10 April 2024
Digital transformation of society, economy and the public sector is one of the priorities for all countries in the region. Kyrgyzstan is a vivid example of a country that is fully aware of the complexity and multifaceted nature of the digital transformation process. Recently, the Ministry of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic has audited the legislative and regulatory framework in the telecommunications sector and drafted the Digital Code, the first of its kind, which will provide a new vision for the management and regulation of the digitalization. In parallel, Kyrgyzstan continues developing digital infrastructure and refining approaches to ICT data collection and analysis.
To support these efforts, the ITU Regional Office for the CIS Region prepared a comprehensive analytical report "Kyrgyzstan: digital data, resilience, and digital development policy assessment" under the global Connect2Recover initiative. The study analyzes the completeness, relevance, and comparability of data on fixed and mobile broadband access, data on ICT access and use by the population. It measures resilience of critical digital infrastructure, telecommunication market and Internet service providers, and assesses digital development policies and regulation and their contribution to bridging the digital divide. Finally, the study provides a set of recommendations for consideration by the Government.
With regard to digital data, it is recommended, inter alia:
• to adjust approach on measuring population coverage by mobile networks, • to strengthen cooperation with specialized international organizations in order to ensure that they publish updated mobile networks coverage maps, • to consider creation of the national broadband map, that could include population and land area coverage, including highways and railroads, • to update and supplement open data on Internet connectivity in the key anchor locations, such as schools and hospitals, and validate this data with telecom operators, • to ensure regular data collection on ICT access and use, and on digital literacy by conducting household surveys.
To improve digital resilience, it is proposed, inter alia:
• to continue efforts on diversification of traffic transit,
• to implement measures on reducing the costs of domain names, • to increase the number of DNS servers that can validate DNS records in signed zones, • to increase the number of secure Internet servers, • to strengthen competition in mobile and fixed markets in rural population settlements, • to take measures on increasing affordability of fixed broadband Internet access.
As for the digital development policies, it is recommended:
• to ensure regular monitoring of ICT access and use to enable informed decision-making on developing supply-side interventions and demand stimulating activities, setting quantitative targets and monitoring the effectiveness of measures in place,
• to correct the approach for setting targets for ICT infrastructure development by applying interpolation and approximation techniques, • to consider introducing measures in support of the ICT infrastructure development in commercially unattractive population settlements, • to introduce regular assessment of the digital literacy for informed decision-making and development of the relevant policies.
The full version of the report (in Russian) is available here. The summary of the report in English is available here. For reference: Global Connect2Recover Initiative is an ITU response to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. It aims to strengthen the digital infrastructure and digital ecosystems of countries as they adapt to the effects of the pandemic and to assist those countries in remaining resilient to other challenges.
| 