11.11.2024, 14:59 161401

Percentage of Internet users reaches 93% in Kazakhstan

The Government shared the key digital achievements in Kazakhstan, as the country marked the Day of Digitalization and Information Technologies on November 10, Kazinform News agency reports.

Kazakhstan occupies 42nd place out of 193 countries in the 2024 UN Telecommunication Infrastructure Index (TII).

The country is placed the highest in the CIS area according to the latest UN Global Cybersecurity Index (GCI), published by the UN International Telecommunication Union.

Over the past 10 years, the number of digital public services has almost doubled in the country, with 33 million services rendered via special apps and services in the first half of 2024. The number of uses of digital signatures via QR codes stood at 8 million and that of identity verification through the Digital ID system was at 18 million in October alone.

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04.12.2024, 13:05 78416

Olzhas Bektenov on priorities in geological exploration: State companies should first of all explore our subsoil to increase revenues

The Government session chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov considered the issue of development of the geological industry. The Minister of Industry and Construction Kanat Sharlapayev, Deputy Minister of Energy Yerlan Akkenzhenov and the head of the National Geological Service Yerlan Galiyev reported on the current situation and work carried out, primeminister.kz reports.

In pursuance of the President's instruction to increase the area of geological research from 1.5 to 2.2 million m2 from 2026, the Government is working to improve the investment climate, improve legislation on subsoil use and the introduction of AI technologies for data processing. To date, the area of subsoil studied has been brought to 2 million m2. As part of international cooperation with geological services of foreign countries, joint searches for prospective mineral deposits in East Kazakhstan are being conducted. All received information is uploaded to the Unified platform of subsoil use. In total, more than 66 thousand geological reports are placed on minerals.e-qazyna.kz.

Minister of Industry and Construction Kanat Sharlapayev reported on the ongoing work on digitisation of primary geological information. To date, 2.5 million data have been digitised. This work will be strengthened through the introduction of AI technologies. It is planned to digitise another 1.5 million data by the end of next year. It is planned to complete the entire process by the end of 2026.

In the hydrocarbon sector, the Enhanced Model Contract mechanism has been introduced, aimed at improving competitiveness and creating conditions for attracting investment in geological exploration of complex fields. Taking into account the growing demand for rare earth metals, their prospecting at 12 sites is being finalised at the expense of state funding. At the same time, lithium is of particular relevance, searches for which are conducted within the Bayankol area, Aral and Caspian regions. In addition, this year an area for exploration of solid minerals was opened on the territory of about 1 million km2. This allowed attracting large international companies such as Riotinto, Fortescue, Arras Minerals, etc. to the country.

At the same time, despite the country's leading position in terms of reserves of certain types of metals, Kazakhstan is experiencing a decline in production. In particular, there is low activity of prospecting works on expansion of reserves of solid minerals and hydrocarbons.

Prime Minister emphasised that it is necessary to change the existing approaches to work. It is necessary to develop and ensure clear implementation of the state policy on rational and effective use of the existing mineral resource base and development of new deposits. Today there is an impoverishment of mined minerals and the presence of high impurities, which requires the attraction of significant funds and the development of new technologies of extraction and purification. For this purpose, specific measures and preferences should be developed to attract investment.

In addition, the National Geological Service, established on the instructions of the Head of State, should receive appropriate support and authority, as well as scientific and technological infrastructure. In this direction, the importance of co-ordination of joint work with the SK Fund has been emphasised.

Attention is also paid to the use of modern technologies, including aerogeophysical survey, allowing to reduce the cost of ground surveys. In this regard, it is necessary to digitise geological information obtained 30 and more years ago and stored in paper format or on tapes. In addition, there is a need for certified laboratory confirmation for international financial organisations.

The government is paying special attention to supporting geological exploration, creating favourable conditions for attracting investment, developing new incentive mechanisms and further improving legislation. We must first of all hand over our underground national wealth to state companies, explore it, develop it, develop it, and then attract investors. Only then will the price rise and the state will benefit. It is necessary to use this tool more widely," Olzhas Bektenov emphasised.

