Around 150 young people engage in IT trends, as IT talks launched in Bishkek and regions

February 15, 2022

Bishkek, 14 February 2022 – Last Saturday, on 12 February Bishkek hosted a hybrid-regime event "Get engaged into IT", dedicated to introducing young people to the possibilities of innovative technologies. Codify, together with the UNDP Accelerator Lab, Accelerate Prosperity and the Association of Creative Industries, have collaborated to bring a series of masterclasses, where top experts shared with newcomers features of different sectors in IT.

The event conveyed around 150 young IT beginners and enthusiasts online and offline, covering the IT Hub of Osh city, regions of Kyrgyzstan and bringing them together with seven prominent speakers. As speakers shared their expertise on diverse, but IT-related topics, participants have engaged with the questions of their interest.

Louise Chamberlain, UNDP Resident Representative in Kyrgyzstan shared: "We are expanding cooperation with government partners, civil society and other organizations to ensure an inclusive digital transformation to address the digital divide and use digital technology wherever it is needed to achieve development priorities with our partners.”

The event was held at the State Innovation Centre and featured prominent experts from the IT sector who gave their advises on how to launch a career in IT and combine it with creative industries such as art, tourism, edtech and more.

"Our goal is to acquaint people with multiple directions in IT and show that IT is accessible for everyone, contributing to the development and promotion of the IT sector in Kyrgyzstan.” said Dina Ruslan, CEO of Codify.

The IT market is developing in Kyrgyzstan. In 2021, residents of the Kyrgyz Hi-Tech Park earned KGS1.3 billion. About 30 companies work in the field, and 70% of their clients are from abroad. The biggest stepping stone in this lucrative sector is training more specialists.

Indira Uzbekova, Country Manager at Accelerate Prosperity said: "Accelerate Prosperity makes a significant contribution to the creation of an ecosystem for entrepreneurship development in Kyrgyzstan. Dina Ruslan, CEO of Codify is an Accelerate Prosperity alumna and winner. We are proud of our alumni and portfolio companies and hope to grow unicorn companies.”

Aman Tentiev, Emil Umetaliev, Adilet Maratov, Nikita Nogai, Vladislav Imankhojaev, Danila Orlov and Yulian Khudolozhkin have spoken about IT sphere, how IT technologies help tourism development, how to turn idea into a successful startup, how to create mobile applications, website design and much more. 

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Photos from the event: https://www.flickr.com/photos/undpkg/albums/72177720296700901

About organization teams:

Codify is a group of IT companies that consists of Codify Academy, a programming academy of all IT disciplines for adults and teens; Codify CRM/LMS - IT product of Codify, which helps to automate business and educational processes; Codify Lab - IT-lab, which is developing IT-solutions on outsourcing.

UNDP Accelerator Labs is an initiative of the United Nations Development Programme in cooperation with the Qatar Foundation for Development and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. The Accelerator Labs are designed to harness local innovation to create actionable insights and rethink sustainable development for the 21st century. The Accelerator Labs network is the largest and fastest growing knowledge and development network, consisting of 92 Accelerator Labs in 116 countries, including the Kyrgyz Republic.

Accelerate Prosperity (AP) is a new global initiative of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in Central and South Asia to stimulate businesses where economic opportunities remain scarce. AP has also announced a call for applications for the IT Accelerator, where digital and IT companies, led by experienced trackers, will be able to scale their businesses and attract investment. More information is available at: https://kg.accelerateprosperity.org/digital. The business accelerator is implemented by Accelerate Prosperity ASIA and is funded by the European Union and the Aga Khan Foundation. The project aims to develop entrepreneurship and improve the economic well-being of the rural population of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Media contacts

Ainagul Abdrakhmanova

UNDP Communications Officer

ainagul.abdrakhmanova@undp.org

+996770183493