Indo-Russian lunar mission to boost AI industry: AI solutions firm

An Indo-Russian joint lunar mission is expected to give a major boost to the artificial intelligence (AI) industries in both countries, said Finnish-Russian digital solutions provider Zyfra on Sunday.

Zyfra, which has joined hands with Indian companies to provide Internet of Things (IoT) and AI-based solutions for the industrial sector, said in a statement that collaboration in the space sector could double AI and IoT technologies' share of Indian and Russian Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

India and Russia signed an agreement on "joint activities in the field of human spaceflight programme" during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit here in October 2018.

"Building and maintenance of highly autonomous stations both in space and on the moon surface will need advanced AI solutions. We believe that not later than 2030, we'll get these solutions operational," Zyfra's R&D Head Sergey Sviridov said in a statement.

"According to Markets and Markets Research, the AI industry in India is currently giving $180 million annually in revenues while the volume of AI market in Russia is $3 billion," it said, adding that the global AI market was estimated to be worth $190 billion by 2025.

"As past experience shows, modifications of AI solutions for commercial use will make high-tech industries of these countries more competitive even in the long-term and could lead to a significant economic and technological growth," Sviridov said.

Zyfra recently announced it has reached $3 million in contracts with its Indian counterparts in 2018 and the company plans to reach the target of $50 million in India-related deals by 2021.

The company has already signed agreements with various Indian companies including Spudweb, Abcon Group, Parivartan Automation, Agaram Infotech, Wimerasys, Nortech Trinity and Mascot Tools.

Zyfra is implementing seven pilot projects in collaboration with its Indian partners and plans to launch five more joint projects, including for production of farm machinery as well as for manufacturing components for aerospace divisions of both Boeing and Rolls-Royce.

Under the India-Russia space agreement, both countries will be jointly developing a number of projects such as engines, orbital station construction and a moon-base on the surface of the satellite, the statement added.

--IANS

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