Welcome to the United Nations
Introduction
When Kazakhstan first began its digital government journey two decades ago, our ambition was clear: to make the lives of our citizens better, fairer, and more inclusive. At the time, the task seemed enormous. We were building not only new systems, but new institutions, new skills, and new expectations for what government could be. Our citizens were accustomed to queues, paperwork, and uncertainty. Today, many of those same citizens manage their interactions with government from a mobile phone, receive benefits proactively without asking, and see transparency as a natural expectation. Kazakhstan’s digital government journey has been a story of steady evolution. By late 2023, the country had established solid foundations: online services were reaching millions, data platforms were operational, and new ideas such as artificial intelligence were moving from vision into strategy. Since 2024, these foundations have been significantly strengthened through new infrastructure, sovereign platforms, and large-scale adoption of proactive and AI-enabled services.
The Kazakhstan story is not unique in its ambition – many nations pursue digital transformation. But it is unique in the scale of the challenges we face as a vast country, in our determination to combine sovereignty with global integration, and in our commitment to the UN principle of “leaving no one behind.” This story is about the foundations we built, the platforms we created, the services we transformed, the data we harnessed, the AI we deployed, and most importantly, the people we empowered.
Infrastructure and Connectivity
Digital transformation begins with invisible things: data centers, fiber optic cables, servers, and base stations. These may not make headlines, but they make everything else possible. By late 2023, Kazakhstan had already secured a strong base of data centers and network coverage to support digital services. These facilities provided reliability for core systems, while the expansion of 3G and 4G networks laid the groundwork for nationwide access.
In 2025, Kazakhstan launched a new Tier III data center, meeting Uptime Institute standards and offering 99.982% reliability. That number is not abstract – it means that the systems that power pensions, health records, and licenses will be there 24/7, without interruption. For a citizen, it means confidence that when they log in to eGov Mobile at midnight or in the middle of a crisis, the service will work.
Connectivity has been equally transformative. Kazakhstan is the ninth largest country in the world, with vast rural areas and long distances between communities. Kazakhstan counts 6,298 settlements, including 119 towns (29 small towns) and 6,179 rural settlements.
As of today:
• 2,724 rural settlements are covered by 3G,
• 2,182 rural settlements by 4G,
• 1,902 have fixed internet through ADSL, and
• 2,654 are connected by fiber-optic systems.
In parallel, operators have been tasked with completing nationwide 5G deployment by the end of 2025. Over 2,500 5G base stations were deployed across major cities, and the national 'Affordable Internet' project was initiated to connect thousands of rural settlements. To reach even the most remote areas, a pilot use of Starlink has been launched, ensuring that no community is left without digital access. By 2025, what was an emerging foundation in 2023 has grown into a resilient and inclusive backbone, guaranteeing that government services are always available and accessible everywhere.
This infrastructure investment is about more than capacity. It is about trust. Citizens trust government services when they are reliable, fast, and accessible everywhere. Businesses invest and innovate when they know the backbone is strong. And governments themselves can experiment and take risks when they are confident that the systems will not fail. Infrastructure is the silent guarantor of inclusion.
Platforms: From Tools to Ecosystems
By the end of 2023, Kazakhstan’s platform approach was taking shape: Smart Bridge had enabled hundreds of integrations, and early steps toward standardized development were underway. These achievements set the stage for the next leap. Since 2024, Smart Bridge has scaled to more than 5,000 integrations, processing billions of requests. Today it enables banks, telecoms, and private companies to connect seamlessly with government databases. For citizens, this is invisible – but they feel it when they can re-register a car in ten minutes instead of spending a day at a service center. For businesses, it means new services can be launched faster and cheaper within their own platforms which is also convenient for citizens. For government, it means collaboration rather than silos.
For government IT systems in 2025 we launched QazTech platform introducing unified standards for secure, scalable system development. QazTech provides pre-configured stacks, DevOps pipelines, monitoring, security, and identity management. This means developers no longer start from scratch – they start from a standard. This ensures interoperability and accelerates innovation.
Perhaps most importantly, Kazakhstan is building the National AI Platform, which ensures that sovereign AI development takes place within the country’s secure government network. This gives citizens confidence that their data remains in Kazakhstan and is used responsibly. It also provides developers with a sandbox for innovation – training, testing, and deploying AI models that speak Kazakh and Russian and understand local context. The full industrial deployment of the National AI Platform is scheduled for Q4 2025, offering broad access to two critical resources that have traditionally been obstacles for AI developers – high-quality data and sufficient computational power. By making both available within a secure national environment, Kazakhstan is creating the conditions for sovereign, scalable AI innovation.
On-line Services: Government in Your Pocket
By the end of 2023, the eGov portal was already offering over 1,200 services to 15 million registered users, with more than 500 million services delivered. To make access more convenient, we had also developed eGov Mobile – available for free on all major smartphone platforms. These achievements laid a strong foundation for the next stage of transformation.
