
The previous device version drew interest from Russian transport entities, and the pilot terminals are running in three buildings at Skolkovo Innovation Center. The company plans to expand into international markets next year.
Konstantin Parshin, vice president and deputy director of the Skolkovo Foundation Information Technologies Cluster:
"Competition on the video analytics market and biometric identification is very high. Nonetheless, OVISION has succeeded in offering a valuable product that has found its niche and taken a worthy place in Skolkovo's portfolio. The company's projects in the transport sector couldn't characterize client trust better, including among state clients. The recent project with VTB Bank, Visa, and the cooking store KiO Kukhnya involved biometric payment using facial recognition clearly demonstrated the company's potential for scalability. I'm sure that Skolkovo experts' highly qualified services and support will help OVISION reach new heights not just in Russia but in entering international markets."
How to get Skolkovo resident status?
Those seeking Skolkovo status must apply for preliminary assessment -- correctness and completeness of documents and compliance with Skolkovo's innovation priorities.
Upon successful completion, there follows an assessment in the following categories:
>50% of expert voices for each criterion should be positive.
Skolkovo's expert service is the largest mechanism in Russia for selecting promising technologies. It consists of over 750 experts – specialists in different fields of science, technology, and business. In ten years of its existence, over twenty thousand projects have been assessed.
Five experts are randomly selected from a list using an automated system to take part in the procedure in compliance with the innovative theme of the project. The assessment is anonymous so that the review would be as transparent and objective as possible.
From 2021 there is an additional mechanism for gaining Skolkovo residency status – Fast Track; this is a consultation program in the framework of a ten-day educational track with Foundation mentors teaching on presentation and form preparation. Teams that complete the program are then allowed to defend their projects (pitch session) before a panel of experts. The assessment result is received in one day instead of twenty, which is according to standard procedure.
Kirill Kaem, senior vice president of innovations at the Skolkovo Foundation:
"One shouldn't forget that the project assessment, despite the authority of experts, is not the ultimate truth. Instead, it is a forecast that is more or less accurate. Quite often, a situation arises when developers are focused on the technology but devote attention to the type of client and commercialization models. Not only do you need to create a good product, but you also need to be able to sell it. That's exactly why determining the market, and the advantages of your technology plays an essential role. Therefore, an accurate and well-structured presentation of information in the applicant's form is half of the success of a project that could potentially provide Russia with a technological breakthrough."
For further details on gaining Skolkovo residency status, go to our website sk.ru.
The Foundation's priority fields are new technologies in IT and biomedicine, solutions linked to implementing sustainable development concepts, first and foremost through the efficient production and use of resources, and also in the field of Industry 4.0 technologies. In addition, they focus on the achievements of national development goals such as digital transformation, population preservation and the health and well-being of people, opportunities for self-actualization and talent development, a comfortable and safe living environment, decent and effective work, and successful entrepreneurship.
With the active support by the Foundation, Skolkovo residents in 2020 grew by 60%, exceeding 160 billion rubles. Over 18.8 billion rubles were invested into tech companies. The number of jobs in the Skolkovo ecosystem grew by 34% to 50.5 thousand. Skolkovo residents received 710 patents, of which 225 were on foreign territory.
About the Skolkovo Foundation
A non-commercial organization founded in 2010, it functions as the managing company of the Skolkovo Innovation Center. The goal of the Foundation is to support technological entrepreneurship in Russia and commercialize the results of scientific research activities.
The number of Skolkovo residents already exceeds 3000, and the Foundation provides them with an array of necessary services to roll out developments onto the Russian and international markets. Resident status gives a company tax and customs privileges. In 2019, residents' revenue amounted to over 100 billion rubles, and the amount of investment raised amounted to 13 billion rubles. Since 2019, legislation has allowed any organization conducting research activities in Russia to access the Skolkovo Innovation Center's services and benefits.
Located at Skolkovo Innovation Center is the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), which is listed in the Nature Index "Top-100 Young Universities" list. The Innovation Center infrastructure comprises, among other things, research centers belonging to industrial partners and the largest Technopark in Europe.
In 2019, three new partner R&D centers belonging to Sibur, TMK, and Tatneft opened at the Innovation Center. As a result, a total of 750,000 square meters of residential buildings, research, and educational centers have been put into operation on Skolkovo territory, and extrabudgetary investment in infrastructure exceeds 100 billion rubles.
Development Institutions of the Russian Federation
The Government of the Russian Federation is currently reconfiguring the system for development institutions, allowing for their integration into VEB. RF's managerial sphere. A centralized investment block is being created at VEB.RF to implement projects that will contribute to achieving the national development goals. The priority of VEB.RF and the development institutes under its coordination is to consolidate public and private investment resources towards making a breakthrough in the country's development and increasing living standards. We participate in the development of the Russian economy together with other development institutions VEB.RF Group: Rusnano, Industrial Development Fund, Russian Export Center, SME Corporation.