At a time when the geopolitical crisis is escalating in the world, the IT sector of Uzbekistan has experienced a revolution of its own. IT Park R&D specialist Timurmalik Elmuradov presented the analysis and opinions of how Uzbekistan made a sharp turn in the IT sector in 2022.
In 2022, the country came close to being called the IT hub of Central Asia, not just in words, but in real terms. At the beginning of 2022, the goal was to reach $100 million in IT services exports, but the results reached 140 million dollars.
Also, in 2021, there were 104 exporters of IT services and goods to Uzbekistan, while by the end of 2022, the number tripled.
"A crisis is a time of opportunity"
The IT Park, considered an extraterritorial free economic zone for IT companies in Uzbekistan, was established in 2019.
In the spring of 2022, IT Park launched a relocation program called "TashRush" to relocate IT specialists to Uzbekistan. More than 3,000 foreign IT specialists brought new knowledge, companies, teams, and investments to Uzbekistan via this program. The total number of IT companies with foreign capital in Uzbekistan increased by 89.8 percent.
In parallel with TashRush, IT Park launched the IT Visa program, which gives the right to enter and exit the territory of Uzbekistan without barriers for up to three years. At the end of 2022, 229 recommendations were made for obtaining a visa. Here, among the applicants were not only programmers but also managers and investors.
In addition, the "Virtual Office" service has appeared, which allows working remotely without entering the category of companies with high tax risk. More than 100 companies have already used the registration service and by the end of 2022, the number of IT Park resident companies exceeded 1,000 for the first time.
Most of this was motivated by increased migration from Russia, Ukraine, and nearby countries.
"BPO is a potential new cotton of Uzbekistan"
The service, which could become the "new cotton", brought in $65.1 million in revenue last year, which is almost half of the IT exports. In particular, in 2022, 17 BPO centers were opened in the country, where more than 450 employees work. Since the development of the BPO direction has justified itself, IT Park is currently working on the "Uzbekistan Digital Inclusion" project together with the World Bank.
First Online University and IT4Women
Last year, the first online university in the history of the country was established. IT Park University - a higher education institution created in cooperation with EPAM, one of the world's leading manufacturers of special software, and a member of the S&P 500. While developing IT education, Uzbekistan faced a problem familiar to many countries, gender inequality.
In order to overcome this problem, IT Park put forward several initiatives in 2022:
- IT Women - Karakalpakstan: within the framework of the joint training program for women and girls in Karakalpakstan with USAID, free graphic design and SMM training was organized for 60 women and girls.
- Skills4Girls: A joint IT training project with UNICEF for girls aged 12 to 18, including girls with various disabilities. 214 participants, including 70 girls with disabilities, were trained within the program.
- GAP: Women's IT Club. This club is becoming a communication platform for women, where members can exchange ideas, make acquaintances and find like-minded people for cooperation.
- Digital Internship Program: Internship program for IT graduates and young entry-level professionals. 23 girls were employed within it.
These and other programs help attract more women to the IT industry and break the stereotype that IT is only for men.
"Let's get what we want"
IT Park has done a lot in 2022, but more tasks are set for 2023, including:
- Increase the volume of resident exports to 300 million dollars;
- Organization of educational training for 1.2 million people on the Coursera platform;
- Introduction of the educational institution's incentive program;
One of the most important changes will be expanding the activities of residents.
In addition, this year, for the first time, the "President Tech Award" startup competition, with a total prize pool of $1,000,000, will be held.
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