Increasing Broadband Internet Penetration
In the OIC Member Countries
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informational security of infrastructure. Furthermore, as a part of the development of new ICT
technologies and the initiation of new projects in 2011, the Research Institute of Information
Technologies was established and registered as a participant of the special economic zone
"Information Technologies Park "Alatau". In 2013, the holding took an active part in the
development of the state program Informational Kazakhstan 2020 108.
Major approaches, implementations and challenges in extending fixed and mobile
broadband infrastructureThe development of broadband in Kazakhstan has been influenced by two major master plans:
Informational Kazakhstan 2020 and Digital Kazakhstan 2020. Approved on 8 January 2013, the
Informational Kazakhstan 2020 program identified four key areas of focus:
• Ensuring the effectiveness of government administration system;
• Ensuring the availability of information and communication infrastructure;
• Formation of an information environment for socio-economic and cultural
development of society; and
• The development of the national information space.
According to the plan’s basic premise, the improvement of government administration, the
development of an "open" and "mobile Government", and the deployment of information
infrastructure would be solved through the widespread introduction of ICT. Considering that
the development of an information society must be accompanied by the development of
human capital, the Program also included provisions for the creation of opportunities for
citizens to learn and gain skills in information technology through e-learning and to receive
services of available electronic healthcare. In addition, the program recommended
implementation of smart systems in basic industries in order to build a more open, accessible
and competitive economy. Collectively, the plan assumes that the measures taken for the
development of ICT should follow the principles of ensuring conditions of sustainable
development. Finally, the plan recognizes that the effectiveness of the policy of transition to
the information society depends on consolidation of public and private efforts on a wide
application of ICT in all sectors of the economy and social sphere 109.
The Informational Kazakhstan 2020 program provided a context for the formulation of another
program: Digital Kazakhstan 2020. The key goal of Digital Kazakhstan 2020 is the improvement
of citizens` life quality and the country`s economy competitiveness through the development of
a digital economy. The program comprises four major axes:• Digital Silk Way: develop a digital infrastructure through the provision of broadband
Internet in rural localities, the construction of a telecommunication hub, ensuring
information security, and deploying data centers;
• Creative society: develop human capital through enhancing citizens’ digital literacy,
provide advanced training of specialists in the field of information and communication
108 See
109 See =2BUeV2q.