President Tokayev says Kazakhstan will make most of AI technology

12.10.2023, 22:20 exclusive.kz

President Tokayev on Thursday announced plans to complete Kazakhstan’s full transition to the 5G network in two years. He also said the country must embrace and make the most of AI technology.

Speaking at the annual Digital Bridge forum in Astana, Tokayev said AI technology was “a revolution comparable to the invention of electricity and the internet”.

Its broad use could become “the most important factor” in Kazakhstan’s sustainable development, Tokayev said.

He called for all the necessary conditions to be created for AI development in the country. To this end, Kazakhstan would adopt “a strategic document defining the spheres where AI can be used”. It would also set “goals and mechanisms for developing it”.

Tokayev said the areas where AI should be used first were the oil and gas industry, agriculture, transport and logistics, as well as in the modernisation of urban infrastructure.

The president also said that the use of AI called for the adoption of a legal framework that would “correspond to the world’s best practices” and take into account “both market demands and the interests of the public”.

Tokayev said the government would support programs to train the country’s own IT specialists. There are also plans to build AI-oriented data-centres in the next two years in cooperation with Amazon, Google, Mastercard and Citigroup.

Already by next year, Tokayev said, Kazakhstan would launch its own national AI platform, “combining government data with that of the country’s major businesses”.

Tokayev added that before the end of 2025 the government would complete “a full-scale rollout” of the 5G network in the country, ensuring the internet was available in the most remote parts of Kazakhstan.

The annual Astana Digital Bridge forum was held for a fifth time this year.

Among its participants were US venture capital investor Tim Draper, a co-founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, and the Senior Director of Starlink Business Operations at SpaceX, Lauren Dreyer.