As a result of consideration of the issue Prime Minister gave a number of instructions:

To develop specific mechanisms and necessary legislative amendments to attract investment in geological exploration, including by providing preferences in the development of ‘deep’ horizons and complex fields (to the ministries of industry and construction, energy).

Create a specialised accredited laboratory for analytical studies of rocks that will meet international standards (Ministries of Industry and Construction, Trade and Integration together with the Samruk-Kazyna Fund).

Work on the creation of a scientific ecological-geological cluster on the basis of the National Geological Service. At the initial stage, the existing technological capabilities of Tau-Ken Samruk should be utilised. In general, the national mining company is instructed to support and develop (the Ministries of Industry and Construction, Energy together with the Samruk-Kazyna Fund).

To develop by the end of the year an effective mechanism for financing and conducting aerogeophysical survey on areas of primary importance (Ministry of Industry and Construction together with the Ministries of Energy, Digital Development and Finance).

To intensify digitalisation of historical data and ensure appropriate work on its preservation (Ministry of Industry and Construction together with the Ministries of Finance, Digital Development and National Geological Service).

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03.12.2024, 20:22 77576

Enhancing accessibility and education quality in rural areas: Kazakhstan Khalkyna Foundation scales up Capacity Development of Small Rural Schools Using Digital Technologies project

Bolat Zhamishev, Chairman of the Board of Kazakhstan Khalkyna PF, told at the Government session on the development of rural schools about the projects that the Fund is implementing to improve the accessibility and quality of education in villages, primeminister.kz reports.

According to him, firstly, the current problems in the field of education were analysed in order to identify areas where the Foundation could provide support. The results of the research showed that the most vulnerable is rural education, where half of the educational institutions are understaffed.

In this regard, Kazakhstan Khalkyna PF launched the project "Capacity Building of Support Schools in Rural Areas" aimed at reducing the gap in education between urban and rural schools.

According to Bolat Zhamishev, over 3 years 135 support schools have been created out of 191 planned. Another 56 are planned to be completed in 2025. The Fund has allocated 33.5 billion tenge to equip support schools.

In addition, the Fund together with the Ministry of Education and regional akimats implemented the project ‘Development of the potential of small rural schools in Aktobe region with the use of digital technologies’, when teachers of support schools teach in small schools. At the expense of the "Kazakhstan Khalkyna" PF, 134 small schools have been equipped for a total amount of over 1.8 billion tenge.

In educational establishments with more than 80 children, a digital room has been set up to organise online learning, robotics classes and a science room for biology, chemistry and physics. Where there are less than 80 pupils, a universal room for organising online learning has been set up.

During the implementation of the Project, 4 models of organisation of the learning process were tested, 12 thousand online lessons were conducted.

The only way to ensure proper education in small schools is to implement projects to introduce online and offline learning. Teachers from support schools should be responsible for the quality of education in small schools. They should receive additional remuneration for this. They shouldperiodically visit these small schools," Bolat Zhamishev said.

In addition, he added that the Kazakhstan Khalkyna Foundation is ready to participate in replication of this project in Kostanay, Akmola and North-Kazakhstan regions.

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03.12.2024, 19:19 77741

New teaching model to be introduced in small schools

Minister of Education Gani Beisembayev reported on the ongoing work on the development of rural schools at the Government session, primeminister.kz reports.

Today in Kazakhstan, more than half of the nearly 8,000 schools are located in rural areas. 51 per cent of them are small schools. The gap between urban and rural schools is confirmed by the results of international PISA studies. Compared to the results of PISA-2018, the difference in maths and science literacy in 2022 has decreased by 4-5 points, while the reading literacy level has remained the same.

