Data is a valuable resource that not only accelerates economic growth but also shapes our future making societies more productive. Data facilitates scientific research, drives rapid advances in technological development, and help to make informed choices in business and policymaking.
What are the key trends of data economy development in Eurasian countries, and how can governments maximize the economic benefits of data-driven transformation? These issues were discussed at the StrategEast.Live panel discussion Eurasia’s Data Economy. This panel follows the discussion “How Can Eurasia Reap the Data Dividends: Opportunities for Data-Driven Transformation” co-organized by the World Bank and UNDP at the StrategEast State and IT Eurasian Forum 2021 and will provide an updated overview of data economy development in Eurasian countries.
Starting the conversation, Mikhail Bunchuk, Senior Digital Development Specialist, World Bank spoke about the data phenomena and why data is becoming central to development: “Data delivers better policy making, promotes accountability, increases business opportunities, and enables AI application. The more data is used, the more valuable it becomes. It is important not to restrict its usage. We need strategies on data reuse and public sharing, at the same time addressing data protection issues. There should be a balance between data safeguards – data privacy, and enablers of data economy,” shared Mr Bunchuk.
According to Tamerlan Taghiyev, Executive Director, Center for Analysis and Coordination of the Fourth Industrial Revolution under the Ministry of Economy of Azerbaijan, the country is starting transition from a commodities-based technology-driven economy. Mr. Taghiyev described key data infrastructure projects in the country: ‘In order to increase efficiency and effectiveness of data governance, government agencies make extensive use of the formation, storage, maintenance and integration of state information systems and reserves necessitate the creation of a centralized Government Cloud. In accordance with the Strategic Roadmap, the Government Cloud project is a major project that includes reducing costs in public administration and increasing coordination between government agencies through the effective integration of government information systems and reserves into a single platform.”
Nuria Kutnaeva, Director, State Agency for Personal Data Protection under the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic pointed out some tendencies in the data usage: “Slow bureaucratic organizations are left behind, while businesses switch to online payments and services with the increasing role of the mobile platforms. In fact, in Kyrgyzstan, mobile is used more than optic fiber. Kyrgyzstan, with a population 6.6 million people, have over 9 million mobile phones, the country ranks the 2nd in the world in terms of mobile accessibility.”
Dmitriy Mun, Head of Data analysis Department in «National Information Technologies» JSC, Kazakhstan talked about Kazakhstan’s experience in creating DataLake from 60 government databases and opportunities to analyze it: “To solve the problem of data ownership, we had to gather information from various government agencies in one place. Then we defined a data operator – NITEC that provided collection, enrichment, and updating of the databases. After securing integration and certain algorithms, the data was available to government agencies for free. In particular, this helped define family well-being score to better address the needs of families.”
Olga Tumuruc, Director, Electronic Governance Agency of the Republic of Moldova dwelled upon the importance of a proper data ecosystem: “Today we understand the importance of data ecosystem formation, interoperability systems need to be in place in order to on the one hand, describe the needs, principles and rules for the organizing the data governance. On the other hand, enable the data sharing within the public sector, and between the private and public sector, and capitalize on the opportunities offered by data”.
The discussion has been moderated by Stanislav Kovalchuk, Project Manager, StrategEast.
