Center-invest Bank develops AI competencies for the regional economy

Center-invest Bank is making significant efforts to expand AI competencies in the region. The Scientific Director of the Bank, Professor and Doctor of Economics Vasily Vysokov, describes the bank’s approach as “a conscious investment in competent officials and clients” that develops the business environment and increases business competitiveness.

Center-invest bank is a partner of the federal project “Labor Productivity” and, together with the Ministry of Economic Development of the Rostov Region, has conducted a series of educational intensive courses on the use of AI technologies. The bank has provided free training to more than 2,200 entrepreneurs and public officials in the region.

Center-invest Bank actively contributes to forming an objective picture of the region’s economic development and has developed an AI platform, the “REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT DASHBOARD.” The platform is a dynamic monitoring and forecasting system that brings together more than 2 million values across nearly 4,000 indicators from statistical and banking reports for 89 constituent entities of the country. Using AI technologies, it analyzes and forecasts these indicators, visualizing the results as charts and interactive models. The platform has been introduced into the work of the Department of Economy of the city of Rostov-on-Don, was used in updating the Strategy for the Socio-Economic Development of the Rostov Region through 2030, and helps with the monthly preparation of the macroeconomic survey of the Bank of Russia’s Southern Main Branch by providing the regulator with high-quality data for strategic decision-making.

The bank actively cooperates with universities and strengthens the region’s talent potential for working with AI. With the support of the Bank, the following have been opened: the “Center for Artificial Intelligence and Technological Development” at Rostov State University of Economics, the “Southern AI Testing Ground” jointly with Don State Technical University, and the Center for Educational Programs (TOP DS) jointly with Southern Federal University.

To popularize AI tools for solving practical tasks, Center-invest Bank organized competitions among students, with more than 1,000 participants from 21 Russian universities taking part:

• “Digital Portrait of a Region”
• “Trajectory of Future Learning”
• “AI Insight”
• “AI in Term Papers and Theses”

The Bank also held hackathons for more than 2,000 participants, including: “AIST” at DSTU, interregional hackathons and case championships of Rostov State University of Economics together with Southern University, Southern Federal University and the North Caucasus Branch of Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics, “IT TECH” at Rostov College of Communications and Informatics, and the project intensive “SFedU.Pro” with Southern Federal University.

The bank has prepared the textbook “AI in CI” for employees, clients, students, businesses and public authorities, and has developed a free online platform for self- AI learning.