Lokesh Studying Russian Innovations That Can Be Implemented in AP
The AP minister described Sber City as a model that effectively integrates present-day innovation with future technologies.
Vijayawad:Andhra Pradesh education, IT and electronics minister N. Lokesh continued his Russia tour on Saturday with a series of meetings and visits in Moscow. In the process, he explored education models, smart-city technologies, artificial intelligence and advanced mobility solutions that could be adapted in Andhra Pradesh. A key highlight of his Saturday’s visit has been visit to School 21, an innovative educational institution operated by Sber. The minister interacted with students and administrators to understand its peer-to-peer learning model, which functions without teachers, formal lectures or traditional grading systems. School 21, a tuition-free programming and software development initiative, is part of the internationally recognised 42 Network and is inspired by the French coding school École 42. School 21 focuses on project-based learning, collaboration, and problem-solving through real-world assignments and peer evaluation. Officials explained that the programme is fully funded by Sber and provides advanced IT and software engineering education free of cost to selected candidates. The campus operates round the clock, allowing students to learn at their own pace.
The admission process does not consider academic scores, degrees or prior coding experience. Candidates are selected through an online cognitive assessment, followed by an intensive practical evaluation programme known as “Piscine”, which tests problem-solving skills, adaptability and performance. Later, Lokesh visited Sber City, a technology and innovation hub in Moscow. He met senior officials, including Sber Bank vice president and Research and Innovation director Albert Efimov, Sber City chief information officer Evgeniy Chulanov and deputy director General Ilya Pulner. Russian officials briefed the Andhra Pradesh delegation on advanced banking technologies, quantum research, AI-powered services, digital healthcare systems, cybersecurity solutions and digital education platforms. Officials demonstrated a next-generation ATM equipped with diagnostic and innovative service capabilities. The Sber City team outlined initiatives focused on enterprise hardware reliability, indigenous software ecosystems, automated infrastructure, smart-device networks and advanced power systems designed to support the growing electric vehicle charging requirements. The AP minister described Sber City as a model that effectively integrates present-day innovation with future technologies.
In another engagement, Lokesh held discussions with senior representatives of Yandex, including Yandex Tech deputy CEO Alexandra Shkipina-Sanchez, Yandex Transport deputy CEO Denis Kasimov, Yandex Cloud International Business Development director Marat Nuriyev and Global Government Affairs and Public Policy manager Nikita Popov. The discussions centred on deploying smart traffic management systems, predictive transit scheduling and AI-driven public safety analytics in Amaravati and Visakhapatnam, particularly around the proposed AI Data City ecosystem.
The minister asked AP officials to examine Yandex’s autonomous vehicle technologies and predictive routing software to improve transport efficiency and reduce last-mile delivery costs. At the same time, the two sides explored opportunities for licensing Yandex Foundation AI models and cloud frameworks for governance and public administration applications. The meetings of Lokesh form part of Andhra Pradesh’s efforts to strengthen technology-driven governance and accelerate the development of smart urban infrastructure. .........................