The international forum will be traditionally held with the participation of the President of Kazakhstan Kasym-Jomart Tokayev, leaders of global companies, the best international and domestic experts in the sphere of IT innovations, and venture capitalists from all over the region. It is expected that Digital Bridge 2023 will unite 20 000+ participants, 300+ IT-companies, 100+ investors and business angels, 250+ speakers and 100+ startups from 15+ countries of the world.

On the eve of this forum a press conference was held in the "Central Communications Service" under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The speakers at the press conference were Ersultan Ermanov, Director of the Department of Information Technology Development of the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Alina Abdrakhmanova, Managing Director of Astana Hub.

Ersultan Yermanov noted that Digital Bridge provides unique opportunities for the development of cooperation in the field of innovation and technology.

"Participants of this event will have the opportunity to create international partnerships, exchange experience and knowledge, and present their innovative projects in front of potential investors and financial institutions. This large-scale gathering also provides an opportunity to raise awareness of the latest technological trends and developments in the industry. One of the objectives of the forum is to expand the scope of business cooperation and establish valuable business partnerships," he said.

Earlier in one of the speeches, Baghdat Musin, Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industries, said that artificial intelligence plays an important role in modern society, and therefore Digital Bridge - 2023 will be a great platform to discuss how to find a balance between technology and human potential.

"Artificial Intelligence plays an important role in today's society, and Digital Bridge 2023 will be a great platform to discuss how to find the right balance between technology and human potential. This forum will provide a unique opportunity for professionals and industry experts to meet and share their knowledge to jointly create a future where artificial intelligence serves humanity. Kazakhstan has a high potential for innovative growth in this area. The country is creating conditions for the concentration of scientists and young talents. There are many AI products created by our citizens in different spheres, which have already attracted the attention of the world community and this is something we can be proud of. Artificial intelligence has a huge potential in the development of the economy, industry, science and technology," said Bagdat Musin, Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The two-day program of the forum includes large-scale events such as a plenary session with the Head of State and one-to-one meetings with him, 30+ panel sessions with international speakers, signing of agreements, and events from Google for Startups. The forum will also host the Digital Bridge Awards, an international award that recognizes the best startups, innovative projects and entrepreneurs. The forum will also feature Startup Alley, where 100 Kazakhstani and foreign technology startups will showcase their innovative solutions.

"One of the unique events will be the filming of a reality show about startups called Meet the Drapers. This year for the first time they are looking for startups from Central Eurasia and four of them will present their ideas to Tim Draper, a venture capital investor, for a chance to win an investment of 1 million dollars. Also, the forum will include the Google for Startups Partner Summit, which will bring together participants from 15 countries. I would like to remind you that Kazakhstan is the first and only country in Central Asia, where the gas pedal works together with Google for Startups. The result of this cooperation is Silkway Accelerator, through which 37 startups with a combined valuation of $400 million have passed," said Alina Abdrakhmanova, Managing Director of Astana Hub.

An exciting event of the forum, which has been attracting special attention of the IT-community and arousing interest of the general public for five years in a row, is Astana Hub Battle - the largest battle of the best IT-startups. The winners will be awarded in three categories - Best Social Impact, The Most Innovative, Exponential Growth. And the prize fund will increase up to $125k, of which $25k will be allocated for each nomination.

Astana Hub Battle is aimed at finding new participants in the ecosystem, popularization of domestic startup culture and development of technological entrepreneurship. To participate in the battle, startups must have a scalable project at the MVP or PMF stage. Startups Kwaaka, NBfit, UvU, Parqour, EasyTap, Kid Security have already won the competition earlier.

After a preliminary screening, the 100 most competitive projects that have passed the selection process will be allowed to speak in front of the jury. They will have the opportunity to make a one-minute presentation on the first day of the forum in the semi-finals. The jury will select 10 startups that will compete for the title of the best in the finals to be held on the second day of the forum. 

The headliners of the forum - world famous personalities from the IT world will be announced closer to the beginning of the forum, but the organizers promise to surprise this year. In addition, there will traditionally be a number of exhibitions - corporations, robotics, IT-schools, VC, regional IT-hubs and a job fair from large IT-companies.

The Digital Bridge International IT Forum has been held annually in Astana since 2018. The organizers of Digital Bridge are the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana City Akimat and Astana Hub International Technopark.