Uzbek President demands to turn Uzbekistan into regional IT hub

Shavkat Mirziyoyev instructed to turn Uzbekistan into a regional IT center, to bring the volume of exports in the industry to $100 million by the end of the year and transform the Tashkent University of Information and Technology into a scientific and educational cluster

However, there are many problems to solve first. In particular, the level of fibre-optic Internet coverage and Internet speed in the regions remain unsatisfactory. Only 38 percent of motorways have mobile internet coverage. The state of development of the industry is uneven across regions - 90 percent of IT services are in Tashkent. The situation in Karakalpakstan, Andijan and Surkhandarya is especially difficult.

The meeting noted a number of other shortcomings and emphasized the need to accelerate digitalization in all sectors and regions.

The new Development Strategy set the goal of increasing the volume of IT services by 2.5 times and exporting the industry to $500 million.

It was instructed to constantly expand the range of services, to bring the volume of exports in the industry to $100 million by the end of this year. The task was set to attract more companies to IT parks and organize remote service centers. Thanks to this, more than 5,000 young people will get highly paid jobs.

The meeting also analyzed the implementation of projects under the Digital Uzbekistan 2030 program. By the end of this year, 404 regional and 133 sectoral projects will be launched.

The Ministry for the Development of Information Technologies and Communications was instructed to integrate another 70 services into the Single Portal of Interactive Public Services. Thus, the total number of services on the portal will be 376.

Mobile applications will also be created for another 50 services, such as registration of a pension, obtaining personal certificates, and insurance. This will increase the number of online users of public services to 4 million.

The issues of expansion of telecommunication networks were also considered. In particular, this year it is planned to install 6.8 thousand new mobile stations, connect 80 remote villages to networks, increase fiber optic coverage to 80 percent, and provide 60 percent of roads with mobile Internet. A Large Data Storage and Processing Center will be launched in the Tashkent region.

The issue of strengthening cybersecurity was also touched upon. The task was set to critically study the information systems of all ministries and departments and take the necessary measures.

More than 11 thousand young people work in IT parks. The youth trained by the One Million Programmers project are laying a solid foundation for the future of the industry.