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ASHGABAT (TCA) — President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov held a video-conference working session on January 21 with the participation of some vice-premiers and hyakims (heads of administration) of Ashgabat and velayats (provinces), to discuss seasonal agricultural works and the aspects of social and economic development of the capital and regions, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reported. Continue reading
ASHGABAT (TCA) — At the recent session of the Turkmen Cabinet of Ministers, President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov focused on the objectives for provision of stable growth of all sectors of the economy, saying that implementation of the concept of digital economy is one of the key directions, the State News Agency of Turkmenistan reported. Continue reading
DUSHANBE (TCA) — Western diplomats in Tajikistan have expressed concern over the “periodic blockage” of news and social-media websites in the country. Continue reading
TASHKENT (TCA) — An award ceremony marking the completion of the Open Data Challenge 2018, a digital information competition organized by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Uzbekistan (PCUz) in co-operation with the Ministry for Development of Information Technology and Information of Uzbekistan, took place on December 7 in Tashkent. Continue reading
ASTANA (TCA) — Today Kazakhstan implements a digital agenda — digitalization is not only the provision of public services in a digital format, it is the development of the country's economy in general, Kazakhstan’s Prime Minister Bakytzhan Sagintayev said during the International Innovation Forum Digital Bridge on November 5, which brought together key representatives of the international IT community, recognized experts in the field of technology, business leaders, technology entrepreneurs, digital development professionals, scientists, and venture investors, the official website of the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan reported. Continue reading
ALMATY (TCA) — Authorities in Kazakhstan have applied the internet censorship in order to prevent the spread of opposition ideas via social media, to the irritation of many internet users who do not share any opposition moods. We are republishing this article on the issue, written by Almaz Kumenov, originally published by Eurasianet: Every evening for the past four months, social media websites have become largely unusable for many people in Kazakhstan. After 8 p.m., for a couple of hours, just as many people are winding down from a day at work, popular sites like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and messaging apps like Telegram work either slowly or not at all. Marat Kiyashev, a doctor from Almaty, said he was not especially irritated by the slowdown until the World Cup began. “Today I couldn’t go onto Facebook and talk with my friends about the awesome match between Belgium and Panama. It really made me mad,” Kiyashev told Eurasianet. The trouble appears to have stared around March, when a court in the capital, Astana, deemed the opposition group Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, DVK in its Russian initials, an extremist organization. DVK, which was set up by self-exiled government-foe Mukhtar Ablyazov and appears to have only a marginal following, has used online resources to spread the word. Aping the internet-savvy strategy of Russian opposition figures like Alexei Navalny, Ablyazov has taken to delivering political homilies through live video on Facebook – often in the evening. The Astana court’s extremism ruling has in effect criminalized the sharing of any of the movement’s publicity materials. The choking of internet connections each evening is another prong of the anti-DVK front, the government freely admits. In April, an IT system operator called Andrei Saifiyev posted a plaintive plea to the Information Ministry asking why some websites were performing so dismally. “Because of the constant blockages, support personnel at internet providers are going through a really rough time and getting accused of providing bad service,” Saifiyev wrote on a government portal intended to serve as a channel for direct communication with officials. “One third of evening traffic is incurred by YouTube, which is where DVK broadcasts are posted, so we are seeing blocks as a result. And people are losing a major outlet for leisure.” In his response, Information Minister Dauren Abayev said his office had filed requests with a range of websites – YouTube, Facebook, Vkontakte, Odnoklassniki, Twitter, Instagram and Telegram – to take down DVK materials. While Russian-based resources complied, others have proven less pliable. Criticism of government policy is not commonplace in Kazakhstan, but the internet restrictions have generated unusual levels of ill-will. “Why, when I get back home in the evening, [can’t I] just relax from work and talk to my friends on social media? What right do they have to do this?” said realtor Guliza Mambetaliyeva. The people getting annoyed are anything but DVK supporters – whom the authorities are ostensibly seeking to deprive of what they term seditious material. “I don’t believe...