The Minister noted that in order to develop the potential of rural schools in the country, the project ‘Auyl Mektebi - Sapa Alanyi’ is being implemented. Within the framework of it Gani Beisembayev singled out three directions, which are effectively implemented in the regions:

In 50 schools of Almaty region in 2023-2024 academic year, a project to improve the quality of education in subjects of natural and mathematical direction with the participation of the international public fund ‘Bilim-Innovation’ was implemented.
In order to improve the quality of education in schools in the Mangystau region, the ‘Otpan’ project was launched in the region in the current academic year, covering 50 schools, including 35 rural schools.
In Aktobe region, a large-scale project ‘Increasing the potential of rural schools using digital technologies’ was implemented in the 2023-2024 academic year with the support of the Ministry, with the participation of the regional akimat and the public foundation ‘Kazakhstan Khalkyna’. The project covered 12 support and 134 small schools with more than 11,000 students and about 3,500 teachers.

As part of the project, the material and technical base of support schools was completely renewed, and small schools were equipped with subject and digital classrooms. Schools have been provided with high-speed Internet access. School leaders and teachers involved in the project have taken special courses aimed at improving digital competence and professional development.

Four training models were developed taking into account the technical capabilities of small schools. Lessons were observed remotely, students' learning achievements were monitored, and teachers were provided with systematic methodological support.

The Minister noted that the comprehensive work carried out under the project helped to improve the quality of education in small schools. This is confirmed by the results of monitoring conducted in grades 6, 8 and 10.

The results of the project in Aktobe Province showed that out of the four tested models of education, the model ‘Support School - Small Comprehensive Schools’ is the most effective. In this regard, Gani Beisembayev proposed to scale up the project.

The Akimat should plan to allocate financial resources from the local budget to upgrade the material and technical base of support and small schools, to provide quality Internet, to pay allowances to stimulate teachers of support schools.
The Education Department ensures project implementation, monitoring and analysis, and quality control.
The Methodological Centre fully supervises the training and methodological support of teachers and coordination of the educational process.
The support school implements a set of support measures to improve the quality of education in a small-size school with full use of available resources.
The main task of a small school is to effectively utilise the support and resources of the support school.

In turn, the Ministry of Education, as the national coordinator, has developed a strategy for the development of rural schools. Akimats now need to ensure step-by-step implementation of work on scaling up the project on the basis of the developed strategy.

For example, this year the project has already involved 10 support and 30 small schools in Akmola, Kostanay, Pavlodar, West Kazakhstan and North Kazakhstan regions. From January 2025, 192 basic and 759 small schools from 17 regions will take part in the project. At the third stage, the project should cover all remaining small-sized schools.

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03.12.2024, 18:17 77961

NGS launches large-scale digitisation of geological data in Kazakhstan

At the Government session of Kazakhstan Chairman of the National Geological Service (NGS) Yerlan Galiev presented key initiatives on digitalisation of profile information, primeminister.kz reports.

According to the Code "On Subsoil and Subsoil Use" NGS is a national operator in the field of geological information authorised by the state. The organisational foundations of the country's geological stock service were laid in 1930. Today the Service is financed by the Government of Kazakhstan and from external revenues. It is the main supplier of reliable and complete geological and geophysical data in Kazakhstan.

During detailed study of a necessary site, a potential subsoil user (investor) needs a complete picture of the studied object. For these purposes, scanning and digitisation of primary geological information stored in all geological funds of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which will be placed on the Unified platform of subsoil users," Yerlan Galiev noted.

At the moment, the total amount of primary geological information in the geological funds of Kazakhstan exceeds 4, 5 million units. The information is stored in the form of paper materials, magnetic tapes, cartridges. In 2023-2024, about 40% of primary geological information has been scanned and digitised.

One of the key tasks is to convert this data into a machine-readable format, which will unify and standardise the information for its further use. To solve this task, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies are being used to accelerate data processing and create a Big Data base. With the integration of advanced deep learning algorithms for working with complex data (graphics and maps) and automation of the process of classification and structuring of geological data, the system will become the basis for analysis, forecasting of mineral deposits, which will improve the efficiency of work with geological information," NGS Chairman reported.

