On September 11, 2024, Almaty hosted the IT CEO Club Forum, a key event for the heads of IT companies in Kazakhstan within the framework of the Eurasian Digital Summit 2024.

The event, organized by the Kazakh business club IT CEO Club with the support of the professional event agency Apple Events Group, as well as GPI Group and Kazakhtelecom JSC within the framework of the Eurasian Digital Summit, brought together representatives of the country's leading IT companies. They discussed topical issues in the field of information technology in Kazakhstan.

Baizhan Kanafin, Chairman of the Board of the IT CEO Club and CEO of Documentolog, opening the forum, stressed the importance of the event. He also shared the plans of the IT CEO Club for the future, namely, the Club aims to enter into partnership with all universities teaching in IT specialties in order to conduct educational lectures and seminars for students. The Club will carry out the same activity for high school students.

Marat Abdildabekov, General Director of the IT Division of Kazakhtelecom JSC, presented the company's results in the development of data center infrastructure.

"For 18 years, we have created a network of 27 data centers covering the entire country. Our investments in this area for 2012-2023 paid off 3.4 times, which confirms the correctness of the chosen strategy," said Marat Abdildabekov.

He also announced ambitious plans to expand the data center network and develop cloud services, including the launch of new IaaS and PaaS solutions in partnership with Smart Cities LLP.

Yulia Yakupbaeva, partner of GPI Group and Chairman of the Council for Sustainable Development and ESG at Atameken, focused the attention of the participants on the importance of implementing the principles of sustainable development in the IT sector. She presented the TOP 5 sustainability priorities for IT companies, including improving energy efficiency and using AI/ML technologies to optimize business processes.

Ramil Mukhoryapov, co-owner of Chocofamily Holding, spoke about trends in the field of E-commerce, shared his experience and vision of the future of the industry. In addition, a panel session "Export work of the company" was held, where Mirat Akhmetsadykov, CEO of MOST Holding, Gani Uzbekov, CEO of S1lkPay, and other leading industry experts discussed topical issues of IT exports in the country. 

Within the framework of the panel session “IT personnel”, Yulia Lyubeznova, Managing Director of a1qa, spoke about the launch of an educational platform in Kazakhstan and noted the positive results. Rustam Yakupbayev, Managing Partner of GPI Group, presented the UNI-TRA-CO (University, Training Center, Company) model in which Kazakhstani students are offered to study at training centers after university before going to work in the company.

In conclusion, the organizers of the IT CEO Club Forum noted the importance of cooperation and strengthening ties between industry leaders. According to them, the IT CEO Club Forum has laid a solid foundation for further cooperation and exchange of ideas within the IT CEO Club, contributing to the development of Kazakhstan's innovative potential and strengthening its position as a technology hub in Central Asia.

About the IT CEO Club

IT CEO Club is the first Kazakhstani club of IT executives, uniting market leaders. The club unites like-minded market participants who contribute to the development of IT projects in Kazakhstan, as well as the growth of socially significant educational projects. The residents of the club are united by the principles of transparency, support for Kazakhstani IT, education and sports.

The Eurasian Digital Summit 2024 is a large-scale international business event for CIOs and executives of digital companies from the Central Eurasian region to discuss the most important trends, growing opportunities and new strategies for digital business transformation in the coming years. The organizer is the professional event agency Apple Events Group with the strategic support of the international analytical company IDC, the business club IT CEO Club and the Community of Kazakhstani IT managers.

Photo: Telegram-Real Digital Channel