Last week, President Kassam-Jomart Tokayev made his traditional, eighth annual address to the people of Kazakhstan in a speech before members of the country's parliament and government. It was anticipated with keen interest and generated numerous media comments.
The title of the address itself summarizes its theme and main message in one phrase: “Kazakhstan in the era of artificial intelligence: current problems and their solutions through digital transformation“.
The need for large-scale digitalization of the country's economy and governance is not a surprising thesis. Last year, Kazakhstan announced its intention to create a National Center for Artificial Intelligence to accelerate and guide the digital transformation of the country. transformation of the country. The initiative received broad public support.
The government began implementing the project through the Committee for the Development of Artificial Intelligence and Innovations of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry. It was tasked with developing the regulatory framework - the Digital Code, as well as inter-sectoral coordination and advisory support. An important task for it was the integration of artificial intelligence technologies into the government's electronic platform.
The Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms, directly subordinate to the President, assumed responsibility for reforming the activities of state bodies in the implementation of the program “Information Kazakhstan 2020“. Today, the implementation of the Concept for Digital Transformation, Development of the Information and Communication Technologies Sector and Cybersecurity for the period 2023 - 2029 is underway.
What few expected to hear in the message of The president's order was to sharply accelerate the processes and set short deadlines for transforming Kazakhstan into a full-fledged digital state - within three years. In administrative terms, the Committee on Artificial Intelligence will "absorb" the ministry to which it belonged in order to form a Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development, headed by a specialist with the rank of Deputy Prime Minister.
In this way, Kazakhstan will join the ranks of countries with a specialized ministry in the field of artificial intelligence, such as Canada or the United Arab Emirates. And this is a prerequisite for international cooperation with direct foreign counterparties.
It is precisely such interaction that was agreed upon during the official visit of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to Kazakhstan in March this year, with the agreed specific goal being the creation of a supercomputer cluster in Kazakhstan. The first of them is already operating in Astana, equipped with the most advanced NVIDIA H200 graphics chips, specially designed for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. The supercomputer's resources are available to the entire digital ecosystem of the country: startups from the International Technology Park «Astana Hub» can use it to train neural networks, universities can conduct fundamental and applied research, businesses and companies have access to computing power to integrate artificial intelligence into their operations.
Among Kazakhstan's achievements to date, the impressive internet coverage of 99% of the population, the implementation of 5G mobile communication technologies and even the creation of digital farms for processing cryptocurrencies are impressive. However, what lies ahead is an unprecedented step - the implementation of the “Alatau City“ project. The city of Alatau will become a new center for business activity and innovation. For this purpose, a plot of land has been allocated about sixty kilometers from the capital, the initial planning has been completed, related are key infrastructure networks. In his address, President Tokayev shared that during his recent visit to China, multi-billion dollar agreements were concluded with world-class development companies, one of which participated in the construction of the global technopolis Shenzhen.
Digitalization goes hand in hand with the transition to clean energy. Last year, Kazakhstan made its choice to supplement renewable sources with sustainable and affordable nuclear energy. In October of last year, the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Bulgaria presented the results of the republican referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan at a round table at the “Kvazar” Competence Center of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. It was noted that the construction of a nuclear power plant increases the opportunities for cooperation between Bulgarian and Kazakh specialists in scientific research and nuclear energy.
Last month, the first sod of the First Nuclear Power Plant in Kazakhstan was laid in the town of Ulken in Almaty Region, marking the beginning of enhanced international cooperation in nuclear energy. True to its traditional balanced approach to its two large neighboring countries, Russia and China, in the process of selecting technology suppliers, Kazakhstan provided Russia with the first project, while the second and third will go to China. Kazakhstan did not disappoint either of the two regional powers, but also avoided unilateral commitment to any of them. It is expected that China's financial strength and rapid pace of construction, combined with Russia's accumulated experience in nuclear energy, will lead to successful results.
In his message, President Tokayev once again recalled that Kazakhstan is ready to cooperate with other global companies, which is consistent with the goal of ensuring the country's energy sovereignty. In this sense, one of the new technologies - small modular reactors, attracts attention with its lower capital costs, flexibility and applicability, including for the needs of large data processing centers. In this regard, the Astana International Scientific and Technical Center, within the framework of an ongoing project of the American firm Holtec, is preparing a simulator for training in the operation of the small reactor SMR-300, in order to develop the capacities and skills of future generations of professionals in the nuclear industry in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
Digitalization is able to contribute to expanding the transit potential of the country, through which over one billion tons of cargo transported between Europe and Asia passed last year alone. The “North-South“ and “East-West“ corridors are turning Kazakhstan into a major land bridge of Eurasia, as well as the Trans-Caspian transport route, especially relevant in the current period, reaching Bulgarian ports and roads.
Improving interregional transport connectivity will benefit greatly from the implementation of a multifunctional digital platform for transport management using artificial intelligence. The President's message included an order to launch a unified digital system for customs and logistics services "Smart Cargo" by the end of October.
Another important issue related to integration into global logistics chains and the growth of e-commerce is the development of air transport, and in particular the delivery of "air cargo" via unmanned modes of transport. In this sense, the President's recommendation to the government is to create all conditions for the accelerated implementation of special vehicles and drones for the delivery of goods and parcels. Bulgaria has promising technologies in this regard, such as the transport drone of the company «Dronamics» with a payload of 350 kilograms.
When in June this year, the President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev visited Kazakhstan, a number of goals and areas for deepening bilateral cooperation were identified. A set of agreements was signed covering the development of the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor, municipal and business cooperation, and institutional exchange between government bodies and academies of the two countries. Special attention was paid to green energy, the nuclear industry, space research, IT and artificial intelligence.
The mentioned topics are the main content of President Tokayev's address. So, the cooperation between Bulgaria and Kazakhstan is in tune with the implementation of the initiatives outlined in it.