Kazakhstan bets DPI will drive its next phase of growth, private sector innovation

Kazakhstan has a fast-growing economy and one of the most mature DPI ecosystems in Central Asia. The country has a National Digital Strategy, which emphasizes public-private partnerships to foster financial inclusion and innovation, it is developing a national biometric authentication system under Prime Minister Oljas Bektenov, and has built biometrics-based digital IDs for users to navigate digital government as well as private services.

Kazakhstan is moving fast to make DPI a unified digital trust infrastructure — is it a basis for a national economic infrastructure?

There are good numbers. Kazakhstan ranked 24th in the UN’s 2024 global e-government development index. “This ranking is a significant indicator of our digitalization and public administration progress. The survey, conducted every two years, looks at key areas such as e-services, human capital, and telecommunications infrastructure,” said Minister of Digital Development, Innovations, and Aerospace Industry Zhaslan Madiyev.

The eGov Mobile platform is used by more than 90 percent of the economically active population. The Digital Family Card supports more than six million families as it provides access to digitized social protection. It’s estimated that it has contributed US$65 million in economic impact.

Daulet Bekmanov, chairman of NITEC, operator of the eGov ecosystem, noted a surge in use of digital IDs. “The consistent annual growth in services accessed via the eGov Mobile application proves the effectiveness of [digitalization efforts],” he said at the end of last year.

Rules introduced earlier this year under the country’s new Digital Code allow banks and other businesses to access government-held digital documents through the national Digital Documents service, provided citizens give fresh consent for each transaction and organizations meet strict privacy and security requirements. The move transforms digital identity from a government service into a shared trust ecosystem that can support KYC, customer onboarding and digital commerce.

“I would like to note that the ‘Digital Documents’ section has proven especially popular, users can access 39 digital documents, such as ID cards, driving licenses, student IDs, and other socially important documents,” Bekmanov added.

Online banking contributed to a massive increase in digital transactions, from 7 percent in 2014 to 89 percent in 2024. Mobile broadband covers 89 percent of the vast country, and more than 92 percent of the population access the internet. This is fertile ground for the country’s expansion of DPI into banking, business identity, AI and private-sector services.

Kazakhstan’s central bank and its finance regulator have set rules governing how financial institutions must verify customers using state-held biometric data. This has formalized biometric login and identity checks across banking apps, remote onboarding and high-risk financial transactions. It’s also embedded one of the most secure biometric modalities, palm-print and palm-vein authentication, into banking.

The latest rules require banks to verify customers through the National Biometric Authentication System, using face biometrics matched against government‑held reference images. The rules mandate liveness detection with at least three random prompts to prevent spoofing, and authentication fails after three unsuccessful attempts. Financial institutions must also follow strict procedures for collecting, storing, processing and documenting biometric data, ensuring it is protected from unauthorized access throughout its entire lifecycle.

The government has also moved to require biometric identity verification for tax records of individuals deemed high-risk, advancing from a pilot to production requirement at the beginning of this year.

Investment in physical and digital infrastructure

Kazakhstan’s push to reinforce its digital backbone is evident in large‑scale infrastructure projects. The Data Center Valley development in Ekibastuz shows intent to become a regional hub for data processing, cloud computing and AI workloads.

Renate Strazdine, NTO North Europe Multi-Country Cluster at Microsoft, observed that with its size, power capacity and geographic advantages, the project could support economic diversification, draw foreign investment and strengthen national resilience.

Kazakhstan is rolling out a broad digital transformation program covering AI, public‑sector digitalization, telecom upgrades and workforce training. The government expects these efforts to add about 1.5 percentage points to annual GDP through 2029, with projected investments of $10.5–$16.5 billion.

If successful, Kazakhstan would offer an important example for countries participating in the 50-in-5 initiative: demonstrating that DPI can evolve from improving government services into supporting economic growth, private-sector innovation and national competitiveness.

2026 has been designated the Year of Digitalization and AI, backed by the Digital Qazaqstan strategy and new laws codifying digital rights and regulating AI use. Kazakhstan now delivers over 90 percent of public services electronically and is expanding its IT ecosystem, aiming to train 10,000 AI specialists and grow IT exports to $5 billion by 2030.

Major projects include a national AI platform, smart city systems, the alem.ai center and the eGov AI assistant. Telecom investment has boosted mobile speeds and will extend high‑speed internet to 3,000 rural settlements by 2027. Autonomous taxi pilots and wider AI deployment across public administration, industry, transport, healthcare and education are planned for 2026.

Private-sector innovation and entrepreneurship, the missing pieces?

Deputy Prime Minister, and Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development of Kazakhstan, Jaslan Madiyev, believes the country is accelerating toward a fully-fledged digital country. “We are talking about the transition to a new model of development, where data, artificial intelligence and modern technologies become the foundation of public administration, economics and social policy,” he said.

“We are moving from the digitalization of individual services and processes to the creation of an integrated digital architecture of the country. For citizens, this means a more convenient, proactive and personalized state.”

“For businesses – productivity growth, cost reduction and new development opportunities. For the economy – the emergence of new industries, attraction of investment and strengthening of Kazakhstan’s competitiveness.”

While Kazakhstan has done much to become a leading DPI player in its region, it remains to be seen whether this will translate into wider innovation, entrepreneurship, and growth in services and products that drive the economy. The ground is certainly being laid, but it will take individual dynamism and investment of capital and imagination to achieve the country’s ambitious goals.

Article Topics

50-in-5  |  biometrics  |  digital government  |  digital public infrastructure  |  digital trust  |  eGov.kz  |  Kazakhstan