“Uzbekistan is an ideal place for digital development”: feedback from Digital Leadership Forum participants on the state’s IT potential

From July 7 to 9, Tashkent welcomed the Digital Leadership Forum for the first time. This significant event brought together leading experts and industry representatives interested in the development of BPO and IT outsourcing. The forum has become an important platform for leaders seeking to succeed in the digital age.

Forum participants, renowned experts and leading industry representatives actively engaged in knowledge and experience exchange for several days, moving forward unique ideas and strategies for successful development in IT.

During the forum, representatives of IT Park hosted meetings with representatives of such companies and organizations as Karim Seoudy- Director of M&A and Investment Relations at Raya CX, Sean McEllin - Regional Director of IDA Ireland and partner of Saviday, representatives of ENRICH Oguz Bahadir and Bunyamin Sarach, Stephen Loynd - Founder and principal at TrendzOwl, Victor Pereda - CEO at Nearsol, Jeff Pappas - Senior Managing Director at Newmark, Paige Webster - Owner of Webster Global Site Selectors Phoenix, Michael Zdanowski - Advisor for Energy, Industry, Strategy and Communications at Venture Consulting

Giorgi Tsurtsumia - CEO and co-founder at PAYZE.io, Robert Franz - Professor at Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences, Ruslan Rakymbaev - Investment Director at Quest Ventures.

Experts shared their impressions about the forum on social media.

Simon Criss, Director of Innovation at CX Innovation Institute, shared not only feedback on the development of Uzbekistan's ICT potential, but also named eight reasons why it is worth investing in the country.

The expert named 8 reasons why Uzbekistan is ready to become a popular destination:

1) The country is essentially just over 30 years old and thus has had to completely reshape itself into a digital first economy along the lines of Estonia and neighbour Kazakstan

2) This rebirth of a nation has lead to a constitution built on freedom of liberties, freedom of religion, rule of law, auditable banking systems and so much more you would expect of a modern economy

3) 70% of the 36 million population are under 30 years of age, creating a unique digitally-savvy huge labour pool that are keen to work hard and progress

4) Multi-lingual is a way of life for Uzbeks many speaking Turkish, Russian and English and well as German and other languages (the english I heard in contact centres was absolutely fine)

5) The natural hospitality and friendliness of Uzbeks, even those in the markets and bazzars, shines through and creates an inherent customer service ethos that is plain to see

6) The attraction incentives announced rival those being offered by other popular offshore locations - and some are powerfully unique

7) The ability to balance outstanding respect for the history and past accomplishments of this nation, with the desire for breakneck speed into the digital economy is managed with admirable talent

8) The capital of Tashkent is a joy to visit and is one of the greenest (parks and trees) cities I have been to, rivalling Copenhagen, Vancouver and even my home town of Melbourne”

Simon Kriss also thanked the IT Park team for their effort, vision and leadership, and expressed admiration towards the event’s host, principal of IT Park University, Bohodir Ayupov.

Loren Moss, publisher, analyst and advisor at Unido Digital Publisher also expressed his thoughts on Uzbekistan. He noted that many are guided only by words, while Uzbekistan is really taking steps towards achieving its goals, this deserves recognition and more attention. He praised the progress made by the country over the past few years, and also noted its huge potential.

Leon Kuhlmann, Management Consultant, Director of Transformation at CORE SE, expressed his gratitude to the Minister of Digital Technologies Sherzod Shermatov for the invitation to participate in this event and the opportunity to present the experience of EPAM in Uzbekistan, as well as the experience of using cloud technologies in the e-government sector.

He also expressed special gratitude to IT Park Uzbekistan for the warm welcome, calling the forum a world-class event.

The expert identified three important aspects that deserve attention:

1.    Neutrality: Uzbekistan is in the middle of central Asia (similar to Switzerland in Europe); Russia in the north, China & India in the east, EU & US in the west and UAE, Qatar & Saudi Arabia in the south. Managing neutrality for technologies in the private sector and politically in public sectors will be a success factor for continued growth and remaining openness.

2.    Technology: the state of Uzbekistan is reforming every sector to drive digitalization. This will result in a massive increase in data, which needs to be stored and processed, which inadvertently leads to using #cloudservices on a broader scale. Leveraging these services for all sectors successfully will be paramount.

3.    Regulation: Additionally, finding the right regulatory approach for topics like cyber security, data protection or payments to meet the unique growth requirements of Uzbekistan will be another success driver.”

Sean McEllin, Regional Director of IDA Ireland for Middle East and partner at Saviday, also expressed his gratitude to Minister Sherzod Shermatov and IT Park Uzbekistan for inviting me to the first Digital Leadership Forum and for the opportunity to participate in it. He emphasized that the event opened up new prospects for investors in Uzbekistan and impressed with the investment platform provided by IT Park.

Victor Pereda, CEO at NearSol was impressed by the rapid development of the digital industry in the region, especially outsourced contact centers. He noted the warmth of the people, the sprawling infrastructure and innovative government-backed projects.

Michael Zdanowski, Advisor for strategy and communications at Ventures consulting, strategic partner of Ryan Strategic advisory emphasized that Uzbekistan's digital youth have the advantage of being multilingual, which can benefit the global economy. He expressed hope for achieving new victories and praised local companies for their hard work for foreign clients.

Paige Webster, a spokesperson and consultant at Webster Global Site Selectors, a company that specializes in selecting the best locations for websites, noted the country's opportunities and hospitality. 

Giorgi Tsurtsumia is the CEO and co-founder of PAYZE.io:  

Abdullah Sulaiman Al Hammadi, former Minister of Justice of the UAE, emphasized that digital transformation is not only about the use of new tools, but also includes the formation of a culture of innovation and a high level of adaptability. 

Robert Franz, professor at the Brandenburg University of Applied Sciences: 

Karim Seoudy, Director of Investment and Investor Relations at BPO Raya CX admitted the possibility of Uzbekistan becoming a technology center in Central Asia. The expert arrived at the forum together with the head of the company - Ahmed Abulez, CEO and member of the Board of Directors of Raya CX. 

Stephen Loynd, founder and head of TrenzOwl, shared his impressions, listed the strengths of Uzbekistan and emphasized that the connections that were built during the forum should become long-term and promising.

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Other speakers from across the world passed on their comments on Uzbekistan’s development and significance of the Digital Leadership Forum as well, expressing admiration for the region’s aims and goals. They also noted the tremendous potential for presenting Uzbekistan as a new outsourcing center.