The role of startups in elevating national culture and language: technology and innovation

Innovative projects are actively being developed in Kazakhstan to promote national culture and advance Kazakh language.


Startups, the residents of the Astana Hub international technology park, use various tools ranging from educational platforms and mobile applications to multimedia projects based on national traditions and fairy tales, as well as the implementation of AI-based technologies to expand the use of the Kazakh language.

“Startups that elevate Kazakh culture and traditions play a key role in preserving and popularizing the national heritage. By blending innovative approaches with our rich history and culture, these startups not only revive historical and cultural values but also showcase them to the world, highlighting the wealth and uniqueness of the Kazakh people. For instance, the Speech Lab service stands as the first model in the CIS to recognize both pure Kazakh and mixed Kazakh-Russian speech. The Sifro company specializes in crafting top-notch CGI films and cartoons rooted in Kazakh history, leveraging cutting-edge technologies in the process of creating 2D and 3D animation. Additionally, startups like Qonzhyq App and Sazalem are pivotal in providing users with free access to Kazakh music and folklore, further contributing to the cultural narrative and appreciation of our traditions,” said Daniya Akhmetova, Managing Director of Astana Hub.

The Sazalem mobile application successfully integrates a diverse selection of Kazakh music, encompassing both contemporary and classical pieces. Since its launch, the app has garnered widespread attention, amassing over a million downloads. Currently, it provides users access to a library of 30,000 songs and 20,000 materials on Kazakhstan's history, tourism, and culture.

The Qonzhyq App startup has a mission to revive Kazakh folklore and teach children the Kazakh language. The core content of the app includes folklore stories and an educational section featuring a collection of timeless Kazakh folklore. At the moment, the project boasts over 150,000 registered users.

The QazCode development team has created a dataset for a Large Language Model (LLM) in Kazakh named BeeBert. This model is trained on a vast corpus of data in Kazakh language and can predict missing words in text, as well as analyze textual information. The product has already shown its effectiveness by enhancing the quality of recognizing customer queries in chatbots. We have plans to enhance BeeBert’s capabilities, including translation, summarization, text simplification, and sentiment analysis, ensuring that Kazakh language is fully represented in GenAI. It’s important to note that AI technology, similar to other realms, is being actively integrated into the development of national values.

“Our company specializes in comprehensive business automation. In our solutions, we emphasize the significance of using Kazakh language to our clients. For instance, in our IP telephony systems, we utilize robots and AI to provide voice menus in Kazakh, Russian, and English. When automating chat interactions in instant messengers, our robots duplicate all text information in different languages. Overall, we strongly advocate the idea that in Kazakhstan, particularly in the realms of business automation and customer service, it’s crucial to deliver information in various languages, with a primary focus on Kazakh,” stated Andrey Zhuravlev, CEO of IG Space.

As a resident of Astana Hub, Antiplagiat.Kazakhstan is refining its algorithm to detect text plagiarism in Kazakh language. Through sophisticated modules, the quality of searching for texts written in Kazakh and those generated by artificial intelligence is improving. Moreover, there is a unique capability to identify translated borrowings from 105 different languages worldwide.

“The company provides services for more than 110 organizations in Kazakhstan, including state corporations, research institutes, and universities, offering support to students, teachers, and researchers in checking texts written in Kazakh language. Alongside foreign and domestic sources, the search index also encompasses the “Adilet” regulatory framework. Furthermore, the company’s database in Kazakh language comprises more than 3.5 million sources,” stated Dulat Makenov, Director of Antiplagiat.Kazakhstan.

Astana Hub is the largest technology park in Central Asia, aimed at creating and developing an ecosystem for IT business, training IT professionals, and supporting startup projects. Currently, 1,400 IT companies are registered in the technology park, with nearly 400 of them being foreign members. They receive comprehensive support, including business development and scaling programs, special tax and visa conditions, informational and educational support, as well as material infrastructure.

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