To solve this problem, the NGS takes part in the programme of "Government Accelerators" based on the experience of the UAE, where innovative approaches to the effective implementation of initiatives have been introduced. The short-term project will implement key initiatives for a limited period of time of 100 days. As part of the accelerator, intensive work is carried out to identify problem points, set objectives and implement them promptly.

The following technical measures are being implemented as part of the project :

digitisation of archived data using OCR and AI;
digitisation of graphics for conversion into machine-readable format;
data aggregation and formation of Big Data;
introduction of specialised AI for data analysis.

The project envisages utilising the experience of the leading countries: Canada, Australia and the USA. These countries have already introduced AI technologies for digitisation and analysis of geological data, which has significantly increased the efficiency of geological exploration.

The Kazakhstan project includes the development of interactive maps, vectorisation of graphic materials, provision of computing power and training of specialists to work with new technologies. The volume of data to be processed is 2-3 petabytes, which requires significant resources," the speaker said.

Geology, as one of the main Earth sciences, is essential for the study of subsoil and its effective utilisation. Among the medium-term tasks that the NGS sets for itself in the field of science, the creation of a Digital Geological Map of Kazakhstan, the creation of a Reference Base of image means, the unification of templates and standards in geology. Some of these studies are planned to be developed jointly with the British Geological Survey in the first quarter of 2025.

Also, together with the scientific and academic community, the NGS is starting to develop the Mineralogenic Code of Kazakhstan, which will be the scientific basis for predicting the distribution and discoverability of different groups of ore deposits. It is also important to emphasise the development of Geodynamically Based Maps and Palinspastic Maps.

Since its establishment in 2022, 15 cooperation agreements have been signed with foreign geological services and major international companies. As part of cooperation with the US Geological Survey (USGS), an audit of the NGS by an international team of heads of foreign geological services is planned for 2025. At the suggestion of the Bureau of Energy Resources of the U.S. Department of State together with NK "Tauken-Samruk" concluded a trilateral MOU on cooperation in the assessment of lithium resources in the Aral Sea region and geochemical surveys of rare metals in the Kalba-Narym belt," Yerlan Galiev said.

A project is underway with the British BGS, which includes several missions in Kazakhstan. In addition, a joint project is planned on the Reference Base of Pictorial Means. The NGS actively co-operates with European civil services. Thus, jointly with BRGM French geological service will hold bilateral seminars in 2025 in the field of remote sensing, geochemistry, predictive mapping, post-mining and others. In co-operation with GTK (Finland, MOU at PDAC 2024) the emphasis is on strengthening and developing database and GIS systems.

The NGS is also organising the first international forum ‘Meet Kazakhstan: The Power of Geology in the Ninth Largest Nation’ at PDAC 2025. The investment potential of Kazakhstan will be presented, country priorities and the policy of development of the geological industry in Kazakhstan will be outlined.

‘The policy of development of the geological industry for 2024-2029 will retain continuity and will focus on solving the identified institutional, scientific, informational and organisational problems on the basis of the NGS to stimulate the inflow of private investment in geological exploration and activation of activities, increasing the level of competence and scientific practice in the industry, fully aimed at further development of the mineral resource base," Yerlan Galiev concluded.

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03.12.2024, 14:07 78221

Olzhas Bektenov: Schools in rural areas play an exceptional role as centres of knowledge, culture and leisure. By 2027, 180 new rural schools to be built in Kazakhstan

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The Government session chaired by Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov considered the issues of rural schools development. The Minister of Education Gani Beisembayev reported on measures to improve the quality of education, modernise the material and technical base and attract teachers. Bolat Zhamishev, Chairman of Kazakhstan Khalkyna Foundation, also made a report on the issue of support and equipment of rural schools, and akims of a number of regions were heard, primeminister.kz reports.

Today, 67% of the country's schools are located in rural areas, with about 40% of all school-age children studying in them. Education Minister Gani Beisembayev reported that since 2022 the project "Development of the potential of reference schools in rural areas" is being implemented to improve the general level of education. At present, a network of 135 educational institutions has been created, in which 4,665 classrooms of modern modification have been supplied. In 2025, 56 more organisations will join the project, 1935 classrooms will be upgraded.

