{"id":7790,"date":"2024-06-19T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-19T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kglabs.org\/ai-governance\/uzbekistan-in-the-girai-2023-assessment-an-ecosystem-still-being-built\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T13:22:27","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T07:22:27","slug":"uzbekistan-in-the-girai-2023-assessment-an-ecosystem-still-being-built","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kglabs.org\/ru\/uzbekistan-in-the-girai-2023-assessment-an-ecosystem-still-being-built\/","title":{"rendered":"Uzbekistan in the GIRAI 2023 Assessment: An Ecosystem Still Being Built"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n

Uzbekistan in the GIRAI 2023 Assessment: An Ecosystem Still Being Built<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Uzbekistan is Central Asia’s most populous country \u2014 approximately 36 million people<\/a> \u2014 and one of the region’s most active reformers since 2016. When the Global Index on Responsible AI (GIRAI) 1st Edition<\/strong> assessed Uzbekistan in 2023, it found a country with presidential-level AI commitments, a set of active pilot projects, and a governance framework that was still in formation. The full GIRAI scores for Uzbekistan are available at global-index.ai<\/a>. What the assessment captures is the moment between intent and infrastructure \u2014 when the policy architecture is moving but the responsible AI layer has not yet been built alongside it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Three-Dimensional Breakdown<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

GIRAI structures every country profile across three top-level dimensions evaluated through thematic areas and actor categories. Legend: \u2713<\/strong> = documented evidence approved by GIRAI headquarters \u00b7 \u25d0<\/strong> = drafted, planned, or partially documented \u00b7 \u2014<\/strong> = no documented evidence at the time of assessment. Full per-indicator scores at global-index.ai<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dimension 1 \u2014 Responsible AI Governance<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Thematic area<\/th>Status<\/th>Evidence (Uzbekistan)<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Enabling policies<\/td>\u2713<\/td>Digital Uzbekistan 2030 (Decree UP-6079, October 5, 2020); Presidential Decree on AI (PQ-4996, February 17, 2021) approving 2021\u20132022 Programme of Measures across 8 directions; National Development Strategy 2030 (September 2023).<\/td><\/tr>
Rule of law<\/td>\u25d0<\/td>Frameworks at presidential decree level. Civil society and academic engagement in policy dialogue limited; mechanisms to integrate them into the national AI strategy not yet in place.<\/td><\/tr>
Technical standards<\/td>\u2014<\/td>No national AI technical standards in force.<\/td><\/tr>
Technology-specific regulation<\/td>\u25d0<\/td>Pilot projects 2021\u20132022 in finance, banking, tax, e-government \u2014 sector-specific deployment without sector-specific regulation. Transparency, accountability, and ethical guidelines flagged by GIRAI researcher as the central gap.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
Responsible AI Governance dimension \u2014 Uzbekistan, GIRAI 1st Edition (2023).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dimension 2 \u2014 Human Rights and AI<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Thematic area<\/th>Framework<\/th>Gov. action<\/th>Private sector<\/th>Civil society<\/th>Academia<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Freedom of Expression<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
Public Participation<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
Data Protection<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
Cultural & Linguistic Diversity<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
Health & Well-Being<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
Children’s Rights<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
Indigenous Data Sovereignty<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
Bias & Unfair Discrimination<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
Gender Equality<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
Education<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u25d0<\/td>\u25d0<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u25d0<\/td><\/tr>
Environmental Protection<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr>
Labour Protection<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
Human Rights and AI dimension \u2014 Uzbekistan, GIRAI 1st Edition (2023). \u25d0 in Education reflects 2021 presidential programme provisions on creating a domestic AI innovation ecosystem and IT Park-supported activity; not yet bridged to a rights-protective framework. GIRAI researcher noted documentation of non-state actor engagement was sparse.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Dimension 3 \u2014 National Responsible AI Capacities<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Sub-dimension<\/th>Status<\/th>Evidence (Uzbekistan)<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Institutions<\/td>\u25d0<\/td>Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence established August 2023 under the Ministry of Innovative Development; public platform at ai.edu.uz. IT Park serves as parallel private-sector anchor. USAID Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment provides best available picture of ecosystem in practice.<\/td><\/tr>
