Ministry of Investment, Industry and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan

On the third day of the Tashkent International Investment Forum, organized in coordination with the Ministry of Investments, Industry, and Trade of the Republic of Uzbekistan, a panel session titled “IT Sector and AI: Empowering Youth to Drive Innovation and Develop World-Class Solutions” took place. The participants discussed the prospects for effectively involving youth in the development of the IT sector, stimulating innovative activity, and creating high-quality products that meet international standards.

The session was moderated by Vladimir Norov, Chairman of the Central Asian Association of Artificial Intelligence and former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan. He highlighted the challenges currently facing the industry: regional digital inequality, a shortage of digital skills, and limited access to the global innovation ecosystem. He added that the aim of this session is to address these challenges by bringing together perspectives from government representatives, global technology companies, the financial sector, and leaders in infrastructure solutions.

Oleg Pekos, First Deputy Minister of Digital Technologies, shared that the global goal by 2030 is to enter the top 30 countries worldwide in the e-government ranking.

“Our consistent policy is that government services should be convenient and accessible. We are now integrating all government services into a user-friendly environment. I would like to add that in just the last five months of this year, over 15 million services have been provided through the unified government services portal,” emphasized Oleg Pekos.

The First Deputy Minister also stressed that artificial intelligence should benefit the citizens of Uzbekistan. According to him, this is the primary goal of the state strategy.

Abbas Paryavi, Senior Expert on Digital Infrastructure at IDCA, noted, “Regulatory frameworks are key to building a sustainable digital economy. The absence of such frameworks creates an atmosphere of unpredictability and chaos, which negatively affects business and investment. At the same time, each country needs to classify data by sensitivity and national priority while maintaining openness to remain attractive to the outside world and develop as a regional digital hub.”

During the discussion, strategies for transforming Uzbekistan into a regional leader in digital innovation through the integration of AI with advanced technologies, the development of international cooperation, and attracting investments were presented.

Simon Milner, Vice President for Public Policy at Meta, outlined four approaches to addressing ethical issues in AI development, especially regarding model training and AI perception among users:

• Transparency: “We strive to ensure maximum transparency about our AI products - explaining how they work and helping users understand when they are interacting with AI-generated content.”
• Open Source: “We have published over 1,000 open-source products. We believe that an open approach enhances accountability, improves model quality, and stimulates innovation.”
• Fairness: “We have invested significant resources in initiatives aimed at ensuring fairness in AI, such as a computer vision fairness evaluation system that addresses gender, race, and skin tone disparities in model performance.”
• AI for Social Good: “We are also developing AI tools for social purposes - such as population density maps and relative wealth indexes. These tools have already helped implement global programs, including vaccination campaigns and sanitation projects.”

Sergey Chekalkin, Head of the Client Relations Department at TBC Bank Uzbekistan, talked about the SpeechTech project, one of the largest in the region. The bank invested over $10 million to overcome the shortage of training data for the Uzbek language. He also noted that the results were already tangible. “The language model now handles over 50% of calls for payment reminders, significantly improving efficiency. In sales, the AI-based Telegram bot showed a 30% better conversion rate compared to other digital channels, while simultaneously reducing customer acquisition costs.”

Furthermore, Uzbekistan is a country with a young, talented, and technologically literate population. “TBC actively invests in the local team and supports its development. We are engaged in the local tech community, organize events, participate in the IT ecosystem, and work closely with educational institutions to train future specialists. Our goal is to form a sustainable talent pool of future technology leaders in the region,” emphasized Sergey Chekalkin.

Anil Vijayachandran, Deputy Chief Developer at DataVolt, shared that the company is building the first 12-megawatt data center in the region, which will be entirely powered by green energy. “Our task is to provide Uzbekistan with scalable computing power, enabling the country to become a leading player in the AI market and build a strong ecosystem - for both foreign investors and local startups,” added Anil Vijayachandran.

Participants also exchanged views on the role of the IT sector in preparing young professionals for the digital future, as well as the opportunities and challenges related to implementing innovative AI-based solutions.

Kevin Khanda, Chief Technology Officer at Uzum, shared that the company invests in education. “We have our own IT academy, Uzum, which has already trained more than 900 people. We support IT universities, organize events, and actively share international experiences. In addition to IT, we implement the Uzum Ustoz program, which helps young talents develop in business, marketing, and management,” added Kevin Khanda.

The panel session marked a significant step towards the digital development of Uzbekistan's economy, equipping young people with modern competencies, and the practical implementation of artificial intelligence technologies. The country's ambitions to create technological solutions that meet international standards were also highlighted.