Prime Minister stressed that the development of rural schools remains among the most important priorities of the state policy. The condition and equipment of educational organisations directly affects the development potential of villages and the quality of life of the population.

The Head of State pays special attention to the development of rural schools. As part of the implementation of the Rural Development Concept, it is planned to build about 180 schools by 2027. This year, 42 rural schools have been commissioned, including at the expense of the Comfortable School National Project. Over the past three years, about 2,500 schools in villages have been modernised. Over 800 schools are being renovated to improve conditions and create a comfortable learning environment. Also, more than 4 thousand subject classrooms have been purchased for rural schools," Olzhas Bektenov noted.

Head of the Government instructed the Ministry of Education to submit to the regions the Unified requirements for renovation of schools by the end of this year.

To attract qualified teachers to the village the Government is implementing a number of incentive measures. Thus, additional payments to the official salary in the amount of 25% are provided. Teachers arriving under the "With a Diploma to Rural Areas" programme are paid lifting allowances and given loans for the purchase or construction of housing.

Special attention is paid to the successful implementation of projects involving the private sector and public funds. Thus, in 42 rural schools of Almaty region with the assistance of the Bilim-Innovation fund measures have been taken to improve the quality of education in exact disciplines. Prime Minister drew attention to the results of equipping of supporting and small schools in Aktobe region with equipment for these purposes by Kazakhstan Khalkyna fund allocated 1.8 billion tenge. The growth of education level was noted not only in strong organisations of the region, but also in small schools, where experienced teachers conduct classes for students. Head of the Government instructed the Ministry of Education and akimats to scale the experience of Aktobe region and to complete the creation of a network of at least 200 reference schools by the end of 2025, as well as to take measures to increase the capacity of small schools.

During the Government session the statistics on the condition of schools was announced. 57% of three-shift educational institutions are located in rural areas - mainly in Almaty and Turkestan regions. 76% of organisations in emergency condition are also located in rural areas, mainly in Aktobe, Kyzylorda, West Kazakhstan and Turkestan regions. Olzhas Bektenov drew attention to the need to reduce the gap in the quality of education between rural and urban schools, caused by the shortage of specialists with high qualifications, especially in mathematics, physics, foreign languages.

Head of the Government set a task for the Ministry of Education together with akimats to take systematic measures to improve the competence of teachers of rural schools. Prime Minister also instructed to ensure connection of all educational institutions in rural areas to high-speed Internet by September 1, 2025, paying special attention to remote regions. Akimats should organize the creation of community centres and clubs on the basis of rural schools by September 2025 to ensure the availability of educational and leisure services for all residents of rural areas.

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27.11.2024, 09:48 123536

Water saving, emission reduction without damage to crops: Kazakhstan to collect agro-drones

The effectiveness of using and scaling up the practice of using agrodrones in agriculture was considered at a meeting in the Government chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin, primeminister.kz reports.

International experience of agrodrones application in more than 100 countries of the world shows significant advantages of using unmanned aerial vehicles instead of ground-based spraying equipment. More than 500 million hectares of fields have already been treated with the help of agrodrones in the world. Due to minimal water consumption, it has been possible to save about 210 million tonnes of water and reduce CO2 emissions by 25 million tonnes. Agrodrones make it possible to cultivate and explore land in hard-to-reach places. They work in any weather and time of day, during rain and at night.

To give you an example, a self-propelled sprayer spends 150 litres of water per hectare, that's about 750,000 litres of water for 5,000 hectares. While a drone needs 50 thousand litres to treat the same amount of area, this is more than 15 times less. In addition, a self-propelled sprayer crushes the track during operation, causing the farmer to lose about 6% of the crop. TheUAV does not cause such damage to crops," Sanzhar Nurgazinov, a representative of a company that operates agrodrones, said at the meeting.

