Tokayev takes part in Int’l Technology Forum Digital Bridge
During the forum, the Kazakh President was presented the Alley of Startups and talked about the current activity of IT ecosystems of Astana Hub. Then the President chaired the meeting of the Commission on Digitalization Issues.
Having heard the participants of the meeting, the Head of State delivered his speech, noting that the practical and applied digitalization is the country’s strategic task and state priority.
Tokaeyv stated the importance of focusing on a number of priority tasks, especially continued upgrading of the content of public services.
«The task is not just to convert services from offline to online. «Digit» should reduce the number of public services and related requests, responds, and approvals. Public services should be complex and proactive. Digital transformation of government bodies should be considered as a tool to fight bureaucracy, corruption, and non-efficiency,» he said.
The President lambasted the productiveness of the work of the vice ministers responsible for digitalization. According to him, their main task should be the implementation of digital reforms and transformations not the current bureaucratical work. In that context, the President ordered to develop precise KPIs for each digital vice minister by the end of the year as well as instructed the PM to review the approaches to their activity and assess the staff composition.
In addition, according to Tokayev’s opinion, national «digital leap» is not possible without the participation of business communities, and that the competitiveness of companies is determined by their level of digitalization.
«According to Siemens estimates, 80% of the domestic industrial enterprises have a quite low level of automatization – at the Industry 2.0 level. I mention that we’re living in the era of Industry 4.0. It is a complex challenge the precise and clear respond to which should be formed in terms of both conceptual and practical points of view. It is necessary to expand effective instruments of support for digital solutions, primarily in the manufacturing sector,» he said.
The President also touched upon the competitiveness of the domestic IT industry. According to him, the entire domestic IT sphere is focused on the internal market – mostly to meet the needs of the State and quasi-State sectors.
The Head of State once again expressed his discontent with the quality of the Internet and communications in the country.
In his speech, Tokayev called the protection of personal data as an important task.
«It is important to understand that the formation of digital infrastructure implies responsibility for its security, that is, quality legal and physical protection of personal data. It relates not only the State systems, but also digital ecosystems closely integrated with the State. The Government needs to develop a package of legislative changes to toughen liability for loss or steeling of personal data of citizens,» concluded the President.
