The Kcell Company became a partner of a special project of the National Business portal «Is Kazakhstan ready for digitalization». The goal of the project is to analyze and cover as many aspects and business processes of Kazakhstan companies as possible and to correlate the processes of digital transformation of domestic business with state transformations. It is based on the results of two studies — KPMG and Zerde NICH and Centras.
«In the corporate segment, the Kcell supports Kazakhstan business at all stages of digital transformation for several years. For small businesses as well as for multinational corporations, this is not an easy path and, often, there are costly mistakes. Insufficient knowledge of technology, demand for investments, lack of qualified staff and even legislative barriers are the incomplete list of the difficulties that business faces in the process of digital transformation. These barriers are familiar to us, as we are changing ourselves, simultaneously going deep into the internal processes of our corporate clients. Together with our clients, we are coming this way to adapt to changes and meet the requirements of the Industry 4.0», pointed out Vadim Liu, Director on Business-Market Development of the Kcell JSC.
20 IT directors of the country’s largest companies have taken a part in the study «Is Kazakhstan Ready for Digitalization». These experts noted that the development of the ICT industry in our country is closely linked with the development of the economy: the higher the level of economic development, the higher the level of ICT development. At the same time, the growth of the ICT industry not only creates jobs, it also increases the efficiency of other sectors of the economy. As the study showed, Kazakhstan’s IT market in 2016 grew by 19%, and its volume amounted to 559 695 million tenge. The survey participants attribute this to the increase in the volume of purchased IT equipment and IT services.
Konstantin Aushev, Head of the Consulting Group in the field of IT representation of the KPMG in Kazakhstan, noted that in order to achieve the set goals for the development of the ICT sector in Kazakhstan, it is required to continue the development of the infrastructure. In particular, it is necessary to bring broadband Internet access to all populated areas of the country and increase the mobile Internet 4G / LTE covering. The conditions for business shall be significantly improved, it is necessary to stimulate demand and promotion of Kazakhstan ICT goods and services in the domestic market. Access to finance and the development of human capital also need to be improved.
The necessity to pay special attention to human capital is also emphasized in the study of the Centras group. This study analyzed key aspects that have an impact on Kazakhstan’s readiness for the Industry 4.0. Respondents noted that a weak level of professionalism is the main factor which negatively affects the transition of Kazakhstan enterprises to the Industry 4.0. At the same time, the financial side of this process, in the opinion of the survey participants, is of secondary importance.