To scale up the use of UAVs for inspection, pest control and dangerous plant diseases in Kazakhstan, the Ministry of Agriculture signed a memorandum with the Chinese company Eavision to import 80 agrodrones. These vehicles will be sold among agricultural producers. In addition, a joint Kazakh-Chinese enterprise Sunkar Eavision International LLP has been established, which will assemble domestic drones in the FEZ of the Alatau Information Technology Park.

Together with the SPK of the regions, the issue of opening demonstration and service centres for agrodrones in Turkestan, Taraz, in the regions of Abay and Zhetysu has been worked out. The issue of training of assemblers and pilots on the basis of three educational institutions: Talgar Polytechnic College, College of IT-technologies in Semey and Agricultural College in Kaplanbek village of Turkestan region," Deputy Minister of Agriculture Yermek Kenzhekhanuly noted.

At the same time, work is underway to create the software needed to survey pest infestations and carry out treatments. It is envisaged to link the survey activities with the conducted treatments in the Kazakhstan Garysh Sapary information system GIS "PhytoKZ".

Serik Zhumangarin set a task for the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry to study the possibility of developing its own software for agro-industry management.

Following the meeting, Serik Zhumangarin instructed the Ministry of Agriculture to develop a roadmap for the development and implementation of agrodrones in agriculture by the end of February 2025, taking into account the selection or development of the necessary software, the creation of service centres, training of specialists, mainly from rural youth, to work with UAVs; KazAgroFinance to work out measures to support agrarians to purchase agrodrones within the available funds.

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26.11.2024, 20:44 123746

Training of IT specialists, export of information technologies, AI training: Government considers IT industry development issues

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Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry Zhaslan Madiyev at the Government session reported on the ongoing work on the development of the IT-industry, primeminister.kz reports.

In particular, he reported that in 2024 the IT-industry of Kazakhstan continued its dynamic growth. The number of IT-companies reached 18 683. Growth of 16% over the last three years. Over the same period, the average monthly salary of IT-specialists increased by 54%. It reached 673 thousand tenge, reflecting the high demand for qualified staff and competitive labour conditions. Employment in the IT sector increased by 12 per cent. It reached 187 thousand people.

According to the Minister, the Astana Hub international technology park was launched in 2018. Today it confirms its role as a centre for the development of IT startups in Kazakhstan. The technopark has united more than 1.5 thousand participants. Among them 1102 Kazakhstani and 437 foreign companies. The total revenue of the participants totalled 1.2 trillion tenge. Growth of 31 times over the last five years. Export revenue for the three quarters of this year reached 143 billion tenge. Annual growth is already more than 10 times in four years. Thus, the minister noted, Astana Hub continues to strengthen its position as the leading technology park in the region.

At the same time, the development of regional hubs has become a key element of the innovation ecosystem. To date, there are 17 such platforms operating across the country. They actively promote the development of local startups and entrepreneurship. All programmes for the development of startups and the IT industry are available to regional IT hubs. It is planned to connect another hub in Petropavlovsk by the end of the year. Thus, regional hubs are becoming an important driver of IT industry development in Kazakhstan. This should contribute to the discovery of talents and creation of a strong innovation ecosystem, the Minister added.

Also, Kazakhstan has created a "Single Window" of the national innovation system. Most measures of state support for IT-specialists, innovators and scientific figures are displayed here. A mobile application is also available.

The portal ensures transparency and efficiency in the distribution of state support measures. Today it is used by more than half a million people annually. The portal can be said to have become a single window similar to EGOV.

In addition, conditions are being created to attract talented professionals from all over the world. The Expat Centre operates on the basis of MFCA. It serves as a single window for foreign specialists to receive state services.

Along with this, a special visa for IT-specialists - Digital Nomad Visa - has been launched in fulfilment of the Head of State's instruction. It allows obtaining an electronic visa under simplified procedures.

Another programme Digital Nomad Residency is also being actively worked on. It simplifies the procedure for obtaining a residence permit online. It is planned to be launched next month.

