"Atameken" gathered four vice-ministers and IT-developers at one site

Today, the Astana-Hub platform gathered about 250 representatives of IT companies for an open dialogue with the state. Vice-ministers met with Kazakhstani start-upers and experienced developers for further cooperation in the territory of the Digital arena. The organizers of the event were NCE RK "Atameken" and "National Information Technologies" JSC.

"This site is the Digital arena. We decided to move away from the boring formats of the dialogue platform in favor of informal communication. For Kazakhstani developers it is important to know what automation plans are built by authorized state bodies. To this end, we invited four "digital" vice-ministers, they came from the IT market and they will tell how they plan to digitize their spheres in an understandable language, because IT companies have to realize these tasks. In a month we will hold another meeting where the IT market will tell the state bodies how they can implement their plans, this will be the second stage of the negotiations," - Olzhas Ordabayev, Managing Director and Director of Human Capital Development Department of the NCE RK, explained.​​​​​​​

"I hope that we will find points of contact between the state and business. The chosen format is useful, interesting and promising. I am sure that we will have many interesting discussions," - Aset Turysov, chairman of the board of National Information Technologies JSC, welcomed the meeting participants.​​​​​​​

The Chairman of the IT-council of the Atameken Mirus Kurmashev said that during the organization of the event, they had only one thought: no plenary sessions and meetings.

"I was once invited to the program to discuss important issues with state bodies. I came, and there was a leaflet with the question and the answer written. And I tried to expand the topic, but the guests still tend to their side. I do not understand why to come with an approved text and a question. Therefore, "Atameken" decided to organize an event where the government will first speak, and then we will discuss. We wanted a person to come and tell us how he sees the digitalization process in the ministry system. What is most interesting, the Ministries today want to withdraw the self-employed and wonder how to digitize this process. It's great that we gathered in such an informal atmosphere,"- Mirus Kurmashev shared his opinion.​​​​​​​

In an informal atmosphere, the first to talk was the vice minister of labor and social protection of the people of Kazakhstan, Nariman Mukushev. The speaker noted that the ministry is ready to discuss the issues, to seek solutions. He noted that it is possible to implement projects with IT developers more quickly.

"I came to the ministry three months ago, - Nariman Mukushev shared. - And looked at the system as a simple consumer. When you get to the ministry, you begin to study and understand that in fact many things are being done by the state. And here past views collide with the present and interesting solutions come".​​​​​​​

The speaker proposed several projects for digitalization: electronic labor exchange, private employment agencies, and virtual consultation. According to Mukushev, the ministry has not reached the creation of innovative solutions for self-service yet, namely the creation of a virtual consultant and self-service stalls. 

"Artificial intelligence is where we unequivocally came, without which we can no longer think, make decisions. 18 million citizens, 60 terabytes of data, plus the ministry has active projects, which we implement in data analytics. It is very important to run them, so this will give us a real effect, - Nariman Mukushev said. - We are waiting for your suggestions and interesting solutions. The main thing is that we do not have a certain framework, and we are ready to discuss it. I always tell everyone, do not be afraid to turn off an uninteresting film. Also in any project, you do not need to be afraid to stop it, nuances always exist. For me it is valuable if we get together in six months, and I will be able to say that two projects have already been launched."​​​​​​​

Mirus Kurmashev supported the idea of artificial intelligence, calling it bold.

"Of course, I know that the "Internet trolls" will start "trolling" asking "Where is your artificial intelligence?" Digitalization itself can develop rapidly provided that there are people who are developing in the industry and resources are an important factor. Is it necessary for the country? The country needs this, it is important for everyone that we have met like this and the state offers its ideas openly," - the chairman of IT-council of "Atameken" supported.​​​​​​​

Many people in the hall responded the request of Mirus Kurmashev to raise the hand of those who can develop at least one of the projects, many people responded. Moreover, at the Digital Arena site, Vice Minister of Healthcare Olzhas Abishev got acquainted with the sponsor who is ready to provide funds for the implementation of an interesting project.

"We decided to follow a new path," - Olzhas Abishev addressed the IT business. - We collected 22 services, which are ready to be given to business and to exclude completely contact with state bodies. This is possible thanks to the Zerde holding company. The Ministry is ready to write general requirements for the service and give it to the market".​​​​​​​

He specified that there are 18 projects in health care, a large number of foreign companies come asking for billion amounts, but do not offer anything that domestic companies would not be able to cope with.

"Our goal is to make services convenient. We do not see the patient before he comes to us, - Olzhas Abishev cited as an example. - But we do not know how he felt before that." Therefore, it would be great if you connect your resources, create electronic cards, a personal cabinet where the patient could record the pressure, the blood sugar level on a daily basis. The field of activity is huge, when I was at university, my professor said if you can not think up anything clever, take two or three ideas, combine them and get a new one".​​​​​​​ 

To help specialists, the ministry will provide the necessary data, test servers, so that programmers can test their inventions. "Reminders" are important in the field of medicine.

"It must be recalled that a person should take medicine or not forget about a diet," - Olzhas Abishev specified.​​​​​​​

Also in his speech, the Vice Minister of Health emphasized the cost and shortage of equipment. Today in Kazakhstan there are 6 universities, where doctors are trained. Olzhas Abishev suggested developers to make equipment for teaching and further training, in particular a heart massager for training a lung massage and a hydrogen pillow with for training first aid skills.

In Kazakhstan, there are 10 thousand kindergartens, more than 7 thousand schools and 1 thousand institutions of VET. Each of these organizations has its own means of organization, for example, an electronic diary, Vice Minister of Education and Science Rustem Bigari explained.

"Inside each school there are a large number of processes that are necessary for me, as an authorized person in the field of education, and important for planning of knowledge what schools we need. I have a proposal to automate the system in each school of 12 thousand. For example, if a teacher moves to work to another school, I want to see it through the system," - Rustem Bigari suggested.​​​​​​​

"We are working on problems and rely on the British experience. There are several problems faced by the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The first is the processes of information systems planning. There are such system things that the developer needs to plan. We looked at the development of the government's strategy in the UK, where the basic goals of digitalization are clearly spelled out. At the moment, we are working on simplifying procedures. Also our priority is the implementation of projects and systems for the implementation of the micro-service architecture. In particular, the system of public procurement," - the vice minister of the Ministry of Finance of the RK Ruslan Yensebayev highlighted.​​​​​​​

Currently, the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Kazakhstan is actively working on the creation of online and interactive sites, applications for the convenience of the population. There is a problem of relevance and data, for example, on land plots. The ministry urged start-upers to simplify the process of updating data for citizens through the corresponding services.

After the speech of the vice ministers, guests and developers offered their ideas, asked questions about transparency and data security for an hour.

"Atameken" together with "National Information Technologies" JSC and "National Infocommunication Holding "Zerde" JSC forms a new pool of issues that will unite developers and state bodies at the Digital arena.