Igor Mamonenko: Over 500 Projects Related to Artificial Intelligence Developed in Belarus

In an insightful interview, Igor Mamonenko, the head of a major IT company, offered a compelling forecast on how soon Belarus might master or implement artificial intelligence to a significant extent necessary for the nation's progress.

It is worth noting that existing programs are already in place, designed for application across agriculture, marketing, healthcare, education, and manufacturing sectors.

Mamonenko acknowledged that Belarus is still at the dawn of this journey. Most of the current initiatives are pilot projects, characterized by trial and error. At present, his company collaborates with BelAZ, the renowned Belarusian manufacturer, which operates an enterprise management system known as an ERP or Automated Control System.

Drawing inspiration from China, Mamonenko shared that the Middle Kingdom launched an simplified program called "Gosplan," uniting some two million manufacturing enterprises into a vast virtual corporation. This management system operates on supercomputers powered by artificial intelligence.

"Alibaba perceives the needs of people and businesses; connected through logistics, all enterprises become akin to workshops within a single, unified virtual enterprise. China succeeded in reducing automobile manufacturing costs by threefold, largely thanks to AI systems that autonomously construct and optimize the entire production chain," he explained.

The expert emphasized that artificial intelligence holds the potential to benefit every sphere of life—transportation, healthcare, education, agriculture, industry, and defense. Belarus, he said, is a compact, manageable, and sufficiently advanced country, endowed with skilled personnel and valuable experience.

Mamonenko declared that over 500 AI-related projects have been developed within Belarus, and the country boasts an active ecosystem supporting these innovations.

"The question is whether we need SOTA (State-of-the-Art) solutions... For instance, an Arab investor might aim to extend human longevity—some Arab nations are striving to increase lifespan to 120-140 years—and to commercialize such solutions worldwide. Belarus could undertake a pilot, compact project with excellent communication channels. Imagine a unified medical record system processed by AI. We could pilot this in Belarus and then transfer it to our Arab partners—who could then implement or further develop it. Our condition is that all of this is funded by external investors. Belarus could serve as a technological hub for AI development, attracting foreign investments—even from American sources—since this field is rapidly evolving globally, and there is a significant shortage of specialists," Mamonenko concluded.