My dream is that Kazakhstan someday will become a fully digitalised country – President
President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Sami Zeidan of Al Jazeera touched upon Kazakhstan’s progress in digitalization in an exclusive interview, Kazinform News Agency reports.
Al Jazeera: Related to the IT-industries and the digital infrastructure Kazakhstan has made progress. You've established more than 20,000 kilometres of fiber-optic lines. You've established the Astana Hub, boosting IT exports to over $280 million in 2023. But there still are challenges. How can you address bureaucratic hurdles to start-ups, a shortage of specialists in some cases, and low research and development spending?
- Yes, it's also one of our problems which is on the agenda, but at the same time, we have made a big progress. First of all, we have made or produced our smart computer, which has been delivered recently to Kazakhstan in close cooperation with well-known foreign companies. And we are very much grateful to them being our strategic partners in this very important case. And as I said, digitalisation is our priority. And my dream is that Kazakhstan someday later will become a fully digitalised country.
Al Jazeera: By when so? When is the target date for that?
- I think that it's in five years. In five years it's absolutely possible. And you've just been talking about bureaucracy. It does exist in Kazakhstan as well as in so many countries. And digitalisation is one of the most efficient instruments to tackle this problem.
Digitalisation and artificial intelligence. Nobody knows what will be the end of this story and in this context, and I've already made a statement on the margins of the International Forum here that in the context of development, very speedy development of artificial intelligence in the world, these kind of conflicts, wars between states look very much outdated.
We must put focus on artificial intelligence, digitalisation, put focus on developing, on giving education to the younger generation and put focus on enlightening our people, bringing them forward in development, but not being engaged in military conflicts, killing each other. It's very much outdated. It is very much primitive, I would say.
Earlier it was reported that Central Asia’s most powerful Nvidia-powered supercomputer has arrived in Kazakhstan. It boasts a performance of approximately 2 exaflops and powered by Nvidia chips.