In 2024, a new version of eGov Mobile was launched, bringing AI-powered search, a virtual assistant, simplified navigation, stronger security, and instant digital IDs. Citizens could now apply for a replacement ID, complete biometric verification, pay fees, and track the process — all without leaving the app. With over 5 million monthly active users, eGov Mobile became part of everyday life for millions of Kazakhstanis.
In 2025, we went further by introducing eGov Business – a one-stop shop for entrepreneurs. Already serving 72,000 users with millions of services delivered, it allows businesses to register a company, apply for subsidies, check compliance risks, and manage data through a personal dashboard. By integrating key government databases, eGov Business makes entrepreneurship easier, safer, and more transparent. It sends a clear signal to the private sector: government is not a barrier, but a partner.
By 2025, what was convenience in 2023 has evolved into a proactive, inclusive, and business-friendly digital government – for both citizens and businesses alike.
Big Data: From Foundations to Governance
By late 2022, Kazakhstan’s Smart Data Ukimet platform had already demonstrated its potential: 77 government systems were connected, 27 analytical use cases were live, and a few dozens of civil servants were using the system. These early results showed that data could become the engine of better governance.
Since 2024, the platform has expanded rapidly. By mid-2025, it connects 124 systems, supports 80 analytical cases, and serves 8,588 officials across ministries and agencies. The shift has not only been quantitative but cultural: data-driven decision-making is no longer an experiment but part of everyday governance.
The Digital Family Card, one of use cases of Smart Data Ukimet, is where data meets people. Launched in 2022 in partnership with UNDP and the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, it analyzes more than 100 socio-economic indicators for every household. By 2025, it has delivered over 4.5 million proactive services, automatically identifying families in need and providing support without applications. More than 52,000 citizens have improved their well-being as a result, and local governments are now evaluating how effectively they use this data to reduce poverty.
For a mother in a rural village, this means she does not need to know which form to fill out or which office to visit – she simply receives SMS or push notification once eligible, giving only her consent to process personal data. For a family on a housing waiting list, analytics ensure fairness by detecting irregularities and removing 90,000 ineligible entries. For courts, it means faster and fair jury selection, increasing efficiency sixfold.
This is how big data makes government proactive, inclusive, and transparent – and how Kazakhstan leverages it to realize the United Nations principle of “leaving no one behind.”
AI: From Vision to Daily Practice
By late 2023, artificial intelligence in Kazakhstan was moving from concept to strategy, with the country’s AI Development Concept under preparation.
Since 2024, this vision has been translated into action. In 2025, Kazakhstan launched its first national supercomputer with 2 EFlops capacity and 512 NVIDIA H200 GPUs. This infrastructure now powers KazLLM and AlemLLM – sovereign large language models that operate securely in Kazakh and Russian. More than 10 AI agents have already been piloted in government operations, including eGov AI, e-Otinish AI, QQazaq Law, Tax Helper, and AI Therapist – agents that are becoming real services supporting citizens, officials, and even doctors.
The supercomputer also provides the required processing power for the National AI Platform, closing one of the critical gaps for its full industrial deployment, scheduled for the end of this year.
Human Capital: People at the Center
All of this depends on people. Kazakhstan invests heavily in human capital. Digital literacy programs have reached millions of citizens. Since early 2025, more than 2,500 civil servants completed training in AI, and six agencies created their own AI bots. This ensures that transformation is not only technological but also institutional.
For the next generation, the AI-Sana program is a flagship. Developed with experts from Stanford, Imperial College, King’s College, and the Royal Academy of Engineering, it aims to train 100,000 students in AI. It combines education, research, and entrepreneurship. It transforms universities from teaching institutions to research-driven innovation hubs. And it prepares young Kazakhstani students to launch DeepTech startups that drive our economy forward.
By 2029, the Alem.AI initiative aims to raise AI exports to $5 billion, attract 10,000 talents, launch 100 startups, and conduct 10 world-class research projects. Astana will become a regional hub for knowledge and innovation in Central Asia. Beyond economic impact, this is social – it creates jobs, inspires youth, and ensures Kazakhstan is part of the global AI conversation.
Conclusion: Sharing Our Experience
Kazakhstan’s digital story is about persistence and inclusion. From early databases to sovereign AI platforms, we have built systems that are invisible in process but visible in impact. Services are faster, fairer, and increasingly proactive. Data empowers decision-making, and AI now assists both citizens and officials. This is our contribution to the global digital community.
We share this journey with the United Nations not only to report achievements, but to invite collaboration. In 2024, at the bilateral level, Kazakhstan supported Tajikistan in strengthening its digital government systems, transferring both technical expertise and policy know-how. In 2025, at the multilateral level, Kazakhstan began contributing to global initiatives such as GovStack under the United Nations and ITU, helping to shape digital public goods that can be reused across countries.
The challenges of digital government are common to all nations – and so must be the solutions. Kazakhstan is ready to share, learn, and partner to ensure that no one, anywhere, is left behind.
By H.E. Zhaslan Madiyev, Minister of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan