82% of public services automated and over 54 million electronic services provided — results of digital development for 2019

Minister of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry Askar Zhumagaliyev reported about the work done in 2019 at a public meeting.

The Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry oversees such areas of the economy of the future as digitalization and electronic public services, new types of communications, big data and cloud technologies, information security, an innovative ecosystem, space technology and geodesy.

 

Digital Kazakhstan Program

The state program is implemented in five main areas:

1. Digitalization of industries;

2. Transition to the digital state;

3. Implementation of the digital silk road;

4. Development of human capital;

5. Creating an innovative ecosystem.

The goal of the program is to improve the living standards of Kazakhstanis through the use of digital technologies.

The first area is creating the Digital State. A lot of work has been done on the integration of information systems and databases of government bodies and the automation of public services.

To date, 344 integrations have been implemented, which were necessary for the automation of services. This year it is planned to complete more than 100 integrations.

Currently, thanks to the integration of information systems, 5 references have been canceled. It should be noted that the exclusion of the address certificate ordered annually more than 10 million times. As a result, this allowed to reduce paper work by 14 million documents. In addition, there are 25 more certificates that will not be required by government bodies and other organizations from citizens.

In general, due to the measures taken, the number of requested documents was reduced, on average, from 6 to 4 pieces, or by 30%, and the term for the provision of public services was reduced by 3 times from 31 to 10 days.

In addition, due to the digitalization of processes and the conversion of services to electronic format, registration for large enterprises has been reduced from 1 business day to 1 hour.

The terms for the provision of services in the field of registration of legal entities not related to private business entities were also reduced from 10 to 5 working days.

All these measures allowed fulfilling the order of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan - Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev and automating 82% of public services, this year it is planned to bring this figure to 90%.

In general, over 54 million services were rendered in electronic format over the past year, given all online channels.

Along with this, since the beginning of the state of emergency in the country, citizens have received more than 17 million e-government services.  Daily provision of online services increased three times.

 

E-services and mobile applications

The ministry launched a new mobile application, simplifying the receipt of services with a few clicks, more than 1 million users are already registered.

The application has the ability to store digital documents. It also displays an electronic citizen certificate, birth certificate and marriage registration. Also, with the entry into force of the new Law on Digital Technologies, the status of these documents will be equated to paper originals. Today, a meeting of the Senate took place, where this bill was considered.

Also, during the state of emergency in the country, the ministry took measures to obtain EDS remotely. Today, without visiting the public service center, about 650 thousand citizens have received EDS remotely.

This service was launched on the Egov website from March 26 for physical and April 1, 2020, for legal entities.

In addition, citizens can receive this service through the Egov mobile application. It is worth noting that the Egov mobile application is available for downloading on the AppStore and PlayMarket platforms. Sixty types of popular services are now available there, and digital documents of citizens are presented. To work with this mobile application, you must have an EDS and registration in the database of mobile citizens.

In total, there are more than 10.2 million active digital signatures in the country.

It is worth noting that during the state of emergency, 805 front-office workers were involved for online confirmation of applications for digital signatures, more than 3.5 million calls were received via video communication, and more than 900 thousand users were registered in the mobile citizens database through video calls.

Also, technical experts are working to ensure that this month services on the egov.kz portal can be signed using a QR code. Among the first services for which this opportunity is implemented will be:

  • Marriage registration;
  • birth registration;
  • placing a child on a queue in a kindergarten;
  • opening a legal entity;
  • reception of tax reporting (250 form).

In addition, when receiving these services on a computer, instead of signing an EDS, it will be enough for a person to sign a request for a service through the eGov Mobile application by scanning a QR code. And it will not be necessary to install an additional program for using EDS on a computer.

Thus, when receiving these services on the eGov.kz portal, a citizen at the signing stage will be able to choose the “Sign using QR-code” function. After that, they need to scan the code that appears on the monitor using the eGovMobile application.

 

Cloud electronic digital signature (EDS)

The main difference between the new, simplified EDS and the existing one is that for its use on the computer you will not need to install any additional software (NCALayer). EDS will also be stored not on a computer, but on a secure server, and a citizen can access it only through video identification.

It should be noted that citizens always had a lot of questions for EDS. Firstly, the difficulty was that it was necessary to have a personal presence upon receipt at the public service center. Secondly, some encountered difficulties in using it due to the need to install additional programs.

A few months ago, the ministry carried out the work on obtaining digital signatures in a remote format; a simplified electronic digital signature is currently being developed that does not require the installation of additional programs.

Such an electronic signature will be an alternative to the existing one and it is worth noting that it cannot be lost and no one else can use it.

Also, without going through a video identification and password for EDS, other persons will not be able to access this EDS. Currently, NIT JSC, the Information Security Committee and the State Technical Service are working on data security issues.

A new type of EDS will not have to be stored on a computer or flash card. Upon receipt of services, the system will automatically find the electronic signature of the citizen on the server.

The functionality of the new electronic signature is currently under development. A simplified digital signature is planned to be launched this year.

 

Proactive service delivery format

The proactive format implies that the state itself offers the citizen to receive the necessary service in a given situation. At the same time, the person does not need to go anywhere, but rather send the required information in response to the SMS received.

Today, five government services are provided in a proactive format. It is worth noting that you can issue a baby's birth certificate by sending the name of the child via SMS. Also, mothers with many children, awarded with pendants Altyn Alqa and Kumis Alqa, can issue a manual in a proactive format.

Today, more than 80% of services in Kazakhstan are electronic. That is, a level of automation has been achieved when services can be translated into a proactive format.

The minister said that by decision of the Interdepartmental Commission, 30 services had been selected that would be provided in a proactive format. Among them are the purpose of payments for maternity, the establishment of disability, school enrollment, change of address data when renaming streets or settlements, the appointment of a lump sum payment for burial, etc.

Currently, women need to apply to the public service centers with documents for registration of antenatal and maternity payments. After this service will be transferred to a proactive format, it is planned that after drawing up the sick leave, women will receive an SMS message, by answering which they will be able to issue the allowance. The only condition is that it must be registered in the database of mobile citizens.

It is worth noting that many proactive services are planned to be launched before the end of this year. To this end, government agencies involved in the provision of these services must complete all necessary integration work by ensuring the exchange of data between their systems.

 

Unified Internet Resource Platform

Another project that will simplify the interaction between the state and citizens is the Unified Platform of Internet Resources of Government Agencies. It will allow to combine all the sites of government agencies and akimats in one window.

Until the end of 2020, it is planned to combine 310 government agencies sites on a single platform. The project will reduce current budget expenditures on maintenance and support of government agencies' sites to 2 billion tenge and ensure 100% accessibility of sites. But most importantly, all information will be standardized and available in a convenient format for citizens.

 

Government digitization

Healthcare. A number of digitalization events are being held in this area today. Hospitals were equipped with the necessary equipment, medical systems were introduced. Regional mobile applications have been launched for ensuring convenience. Electronic health passports are also being completed.

This work was noted by international experts of WHO, UN, including during a difficult epidemiological situation in the country.

At the end of 2019, the economic effect of healthcare digitalization is estimated at 22.6 billion tenge (22.1 billion tenge due to digitalization in the field of pharmaceutical procurement and more than 540.1 million tenge was saved due to the transition to electronic format).

More than 11 thousand Kazakhstani medical workers involved in the period of complication of the epidemiological situation are provided with free mobile communications and Internet access.

Social sphere. An electronic labor exchange was launched, which allowed halving the employment process, and the procedure itself became transparent. To date, 533 thousand people have been employed, of which 383 thousand for permanent jobs, 149.7 thousand for temporary work.

A social services portal has also been put into operation, to which medical and social institutions are connected.

The achieved effect in the social and labor sphere following the results of last year amounted to more than 1.4 billion tenge.

The sphere of finance. A system of online cash registers has been implemented in this area, the ASTANA-1 information system has been launched, a lot of work has been done to integrate information systems.

In addition, a Ministry of Finance service was developed for second-tier banks, which made it possible to simplify the process of paying taxes. This service was implemented by Kaspi, Halyk bank, Kazpost and other banks. Though this, citizens began to pay taxes in a timely manner, and the amount of online tax payments increased by almost 2 times.

In general, digital projects of three ministries brought an effect of about 473 billion tenge.

 

Creating smart cities

Digitalization of public services involves work not only at the level of central government bodies, but in the regions. Here, the main focus is the implementation of the Smart City project.

In order to ensure uniform approaches, a reference standard was developed that included more than 100 initiatives. At the end of last year, the ministry conducted an analysis of the current situation in the regions and formed an internal rating of smart cities. The cities of Nur-Sultan, Almaty and Uralsk are more actively implementing digital projects. Also this year, the cities of Aktau, Kokshetau and Aktobe plan to strengthen their work on digitalization.

This year, akimats are planning to digitalize services 112 and 109. The iKomek system is a successful example of how work with the population should be built today regarding the processing of complaints and suggestions.

 

Digitalization of land relations

One of the most important tasks of Smart City is the digitalization of land relations.

The ministry has developed a unified information system for the issue of land plots online, this measure will make it possible to make the process of land allocation transparent. This year, 100% coverage of geoportals of local executive regions is planned.

It is worth noting that the coordinate system of 1942, inherited from the USSR, whose data and materials are classified as secret, is established on the territory of our republic, which complicates their use in various sectors of the economy.

In addition, different coordinate systems of 1963 and the geological coordinate system of 1966 are used in different industries and regions of the country.

With the advent of satellite technology, the development of modern geodetic equipment, this coordinate system has become outdated, and does not meet modern requirements for accuracy, efficiency and economic efficiency.

To solve this problem, it is planned to create a project “National spatial data infrastructure,” the goals of which are:

Establishing a unified state coordinate system, instead of the coordinate system of 1942;

Covering 100% of Kazakhstan’s  territory with open spatial data;

Automating the exchange of spatial data of central and local government bodies.

In general, the National Spatial Data Infrastructure will be implemented by the Unified Geoservice Ecosystem, which will contribute to the effective management and operational decision-making by state bodies.

 

Implementing Smart Data Ukimet

Another global trend is big data management. Today, the ministry is implementing the Smart Data Ukimet project. In five state bodies, new studies were conducted and databases were connected.

In addition, work was carried out on the employment of the population, the allocation of free medicines, the allocation of grants under the Bolashak program. All this allowed to save budget funds of 187 billion tenge.

In particular, the distribution of medicines through general digitalization, including the use of Smart Data Ukimet, yielded 22.6 billion tenge in savings.

 

Infrastructure development

An important area, without which the development of digitalization is impossible, is broadband internet access.

To provide villages with high-speed internet, a PPP project is underway to build a fiber-optic communication line, within which more than 20 thousand kilometers of optics will be laid and 1,250 villages will be covered. Currently, the internet connection has been provided in 747 villages and the remaining 503 will be connected before the end of this year, it is worth noting that 393 villages have already been laid out since the beginning of the year.

In addition, the presence of FOCL encourages mobile operators to establish their base stations in villages and provide the villagers with high-quality mobile Internet.

Thus, the ministry signed a Memorandum and a schedule with mobile operators, under which they pledged to provide 3G / 4G mobile communications to all villages where more than 250 people live. By the end of 2020, high-speed mobile Internet will appear in 928 villages.

As a result of the implementation of these projects, by the end of this year broadband access will cover 99.3% of the total population of the country.

The provision of broadband access services to the remaining villages (1,178 SNP) with a population of 50 or more people (127.2 thousand people — 0.7%) is planned before the end of 2022.

To this end, at present, together with the akimats of the regions and the Ministry of National Economy, work is underway to update the list of rural settlements, as well as the number of people living in them, taking into account urbanization.

 

Information security and development of electronics industry

The ongoing work on digitalization of the state and development of the internet infrastructure strengthens the importance of information security. This is a global trend, as potential risks for the state and citizens are growing.

In Kazakhstan, the Cybershield program has been adopted and is being implemented, within the framework of which organizational and technical measures are being taken.

Last year alone, over 2.5 billion cyberattacks were neutralized.

To attract specialists to the industry, the number of educational grants allocated in the field of information security has been increased 11 times.

All measures taken within the framework of Cyber ​​Shield allowed Kazakhstan to take 40th place in the UN Global Cybersecurity Rating, having risen by 42 positions.

 

Digitalization of industries

One of the important directions of the state program is the digitalization of economic sectors. It is here that the great potential of economic benefits is concentrated in the transition to technology industry 4.0, precision farming, electronic commerce, etc.

