Digital Forum 2024 — From Vision to Voice — ran over two days in Bishkek on 14 and 15 November 2024, in Hall “Karkyra” at the Orion Hotel. The convening was a three-way one: the University of Central Asia’s Graduate School of Development (Institute of Public Policy and Administration), the Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic, and the DCASA-KR Project Implementation Unit. Aziz Soltobaev spoke on Day 1, in the afternoon Quality of Life / Smart Cities panel, on Digital Public Infrastructure — GovStack and Digital Public Goods — representing the Internet Society Kyrgyzstan Chapter.
The two days were programmed differently on purpose. Day 1 ran in Russian and was a working policy day, designed to bring government agencies and civil society from Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries into the same room. The three substantive sessions tracked the live work of the Kyrgyz state: public digital infrastructure (FOCL, G-Cloud, Tunduk, Sanarip Med); big data, AI and cybersecurity; and quality of life / smart cities. Day 2 ran in English as an academic conference, with a keynote on digitalisation and good governance and three sessions on Central Asia’s digital transformation, women’s empowerment, and smart cities.
The slot Aziz spoke in was the day’s closing substantive panel — held after the student-hackathon award ceremony — and was moderated by Dr. Aijan Sharshenova, executive director of Crossroads Central Asia. The four-speaker line-up paired Bishkek and regional voices: a smart-city-for-disability presentation from UCA, a participatory-budgeting case from Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Economy and Finance, the DPI / GovStack / Digital Public Goods talk from KG Labs and ISOC KG, and a closing argument from CAPS Unlock on agile governance of AI. The forum closed that day with the launch of UCA’s Digital Policy Lab.
Day 1 recording, Russian. Day 2 (English academic conference) recording is not yet linked here — if a recording exists, it will be added as a second embed.
Day 1 — Friday 14 November 2024 (Russian, policy day)
Discussion on digitalisation policy with government agencies and civil society representatives from Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries.
| Time | Session | Speakers / topics |
|---|---|---|
| 08:30–09:30 | Registration and welcome coffee | — |
| 09:30–10:30 | Opening plenary | Prof. Christopher J Gerry (Rector, UCA); Ms. Nuria Kutnaeva (Minister of Digital Development, Kyrgyz Republic); Mr. Sayan Ashirbekov (Deputy Chairman of the Board, JSC “National Information Technologies”, Kazakhstan). Moderator: Erbol Sovetaly uulu. |
| 10:30–12:00 | Session I — Digitalisation of Public Administration / DCASA-KR | Public Digital Infrastructure: Azamat Davletaliev (DCASA-KR Component 1) on regional digital connectivity (FOCL); Rustambek Sartkalchaev (DCASA-KR Component 2) on state cloud storage (G-Cloud); Chyngyz Amanatov (Director, State Enterprise “Tunduk”) on the state electronic-services portal Tunduk. Bridging the digital divide in healthcare: Chingiz Beksultanov (Director, e-Health Center, Ministry of Health KR) on Sanarip Med. Moderator: Elina Sakkaraeva (coordinator, DCASA-KR project). |
| 12:00–13:00 | Lunch | — |
| 13:00–14:45 | Session II — Big Data, AI and Cybersecurity | Parkhat Bazakov (Data Science Engineer, Cramer Project / KAIRA Kyrgyz AI Research Institute) — AI Threats and Ways to Combat Them. Dr. Emil Bilgazyev (Vice-president and co-founder, American Institute of Technology at Salymbekov University) — AI in Business. Artem Osipov (Information Security Manager, UCA) — Cybersecurity: From Simple Steps to Advanced Solutions. Dastan Omuraliev (Co-founder and CEO, TSARKA KG) — The Price of Progress: The Dark Side of Digitalisation. Moderator: Dr. Bakhytzhan Kurmanov (Institute of Public Policy and Administration, UCA). |
| 14:45–15:00 | Coffee break | — |
| 15:00–15:45 | Student hackathon award ceremony | — |
