In his annual address to the nation, President of Kazakhstan Qasym-Jomart Toqaev raised the issue of building a digital economy and the role of digital technologies in citizens' lives, the website infohub.kz reports.
According to the head of state, work on commercializing artificial intelligence, tokenizing assets, developing blockchain technologies and digital platform ecosystems has, in essence, only just begun. Still ahead is the drafting of a program for the practical use of digitalization in the economy.
The President noted that millions of Kazakhstanis use marketplaces, food delivery and taxi services and many other services every day, including banking services, where Kazakhstan has, it must be admitted, outpaced many seemingly advanced countries. But, he stressed, there is a need to move forward.
"We have everything we need to give a powerful boost to the development of a truly highly productive digital economy," Toqaev said.
He pointed out that the country's young people are educated and creative, that affordable internet is available in the country and that a developed digital infrastructure has been created. Today any citizen can open a bank account, arrange an installment plan or buy goods without leaving home in just a few minutes.
At the next stage of digitalization, according to the head of state, it is necessary to move from providing access to services to expanding personal opportunities. The paradigm needs to change and the tasks facing the country need to be viewed from a different angle.
"Our goal is to build a truly people's digital economy," the President said.
In the public consciousness, the internet should be seen not only as a space for consumption and entertainment, but also as a virtual territory for creation and work. For citizens, smartphones can and should become not so much a leisure device – an expensive toy that kills time – as an effective working tool.
In this connection, the Government will establish a simplified legal regime for digital employment by the end of the year.