Today, modernization of enterprises is a rather expensive project. Therefore, many enterprises say that there are no funds for these purposes. From the experience of other countries, in particular Canada, South Korea and Germany, it is necessary to help those who really want to modernize. Ultimately, this will lead to increased labor productivity and, accordingly, competitiveness.

With the coordination of government agencies, enterprises need to implement the announced projects on time, involve domestic IT companies, and within the 1% that enterprises allocate for R&D, it is important that digitalization is a priority.

In turn, centers of competence are being created on the basis of enterprises of ministries that develop common approaches for the active digitalization of these industries.

Fuel and energy complex. For the digitalizing enterprises of the fuel and energy sector and industry, we have proposed technological approaches that will allow them to solve infrastructure issues in telecommunications.

In this industry, projects are underway to create 17 ‘’Intelligent Deposits”. Digital technologies are being introduced at two oil refineries, where the implemented digital technologies allowed to increase the overhaul period to three years, earlier refineries were stopped for repairs every year.

Processing industry. In this industry, digitalization projects are underway at 13 backbone enterprises and 112 industrial enterprises, and work is underway to create seven model digital factories.

Agro-industrial complex. 49 digital farms have been created in the agro-industrial complex, including on the basis of 28 plant-growing farms and 21 livestock farms.

E-commerce. The development of electronic commerce provides Kazakhstan with high potential for economic growth. It is worth noting that in 2019 the number of online buyers has increased by 1.3 times. The volume of electronic commerce in the total volume of retail trade increased 4 times. For tax benefits, 579 new online stores have been registered.

In addition, it is worth noting that at the end of last year, the digital ministers were appointed at the Ministry of Industry and Infrastructure Development as well as at the Ministry of Energy, who, following the example of their colleagues, will bring new ideas to the digitalization processes of subordinate industries.

The total benefits of digital projects for industries in 2019 amounted to 94.4 billion tenge.

 

Creating innovative ecosystem

Over the 2 years of existence, the international technology park of IT startups Astana Hub has become a center of attraction for technological entrepreneurship. The technopark is 100% full, over 800 start-up projects were covered by government support measures.

The ministry has created conditions to simplify visa and labor regimes for foreign participants of the Astana Hub. Also, tax preferences for the technopark participants in the form of simplified taxation were adopted, which were used by more than 260 domestic companies. The Law on Venture Financing has been signed.

The volume of attracted investments by Kazakhstan startups and IT-companies is 32.8 billion tenge.

One of the tasks of the Digital Kazakhstan State Program is to support the IT industry in Kazakhstan. The ministry approved the appropriate roadmap for the development of the IT industry.

It is worth noting that about 7 thousand companies are present in the market today. The ministry selected 30 companies that show high potential for entering the international market. The issue of export support is also being considered.

Also today, all schools in the country are provided with computer equipment and 94.2% of schools in the country have internet connection. Along with this, about 19 thousand grants were allocated for higher education in 2019-2020 in the field of ICT.

In addition, the basics of programming have been introduced in schools from elementary grades, Astana IT University has been opened, where new-generation specialists are being trained today, the Alem school has been opened in Astana Hub, where Kazakhstan people are taught programming for free.

State bodies and akimats through PSCs are working to increase digital literacy of the population. 

 

Earth remote sensing space system

The space industry of Kazakhstan allows using the most advanced technologies to solve many practical problems — from navigation, which almost any motorist faces, to fighting forest fires.

In addition, space technology is an important element of the national defense and security system.

Today, Kazakhstan has created national space communication systems, remote sensing of the Earth, and high-precision navigation.

The space system for remote sensing of the earth includes three satellites: a ground-based control complex and a target complex for receiving, processing and disseminating remote sensing data to end users.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the use of space monitoring data allowed the state to return 11,000 land plots with a cadastral value of 149 billion tenge to the state and reclaim 3.5 million hectares worth more than 41 billion tenge.

Space monitoring allows you to effectively deal with such a serious environmental threat as unauthorized landfills. In 2019 alone, more than 9,268 unauthorized landfills were identified in 17 cities of the republic, as a result of the work of environmentalists and akimats, 2,768 landfills were eliminated, that is 30%.