| 15:45–17:00 | Session III — Quality of Life / Smart Cities | Dr. Dmytro Zubov (Associate Professor in Computer Science, UCA) — Smart city for people with disabilities. Sanjarbek Sultanov (Ministry of Economy and Finance, Uzbekistan) — Successful practices from Uzbekistan: Participatory Budgeting. Aziz Soltobaev (co-founder, Internet Society Kyrgyzstan Chapter) — Digital Public Infrastructure (GovStack, Digital Public Goods). Tlegen Kuandykov (Programme Coordinator, CAPS Unlock) — Agile Governance in AI: Balancing Speed, Ethics, and Innovation. Moderator: Dr. Aijan Sharshenova (Executive Director, Crossroads Central Asia). |
| 17:00–17:30 | Launch of the Digital Policy Lab | Dr. Bakhytzhan Kurmanov. |
Day 2 — Saturday 15 November 2024 (English, academic conference)
| Time | Session | Speakers / topics |
|---|---|---|
| 08:30–09:30 | Registration and welcome coffee | — |
| 09:30–10:30 | Keynote address | Dr. Colin Knox (Professor Emeritus, University of Ulster; Adjunct Professor, Nazarbayev University) — Digitalisation and Good Governance. Moderator: Dr. Bakhytzhan Kurmanov (IPPA, UCA). |
| 10:30–12:00 | Session I — Digitalisation in Central Asia: new technologies from government to education and business | Zalina Enikeeva (IPPA, UCA) — Digital Silk Road: E-commerce between China, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Dr. Ikboljon Qoraboyev (Professor, Maqsut Narikbayev University, Kazakhstan) — From Classroom to Crisis: Preparing students for the real challenges of cybersecurity. Dr. Saikal Anvar kyzy (Director, MBA Programme, American University of Central Asia) — Using blockchain technologies to increase transparency and accountability in public administration. Gulnoza Kuldosheva (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research, online) — Transforming Central Asia: the importance of digitalisation for economic development, governance and sustainability. Moderator: Dr. Noore Alam Siddiquee (Graduate School of Public Policy, Nazarbayev University). |
| 12:00–13:00 | Lunch | — |
| 13:00–14:30 | Session II — Women’s empowerment and digitalisation | Dr. Nivine Guler (Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science, UCA) — What is behind smart classrooms: AI in education. Aliya Beishenalieva (Salymbekov University) — EduTech Revolution: Self-Service Success. Indira Sharshenova (UN Women) — TBD. Moderator: Dr. Ikboljon Qoraboyev. |
| 14:30–14:45 | Coffee break | — |
| 14:45–16:15 | Session III — Quality of Life / Smart Cities | Kasiet Ysmanova (Central Asian Barometer) — Monitoring of public opinion as instrument of dialogue with citizens. Dr. Bakhytzhan Kurmanov (IPPA, UCA) — Hybrid democratic innovations in Central Asia? The experience of digital citizen participation in budgeting in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Dr. Muhammad Fayaz (Assistant Professor of Computer Science, UCA, online) — Application of machine learning for smart city solutions. Dr. Noore Alam Siddiquee — Does digital transformation of public administration promote transparency and reduce corruption? Evidence from Central Asia. Moderator: Dr. Colin Knox. |
| 16:15–16:30 | Closing ceremony | — |
Event Details
| Forum | Digital Forum 2024: From Vision to Voice |
| Dates | 14–15 November 2024 |
| Venue | Hall “Karkyra”, Orion Hotel, Bishkek |
| Convened by | University of Central Asia — Graduate School of Development, Institute of Public Policy and Administration; Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic; DCASA-KR Project Implementation Unit |
| Official partners | KICB (Kyrgyz Investment and Credit Bank); MEGA; Greenlight; AKIpress |
| Aziz Soltobaev’s slot | Day 1, Session III (15:45–17:00) — Digital Public Infrastructure (GovStack, Digital Public Goods) |
| Aziz Soltobaev’s affiliation at the forum | Co-founder, Internet Society Kyrgyzstan Chapter |
| Day 1 video | youtube.com/watch?v=oECojlHgfA0 |
Programme sourced from the official Digital Forum 2024 agenda (digital-forum-agenda-12-nov-eng-final.pdf, UCA / IPPA). Substance of Aziz Soltobaev’s GovStack / Digital Public Goods talk is not transcribed in this post — speaker notes pending.