Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 14 April, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held a meeting on the results achieved in the field of information technology and tasks for the current year.

Today, information technology has penetrated into all spheres of life. In many respects, progress in other areas, as well as the growth of the quality and comfort of life of the population, depends on the development of this sector.

Therefore, in recent years, large-scale work has been done to improve the IT infrastructure and staff training. The quality and volume of services have increased significantly.

For example, if in 2017 the level of coverage of settlements with mobile Internet was 30 percent, now it is 96 percent. In 2017, the export volume of the industry was only US$600,000, last year this figure reached US$46 million, and in the first quarter of this year - US$16 million.

More than 11 thousand young people work in IT parks. The youth trained by the One Million Programmers project are laying a solid foundation for the future of the industry.

At the same time, there are many problems and untapped opportunities. In particular, the level of fiber-optic Internet coverage and Internet speed in the regions remain unsatisfactory. Only 38 percent of motorways are covered by mobile internet. The state of development of the industry is uneven across regions - 90 percent of IT services are in Tashkent. The situation in Karakalpakstan, Andijan and Surkhandarya is especially difficult.

Some ministries and departments use outdated, unreliable and non-integrated information systems.

The meeting noted a number of other shortcomings and emphasized the need to accelerate digitalization in all industries and regions.

The new Development Strategy set the goal of increasing the volume of IT services by 2.5 times and exporting the industry to US$500 million.

The head of state stressed that for this it is necessary to turn Uzbekistan into a regional IT center.

It was instructed to constantly expand the range of services, to bring the volume of exports in the industry to US$100 million by the end of this year. The task was set to attract more companies to IT parks and organize remote service centers. Thanks to this, more than 5,000 young people will get highly paid jobs.

The meeting also analyzed the implementation of projects under the Digital Uzbekistan 2030 program. By the end of this year, 404 regional and 133 sectoral projects will be launched.

The Ministry for the Development of Information Technologies and Communications was instructed to integrate another 70 services into the Single Portal of Interactive Public Services. Thus, the total number of services on the portal will be 376.

Mobile applications will also be created for another 50 services, such as registration of a pension, obtaining personal certificates, and insurance. This will increase the number of online users of public services to 4 million.

The issues of expansion of telecommunication networks were also considered. In particular, this year it is planned to install 6.8 thousand new mobile stations, connect 80 remote villages to networks, increase fiber optic coverage to 80 percent, and provide 60 percent of roads with mobile Internet. A Large Data Storage and Processing Center will be launched in Tashkent region.

Instructions were given to transform Uzbektelecom into a high-tech company exporting quality services, and to obtain an international rating for it.

The issue of strengthening cybersecurity was also touched upon. The task to critically study the information systems of all ministries and departments and take the necessary measures was put.

Another priority in the sphere is the development of science and education.

Today, the digitalization of the economy requires another 12,000 highly qualified specialists. In this regard, it was proposed to transform the Tashkent University of Information Technologies into a scientific and educational cluster, to create a modern IT park university.

Responsible persons provided information on the issues discussed at the meeting.