The “Uzbekistan – 2030” strategy outlines the goal of transforming the country into a regional “IT-HUB”. To achieve this, digital technologies are being developed step by step. IT parks have been established across all regions, expanding opportunities for education and employment in this field. Internet speed and coverage have improved significantly, providing jobs for more than 190,000 people.
In recent years, $3 billion worth of investments have been attracted to the sector. The number of enterprises with foreign capital has increased 8.5 times compared to 2017, surpassing 1,000 companies. Today, one out of every ten employees in the sector works at an international company. Furthermore, while there were only 12 exporting companies seven years ago, this year the number has reached 650. By the end of the year, exports of information technology and communication services are expected to exceed $900 million.
The application of artificial intelligence in various fields is rapidly expanding. Over 20 projects based on AI technology have already been implemented, with an additional 70 projects developed for networks and major enterprises. Uzbekistan has climbed 17 positions in the international index for AI readiness.
As part of continued focus on this direction, the President’s decree of October 14 introduced a strategy for developing AI technologies until 2030. The strategy prioritizes increasing the share of AI-based software products and services, expanding technical infrastructure, and enhancing human resource potential.
During the presentation, the Minister of Digital Technologies provided an overview of plans for the coming year.
Notably, “cloud” data centers are set to launch in Bukhara, Fergana, and Tashkent regions. Laboratories specializing in artificial intelligence will be established at the Tashkent University of Information Technologies and Inha University to support startups. Additionally, 3,000 employees of government agencies, along with regional governors and their deputies, will undergo AI-related training.
Officials have been tasked with increasing the number of AI-based projects to 100 and boosting the volume of software products and services to $50 million.
Transformation within sector enterprises has already delivered positive results. This year, the volume of telecommunications services grew by 16%, reaching 21 trillion soums. “Uztelecom” reported revenue exceeding 9 trillion soums.
Next year, the focus will be on fully digitizing management processes, optimizing expenses, adopting environmental, social, and corporate governance principles, and achieving international certification.
Significant progress has also been made within the “Uzbekistan Post” system. Revenue increased by 1.4 times this year, while exports grew by 20%. Thanks to new service offerings, the number of postal deliveries rose by 50%.
According to the plan, next year 1,600 postal branches will launch services for delivering e-commerce products. A digital sorting center will be established to improve the efficiency of handling such items and postal shipments. Funding for these projects will be sourced from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
A key legislative milestone in this sector was the adoption of the revised Telecommunications Law. Based on this law, a two-year program for digital transformation across all sectors and regions will be developed.
Next year, 6,000 new base stations will be constructed, and 30,000 kilometers of fiber-optic cables will be installed, increasing coverage to 98%. Measures will also be taken to expand exports in the sector to $1.2 billion.
Another groundbreaking initiative is the forthcoming law on the establishment of an International Center for Digital Technologies. This “Enterprise Uzbekistan” center will operate under the principles of English law, ensuring free capital movement, international-standard labor relations, and the participation of foreign bank branches.
During the presentation, instructions were given to create a legal framework for AI and to further develop education in the field of digital technologies.
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