Cosmonitoring improves the efficiency of agricultural planning and makes a real contribution to food security. It is worth noting that, according to experts, untimely harvesting leads to the loss of up to 12% of grain.

Thanks to the use of space technologies in 2019, compared to the previous year, uncleared fields were halved (by 54.5 thousand hectares).

Space monitoring allows to quickly respond to emergencies and eliminate the consequences of disasters.

So, during a flood in the Maktaaral district of the Turkistan region after breaking the dam of the Sardoba reservoir in Uzbekistan, a daily assessment of the area of ​​flooding was carried out, the number of affected houses was determined.

Space monitoring data was obtained from Kazakh satellites KazStSat and KazEOSat-1.

For a short period of time, specialists of Kazakhstan Garysh Sapary identified all houses and structures in settlements, as well as farmland in the flood zone. This was made possible thanks to the presence of digitized cadastral data in the information system of the State Land Cadastre.

The data obtained will allow the akimat to proactively identify affected citizens: both property owners in localities and land owners.

In addition, on May 11, satellite images were transmitted to the Uzbek side from Kazakh satellites with a total area of ​​over four hundred and forty thousand square kilometers.

 

Kazsat space communications system development

Kazakhstan's space communications system includes two communications satellites — KazSat-2 and KazSat-3. They fully satisfy the needs of Kazakhstan in the field of broadcasting and communications.

With their help, communication services, data transfer and Internet access to government agencies (schools, hospitals, akimats) located throughout the country are provided. This year, it is planned to provide broadband Internet access for remote residents via communication satellites.

It should be noted that all satellite television broadcasting in Kazakhstan — Otau TV, Alma TV — is organized via KazSat satellites.

In 2019, the total income from the operation of the space communications system amounted to more than 29 billion tenge and provided annual import substitution at the level of 14.7 billion tenge, also more than 6 billion tenge of total taxes were transferred to the state budget.

The national satellite communications system is an important factor in sovereignty and information security. And its significance in the future will only increase.

 

Assembly and testing complex of spacecraft

Last year, the construction of the assembly and testing complex of spacecraft was completed.

This year, it is planned to conduct operational qualifications of the complex to confirm international standards and readiness for assembly and testing of spacecraft.

The complex allows a full cycle of work from design to assembly and testing of satellites, as well as the manufacture of components.

The load of the assembly and testing complexes will be provided, first of all, by the creation of the KazSat-2R satellite, secondly, by fulfilling orders of the AirBus concern, thirdly, it is planned to design and manufacture a constellation of satellites of remote sensing of the EAEU.

 

Conservation and development of the Baikonur Cosmodrome

The Baikonur Cosmodrome is a space harbor that has opened the world the path to scientific and technological progress, and the way to mankind into space. It was from this cosmodrome that the first satellite was launched, which proclaimed the beginning of the space age.

More recently, the 65th anniversary of the creation of the Baikonur Cosmodrome was celebrated, from where man launched into space.

During this time, dramatic changes have occurred in Kazakhstan and throughout the world. The Soviet Union disappeared. Kazakhstan and Russia, which today rents part of the cosmodrome, face completely different tasks than they once faced the USSR.

However, Baikonur is still in demand. We connect its future with two major international projects.

First, the creation together with Russia of the Baiterek space rocket complex for launching the Soyuz-5 medium-class launch vehicle. Also this year, it is planned to complete all the preparatory work and begin practical implementation of the project.

Second, together with Russia and the UAE, the Gagarin Launch project is being worked out to reconstruct launch pad No. 1 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome for launching Soyuz-2 launch vehicles and their modifications. This project is still in preparation for an intergovernmental agreement.

In addition, Kazakh specialists provide environmental support for all launches carried out from the cosmodrome. Last year, there were 13 launches of various launch vehicles; in 2020, 20 launches are planned.

It is planned that the Baikonur Cosmodrome will become a key element of a comprehensive program for the development of the space industry.

 

Results of Digital Kazakhstan State Program

In general, the economic effect of digitalization amounted to preliminary more than 802.5 billion tenge in 2 years.

32.8 billion tenge was attracted to the innovation ecosystem and about 120,000 jobs were created taking into account related industries. In total, over 170 billion tenge of investments were attracted in the branches of the ministry.

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