Investments<\/td>\u2713<\/td>Investment flows through 2021 presidential programme pilot sectors (finance, banking, tax, e-government) and IT Park ecosystem. World Bank November 2023 Country Climate and Development Report flags energy implications of AI infrastructure as not yet in the responsible-AI conversation.<\/td><\/tr>
Competencies<\/td>\u2014<\/td>GIRAI researcher found low involvement of civil society and academia in AI policy dialogue, identified as crucial for fostering innovation, providing expert insight, and ensuring ethical development. Mechanisms to integrate them into national AI strategy not yet in place during research period.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>
National Responsible AI Capacities dimension \u2014 Uzbekistan, GIRAI 1st Edition (2023).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Responsible AI Governance: Decrees and a Developing Framework<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Two presidential instruments frame Uzbekistan’s AI governance during the GIRAI research period. The first is the Strategy «Digital Uzbekistan 2030»<\/strong><\/a> (Decree UP-6079, October 5, 2020), which set out a comprehensive digitalization agenda across public services, industry, and the economy \u2014 the baseline from which AI-specific policy has developed. The second is the Presidential Decree on Measures to Introduce a Special Regime for the Application of Artificial Intelligence Technologies<\/strong><\/a> (PQ-4996, February 17, 2021), which approved a two-year Programme of Measures for 2021\u20132022 covering eight directions: development of an AI development strategy, elaboration of a regulatory and legal framework, widespread application of AI technologies, creation of a domestic AI innovation ecosystem, access conditions for software developers, investment attractiveness for AI research, access to information resources and competencies, and development of international cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In September 2023, just before the GIRAI research window closed, Uzbekistan adopted a National Development Strategy until 2030<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 a framework document outlining primary development objectives and reform priorities across all major sectors including digital economy, education, healthcare, and environmental sustainability, adopted as the country’s principal long-term planning instrument. Also in August 2023, an Advisory Council on Artificial Intelligence<\/strong> was established under the Ministry of Innovative Development<\/a> \u2014 the ministry responsible for science, innovation, and technology policy in Uzbekistan \u2014 with a mandate to support AI activities, develop individual projects, elaborate promising initiatives, and build international contacts for the ethical use of AI. Its dedicated platform at ai.edu.uz<\/a> publishes AI news, educational content, and government AI programme materials, functioning as the public face of the Council’s activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What these instruments do not yet incorporate \u2014 and what the GIRAI researcher identifies as the central gap \u2014 is transparency, accountability, ethical guidelines, and meaningful public and stakeholder engagement. The frameworks outline the creation of an AI ecosystem and the regulatory steps needed; they do not yet address the rights-protection layer that responsible AI governance requires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human Rights and AI: The Engagement Gap<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Digital Uzbekistan 2030<\/strong> strategy indicates a commitment to developing and regulating AI in line with governance standards \u2014 but without direct mentions of human rights protections or programme measures that specifically address them. No specific initiatives or guidelines addressing ethical considerations in AI applications were found during the research period, particularly none developed in collaboration with human rights organizations or ethical bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GIRAI researcher found no confirmed evidence of AI systems being used in ways that compromise people’s rights in Uzbekistan. General concerns exist \u2014 as they do globally \u2014 around mass surveillance, personal data use, and algorithmic accountability, particularly in contexts where democratic institutions and civil liberties protections are limited. The Freedom House Freedom in the World 2022 assessment<\/a> for Uzbekistan rates the country as Not Free, documenting continued restrictions on political opposition, press freedom, and civil society \u2014 the political environment within which questions about AI accountability and public engagement sit. Uzbekistan’s reform trajectory since 2016 has produced improvements in some areas, but the assessment describes a system where political pluralism remains constrained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A practical gap identified is data protection legislation: existing frameworks do not yet align with international standards for AI-processed personal data. The USAID Digital Ecosystem Country Assessment (DECA) for Uzbekistan<\/a> \u2014 a comprehensive 2022 survey covering the country’s digital infrastructure, telecommunications landscape, legal and regulatory environment, digital skills base, and technology ecosystem \u2014 provides the most detailed publicly available mapping of Uzbekistan’s digital readiness and the structural conditions within which AI governance is developing. The DECA identifies gaps in data protection legislation, limited cybersecurity capacity, and restricted civil society access to digital policy processes as recurring constraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

