On December 27, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev got acquainted with the presentation of plans to develop artificial intelligence and telecommunications technologies.

The Uzbekistan 2030 Strategy defines the task of turning the country into a regional IT hub. As part of this goal, digital technologies are consistently developing: IT parks have been organized in all regions, and opportunities for training and work in this area have expanded. The speed and coverage of Internet access have increased. More than 190 thousand people have been employed.

In recent years, the industry has mastered $3 billion in investments. The number of enterprises with foreign capital has increased 8.5 times compared to 2017 and exceeded a thousand. Today, every tenth enterprise in the sector is an international company. If there were only 12 exporting enterprises in the country seven years ago, then this year, there are already 650. By the end of the year, the volume of exports of information technology and telecommunications services will exceed $ 900 million. 

The use of artificial intelligence in various spheres of life is also expanding. More than 20 projects have already been implemented based on this technology, and another 70 projects have been developed in individual industries and large enterprises. Uzbekistan has moved up 17 positions in the international AI readiness index.

In continuation of the attention paid to this area, on October 14 this year, the Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence Technologies until 2030 was adopted by the resolution of the President of Uzbekistan. It defines measures to increase the share of AI-based software products and services, expand the technical infrastructure, and increase human resources.

At the meeting, the Minister of Digital Technologies presented plans for the following year.

In particular, cloud data centers will be launched in Bukhara, Fergana, and Tashkent regions. Artificial intelligence laboratories will open at Tashkent University of Information Technologies and Inha University to support startups. Three thousand employees of government agencies, as well as hokims and their deputies, will undergo advanced training in this area.

The task was set for the responsible persons to increase the number of projects based on artificial intelligence to 100 and the volume of software products and services to $50 million.

The transformation that started in industry enterprises has shown positive results. This year alone, telecommunications services increased by 16 percent and reached 21 trillion UZS. The revenues of Uzbektelecom exceeded 9 trillion UZS.

It was noted that next year, the company needs to completely digitalize the management system, reduce costs, implement environmental, social, and corporate management principles, and obtain an international rating.

Changes are also taking place in the O’zbekiston Pochtasi system. Revenues increased 1.4 times this year, and exports grew by 20 percent. Thanks to the introduction of new types of services, shipments increased by 50 percent.

According to plans, a service for issuing goods from electronic trading platforms will be introduced next year in 1,600 post offices. A digital sorting center will be opened, improving the quality of processing of such goods and mail. Funds from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will be attracted to achieve these goals.

An essential basis for the industry will be the adopted new version of the Law “On Telecommunications”. Based on it, a two-year digitalization program will be developed across all sectors and regions.

In particular, it is planned to build 6 thousand new base stations next year. 30 thousand kilometers of fiber-optic cables will be laid, increasing the coverage of services to 98 percent. Measures will be taken to increase the volume of exports in the sector to $1.2 billion.

Another important event in the industry will be the development of a law on the International Center for Digital Technologies, created on the initiative of the Head of state. The center, called “Enterprise Uzbekistan”, introduces the principles of English law, free movement of capital, and international standards of labor relations, and also establishes the activities of branches of foreign banks.

At the presentation, instructions were given to create a legislative framework in artificial intelligence and develop education in digital technologies.

UzA