In order to implement the Head of State's instruction, the Tech Orda programme has been launched, which aims to train 20,000 IT specialists by 2025 by stimulating private IT schools. Over the last 3 years, about 82 thousand IT specialists have been trained. Private IT schools have trained more than 16 thousand specialists. Work in this direction is carried out within the framework of providing the labour market with qualified personnel.

Zhaslan Madiyev, by the way, cited successful stories of Tech Orda programme graduates, who from absolutely other industries were able to move to the IT sphere.

The Minister also noted that it is necessary to draw attention to the development of IT-industry of the world professional community.

From 3 to 5 September 2024 for the first time in Kazakhstan, Astana hosted the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Digital Inclusion and Transformation. The conference was attended by 186 delegates from more than 30 countries. The total number of participants exceeded 1,500. One of the key outcomes was the adoption of the Astana Ministerial Declaration, which defines further steps to accelerate digital transformation in the region.

From 15 to 20 September 2024, Kazakhstan hosted the ICPC - the largest student world championship in sports programming. This strengthened the country's position as the IT hub of Central Asia. Out of 73,000 participants from 110 countries, 142 teams from 50 countries made it to the finals. The MUIT team entered the top 30 best teams in the world.

In addition, such significant events as the Digital Bridge International Forum and Digital Almaty have been organised since 2018. They annually attract more than 30 thousand participants.

Another important point is the export of IT services. Kazakhstan is showing rapid growth in this matter. In 2023, the volume of exports reached $529 million. In the first half of 2024, this figure was $306 million.

We are confidently moving towards reaching the mark of $1bn by 2026 according to the Head of State's instruction. Today IT services from Kazakhstan are exported to 86 countries. This confirms the high demand for our digital solutions and our ability to compete at the global level," the Minister said.

For example, Astana Hub together with Google for Startups annually conduct a 12-week accelerator programme Silkway Accelerator. Startup projects from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and other countries take part in the programme. The beginning of a long-term partnership between Astana Hub and Draper University within the Hero Training programme was laid.

The Silicon Valley Residency Programme and AlchemistX Accelerator accelerator programmes were also launched in order to successfully enter the US market. The programmes provide startups with access to leading experts and investors in Silicon Valley.

In addition, the international network is also expanding. Three international IT hubs are now successfully operating in the US, Saudi Arabia and Singapore. All these initiatives help attract talent and open new opportunities for Kazakhstani startups for international co-operation.

Digital developments in the field of GovTech are reaching the international level. In 2023-2024, exports totalled 1.36 billion tenge. Kazakhstan exports e-government solutions to countries such as Tajikistan, Togo, Sierra Leone. The main exported products are Smart Data Ukimet, Smart Bridge and GOV.KZ.

Kazakhstan is also the leader in the region in terms of the volume of venture capital deals. Last year alone they reached $80 million. Significant investments were attracted by companies such as CITIX, Hero's Journey, Higgsfield AI and others. Some of these companies have already reached a valuation of $100 million. These achievements, said the Minister, confirm that Kazakhstan is becoming a key centre of innovation in the region.

In order to fulfil the Head of State's instruction, work is underway to open an Artificial Intelligence Centre in Astana. The Centre's mission is to contribute to the AI transformation of Kazakhstan by attracting talent from across the region. It is planned to train thousands of specialists, hundreds of startups and dozens of research projects in the field of AI every year.

Separately, the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry is proposing a comprehensive approach to training the population in AI technology.

We plan to train 1 million people within five years. Namely 500 thousand schoolchildren, 300 thousand students, 90 thousand civil servants, 80 thousand entrepreneurs and 30 thousand other categories of population. We are currently working on launching educational projects, including the TUMO creative technologies centre for schoolchildren. Also in October this year we opened the first in the region artificial intelligence school TomorrowSchool to train specialists in the field of AI," Zhaslan Madiyev said.

All these initiatives, he said, will help develop the country's human capital, identify talents and promote the development of the IT industry.

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