From Stratfor's Worldview, July 10:
The Big Picture
Russia has pursued various efforts to strengthen its position in the face of sanctions and deteriorating relations with the West and its allies. One major element of this strategy has been reducing Moscow's economic reliance on the rest of the world. In tune with Russian goals of self-sustainability in the domains of internet and communication, Moscow is now also pushing for "technological sovereignty" as a way to reduce economic and intellectual dependencies.
What Happened
The Russian government has signed a number of agreements with several state-owned enterprises to distribute responsibilities for the development of a wide range of technologies. Under the new contracts, Russia's state-controlled Sberbank will be responsible for the development of AI technologies, Russian Railways will manage the development of quantum communications, Rosatom will manage the development of quantum computing as well as material sciences, Rostec will develop quantum sensors, and both Rostelecom and Rostec will head the development of Russia's 5G infrastructure. The budgets for these developments were not included in the contracts, but are expected to be released closer to fall.
A State-Led Solution to 'Technological Sovereignty'
This top-down, state-owned enterprise push is being framed in the context of "technological sovereignty" in Russia, which speaks to Moscow's desired self-sustainability in providing its own high-tech services. China is another great power pursuing government-led initiatives to drive technological development at home. But doing so, Beijing has instead allowed its private sector to take lead by boosting state support for domestic companies to, in turn, protect its emerging tech capabilities from foreign competitors....MUCH MORE