National AI Capacities: Pilots First, Infrastructure Second<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The 2021 decree’s Programme of Measures identified AI pilot projects for 2021\u20132022 with special attention to the financial sector, banking, tax administration, and e-government \u2014 domains where state control and digitalization ambitions converge most directly. These pilots represent the leading edge of Uzbekistan’s AI deployment, driven by government priorities rather than by market demand or civil society input.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The GIRAI researcher found low involvement of civil society organizations and academic institutions in AI policy dialogue and implementation. Their engagement is identified as crucial for fostering innovation, providing expert insight, and ensuring ethical development \u2014 but mechanisms to integrate these stakeholders into the national AI strategy were not yet in place during the research period. Private sector participation, similarly, was difficult to document: data on private sector AI activities was sparse, making it hard to assess the full extent of non-government engagement with the national AI agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uzbekistan is also one of the most energy and resource-intensive economies in the region \u2014 a context the World Bank’s November 2023 Country Climate and Development Report<\/a> frames directly. The report \u2014 the first such assessment for Uzbekistan, covering the intersection of climate risk and development planning \u2014 projects that rapid population and economic growth will drive significant emissions increases, placing strain on water resources, agricultural systems, and ecosystems. It rates Uzbekistan among the most carbon-intensive economies relative to GDP in the Europe and Central Asia region and identifies the energy sector transformation as the central climate challenge. AI’s role in addressing or exacerbating these pressures \u2014 through energy-intensive data infrastructure or, conversely, through climate monitoring and resource optimization \u2014 is not yet part of the country’s responsible AI conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the Profile Shows<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Uzbekistan in 2023 is a country building an AI ecosystem from the top down \u2014 presidential decrees, pilot projects in government-priority sectors, a new advisory council, and an ambitious 2030 development strategy. The governance architecture is moving, and the pace of institutional development is visible. What the GIRAI assessment captures is the space between that movement and a responsible AI framework: the accountability structures, the civil society integration, the rights-protection provisions, and the public engagement mechanisms that would give the ecosystem ethical content. Whether those elements arrive alongside the deployments or after them is what subsequent assessments will be able to measure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Based on the Uzbekistan country context and research findings submitted to the Global Index on Responsible AI (GIRAI) 1st Edition, 2023. Data source: global-index.ai<\/a>. Regional hub: IDFI (Georgia). Publication consent: Yes. This is an observational read by KG Labs as part of its Central Asia AI governance coverage.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Uzbekistan in the GIRAI 2023 Assessment: An Ecosystem Still Being Built Uzbekistan is Central Asia’s most populous country \u2014 approximately 36 million people \u2014 and one of the region’s most active reformers since 2016. When the Global Index on Responsible AI (GIRAI) 1st Edition assessed Uzbekistan in 2023, it found a country with presidential-level AI […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[246,375],"tags":[513,495,487,444,510,484,644,367,637,673,485,511,512,509],"class_list":["post-7790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ai-governance","category-policy-and-regulation","tag-advisory-council-on-ai","tag-ai-governance","tag-ai-policy","tag-central-asia","tag-digital-uzbekistan","tag-girai","tag-series-girai-2023","tag-it-park","tag-format-research","tag-op-research-evidence","tag-responsible-ai","tag-tashkent","tag-usaid-deca","tag-uzbekistan"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.2","language":"ru","enabled_languages":["en","ru"],"languages":{"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"ru":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kglabs.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kglabs.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kglabs.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kglabs.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kglabs.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7790"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kglabs.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7837,"href":"https:\/\/kglabs.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7790\/revisions\/7837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kglabs.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kglabs.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kglabs.org\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}