Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Ancient Samarkand has hosted the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Week 2022, with a Digital Eurasia Forum as part of it. Beeline Uzbekistan, a subsidiary of the VEON Group, has acted as the general partner of the event. VEON experts have also shared best practices of implementation of Big Data and AI applications across the company’s global footprint.

The Digital Eurasia Forum has welcomed over 100 local and foreign companies. They’ve had an opportunity to learn about the experience of creating and launching the latest technologies and share their own expertise with colleagues. Professional communication contributes to the exchange of ideas, and bringing them to life directly affects the quality of people's lives. The role of Uzbekistan as an international platform is to consolidate digital experience of different counterparts from the global market.

“Uzbekistan has very quickly become an open country ready to integrate best practices throughout Central Asia. Thanks to reforms, there has been created an atmosphere of cooperation with qualitative changes occurring in many industries including ICT. In broader terms, technologies such as Big Data analytics, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and FinTech are widely deployed. It is extremely important for the younger generation to have an opportunity to study in their homeland and receive education in demand on the labor market in Uzbekistan. It is nice to see bright-eyed young professionals brimming with ideas, who tomorrow will make it possible for our country to step in the technological digital future!” noted Sherzod Shermatov, ICT Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 

The VEON Group and its Beeline Uzbekistan subsidiary are sharing goals of the Republic and are actively involved in fostering local IT talents and facilitation of deployment of the latest technologies.

At the Digital Eurasia Forum, VEON experts have focused on AI and Big Data analytics. Although there is a portfolio of AI use cases that are successfully deployed across the Group’s geographical footprint, special attention has been given to the neural network which enables search and rescue operations. This AI-based instrument is mostly used to locate people lost in the woods or deserts.   

Some AI products of the Group have been launched in Uzbekistan for the first time. One of outstanding examples is advanced risk and credit scoring models for Fintech and insurance companies enabling optimization of the credit instrument management process. This is being developed by OTM, the VEON Group's new entity working on advanced AdTech and planning to open its office in Uzbekistan. 

In his speech at the forum, Group’s Chief of Staff, George Held has mentioned that the venue of the event, the International Tourism Center in Samarkand, is a landmark of today's Uzbekistan. 

“This is the place where the ancient history of the country is elegantly combined with the latest technological ecosystems. I’m especially pleased to share on this platform the latest transformational, meaningful achievements in AI and Big Data analytics, which have been already deployed across the VEON's subsidiaries, including Uzbekistan. Our advanced Geo-analytics, video and audio analytics, engines for the reference and risk scoring instruments developed by young talented professionals have quickly become highly demanded by corporate clients and consumers. Therefore, for us, AI is not a horror story from science fiction movies, these are the products that raise business efficiency and keep people’s lives free of informational garbage”, said George Held.