President Shavkat Mirziyoyev reviewed a presentation on reforms and priority tasks in the field of artificial intelligence and digitalization.

By 2030, IT service exports are planned to reach $5 billion, and the industry is expected to employ 300,000 young people. The country already has about 100 practical AI projects, infrastructure worth $24 million has been created, and the prize fund for startup competitions has been increased to $5 million.

Over five years, the gross value added in the industry grew by an average of 24.8% (3.5 times higher than GDP growth). The number of people employed in information and communication increased from 64,300 to 108,800, and self-employed from 10,000 to 181,000. More than 11,900 enterprises are operating.

About 100 practical AI projects are being implemented, and over 200 initiatives have been launched. At the Almalyk Mining and Metallurgical Combine (AGMK), AI reduced energy consumption by 10%, costs by 15%, and increased labor productivity by 10%.

AI infrastructure with a GPU cluster ($24 million) has been created, and equipment worth another $45 million will be added by the end of the year. Plans include systematizing over 130 databases in healthcare, energy, transport, agriculture, and other sectors.

The number of startups reached 950 (a 37.5% increase), venture capital funds — 22, and attracted investments — $132 million. The prize fund of the presidential startup competition has been increased to $5 million, and an AI competition with a $1 million prize fund has been introduced.

Under the “5 Million AI Leaders” project, over 1 million listeners have completed basic courses. In 69% of schools, Wi-Fi zones are completely absent, 5,000 computer classes are outdated, and 2,000 schools have no such classes. The president ordered the renewal of 16,000 computer classes and provision of free Wi-Fi in schools.

The president emphasized that AI and digitalization are strategic directions determining economic efficiency and the country's competitiveness.

Source: kun.uz