Today, in Astana, the tech parks of the OTS member states signed the Memorandum for cooperation. The participants of the agreement are Sabah Lab (Azerbaijan), HTP (Kyrgyzstan), Bilisim Vadisi (Turkey), Bilkent Cyberpark (Turkey), and IT Park Uzbekistan (Uzbekistan). Our country is represented by the international technopark of IT start-ups Astana Hub.
This agreement is aimed at the joint development of ICT and the innovation ecosystem in the region. It was concluded as part of the initiative of the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. At the Eighth Summit of the Organization of Turkic States, he proposed the creation of a Center for Modern Technoparks of the Turkic Countries.
“We will consider the possibility of creating an Association of Modern Technoparks of the Organization in the region and integrating IT platforms of key IT technoparks of the OTS countries. We also intend to discuss implementing the Digital Nomad IT residency program. It is aimed at increasing the mobility of IT startups among the member states of the Organization,” said Magzhan Madiyev, CEO of Astana Hub.
"I believe this platform is one of the best initiatives that unite the countries of Central Asia. Our countries are very small for the global market, but together, as Turkic-speaking countries, we can reach a higher level. From a marketing point of view, it's much easier to get noticed. We are not competing here; we are just complementing and improving each other – each country has its unique qualities and technologies," Chubak Temirov, The head of the Hi-tech Park of Kyrgyzstan.
Within the forum framework, an exhibition of technology parks is being held, where 13 technology parks from different countries, such as Turkey, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Palestine, and Kazakhstan, take part. Also, tomorrow, September 29, the heads of technoparks will hold a panel discussion on initiatives and projects as part of developing an innovation ecosystem in their countries. They will discuss international cooperation to create favorable conditions for entrepreneurs and IT professionals from the OTS member states.
Recall that the International Digital Bridge Forum has been held annually in Astana since 2018. This year the business program of the forum includes 45-panel sessions. An exhibition of technoparks, an alley of IT startups, an exhibition of IT schools, an IT job fair, and the Astana Hub Battle competition were presented.
The organizers are the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Mayor's Office of Astana, and the international technopark of IT start-ups in the Astana hub.
The general sponsor of the forum is Kaspi.kz. Sponsors and partners - Kazakhtelecom, Freedom bank, Tengizchevroil, My Car, Tech culture, Huawei, G42, Halyk Bank, Bigroup, Prime source, Glovo, SF, Leica, BI Group, OneWeb, Citix, Global nomads.