Zhaslan Madiyev unveiled Kazakhstan's AI vision at Astana Finance Days 2024
At the Astana Finance Days 2024 conference, Kazakhstan's Minister of Digital Development, Innovation, and Aerospace Industry, Zhaslan Madiyev, delivered a speech outlining the nation’s ambitious vision for the future of artificial intelligence (AI). The Minister emphasized Kazakhstan's commitment to fostering an innovation-driven economy, with AI at the forefront. Kazinform News Agency correspondent reports from the event.
"Artificial intelligence is transforming the world as we know it, reshaping industries, economies, and societies on a global scale," Madiyev stated, opening the panel-session. He highlighted that global collaboration is essential to ensure that AI development benefits all, reflecting Kazakhstan's role in this transformative era.
The Minister provided a comprehensive account of Kazakhstan's most recent advancements in its pursuit of AI leadership. The National Artificial Intelligence Center is scheduled to commence operations next year, as President Tokayev declared on September 2. In an effort to foster a new generation of AI experts, the center will offer assistance to entrepreneurs, researchers, and students. This initiative is consistent with Kazakhstan's new Concept for the Development of Artificial Intelligence for 2024–2029, which aims to foster innovation by facilitating the "Generative Nation" movement.
"The Generative Nationmovement reflects Kazakhstan’s aspiration to build a robust innovation ecosystem, drawing inspiration from global leaders like Singapore and South Korea in the field of AI. The Generative Nationmovement will bring together all initiatives designed to position Kazakhstan on the global map of AI transformation," Madiyev remarked.
Madiyev highlighted numerous instances of Kazakhstan's success tales, such as Cerebra, a health-tech initiative that originated in Kazakhstan and went on to expand into the United States markets. Higgsfield AI is another notable company that has raised venture funding from Menlo Ventures at a valuation of $100 million and has developed a sophisticated system for training complex AI models.
The Minister also stressed the importance of nurturing AI talent. Kazakhstan will launch a programming school utilizing peer-to-peer learning and host the AI Decentrathon, the largest AI hackathon in the country, covering more than 10 regions. “These efforts collectively aim to build and strengthen human capital in the AI field, fostering a favorable environment for the integration of AI technologies across various sectors of the economy. We firmly believe that these initiatives will not only accelerate AI development but also secure Kazakhstan's position as a strong player in the global AI market,” Madiyev said.
On the sidelines of the AIFC, the minister told Kazinform correspondent about the details of the creation of the National Center for Artificial Intelligence and the Center for Digital Solutions, which were previously announced by the President and Prime Minister of the country.
In response to a question about the creation of these centers, the minister confirmed that the order to create the National Center for Artificial Intelligence is already being actively developed: "We are currently working on the content, that is, what educational initiatives, what laboratories, what international companies will participate in the partnership, all of this is currently being worked out, including jointly with the help of Astana Hub, we are working on this, on the content, so that when it is launched there will already be good content for this initiative. Because the order is very important from the head of state, it must be executed very well."
The minister emphasized that this center should become a "competence center" that will not only train specialists in the field of artificial intelligence, but also develop new AI models with the participation of global companies. "There must be a concentration of talents so that we can massively develop models using artificial intelligence technologies and distribute and scale them up across the country," he noted.
Madiyev cited Astana Hub as an example of the successful implementation of such initiatives: "Nobody believed in it at first, but it was born, began to attract large companies, a concentration of talents, startups, technologies appeared, it proved itself, more than one and a half thousand companies are already registered there and then scaling up across the regions began. Today, Astana Hub has opened about 15 IT hubs in the regions of the country, that is, we have a lot of talent concentrated in the region and it is necessary to create this bridge so that our talented youth have access to the infrastructure of Astana Hub, to all its programs, educational initiatives, accelerations, incubations, and so on."
Regarding the Digital Solutions Center proposed by Kazakhstan within the framework of UNESCAP, Madiyev specified: "Kazakhstan has put forward this initiative, so far everyone supports it, and next year, in April, a decision should be made to create this center in Kazakhstan. You know that we have already begun to form a UN ecosystem in Almaty, and if this center opens, it will only strengthen this ecosystem."
The center will contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals and strengthen Kazakhstan's position as a leader in the field of digitalization. "We can share with other countries and promote our exports. Our influence in terms of technological competence on a regional scale, on an international scale, it will only be emphasized and strengthened. Therefore, other countries that develop their technologies will also share with this center, and Kazakhstan can also select the best technologies for itself. This will work in both directions," the minister added, emphasizing that Kazakhstan can also select and implement the best world technologies.
According to him, the Digital Solutions Center will also create opportunities for promoting Kazakhstani startups in the international arena and will help strengthen Kazakhstan's technological competence in the international arena and create new opportunities for the development of innovations in the country.
