4th edition of Digital Almaty int’l forum

The international forum Digital Almaty 2021 – Digital Reset: The Leap To The Next Normal has kicked off in Almaty city. Kazakh President addresses the forum.

The Head of State emphasized that 90% of public services had been switched to e-format. Digitalization of the industrial sector will inevitably cut jobs. This is a complex and socially important process, the President said.

However, the Head of State, expressed confidence that technologies wouldn’t deprive people of their living space, instead they would bring new opportunities.

«Despite the obvious restrictions, the work to increase the accessibility and quality of digital infrastructure was sped up. In 2020, the PPP project for the construction of 20 thousand kilometers of fiber-optic communication lines was completed. Over a thousand base stations for mobile telephone communication leading to a considerable reduction in technological inequality in the regions were installed. The Internet coverage in the country now is 99%,» - the Kazakh PM said.

The Kazakh Government Head stressed that the rapid introduction by the government facilities of digital solutions was a response to the necessity to provide the people state services when the physical presence was limited. He drew the attention of the Forum’s participants to the fact that widespread remote work and learning format helped keep the functions of society stabilized and avoid collapses in the people’s incomes and standard of living.

The Prime Minister noted that as part of digital infrastructure development, all regional centers will be provided with 5G coverage over the next 5 years.
 
Investments in the field of data processing and storage will increase by 6 times (from 82 billion to 500 billion tenge). The share of e-commerce will be doubled.

«Thanks to the measures to support business in the digital industry, more than 1000 innovative companies will be created, which will lead to an increase in the volume of ICT exports by more than 25 times. In the IT industry, about 100 thousand new jobs will be created, which will help to form a critical mass and launch multiplier effects in all sectors of the economy» - he concluded.