Nazarbayev University conducted a series of events on 14 September 2019, Saturday to announce important new initiatives in the sphere of digital development. The event was organized in support initiatives of the Government of Kazakhstan in the field of digitalization.

The day began with a panel discussion, on the topic of “The Future of AI in Kazakhstan, and the Role of Nazarbayev University” to outline NU’s future projects in the field of Artificial intelligence. As was marked by NU President, moderator of the session Shigeo Katsu, these projects are planned in partnership with World Bank, United Arab Emirates, and Association of Cognitive Cities. One of the discussed projects is about smart cities development in Kazakhstan.

The next session focused on “AI in Research and Academia”. This panel presented recent changes in Nazarbayev University, such as the creation of the School of Engineering and Digital Sciences, the new graduate program in Data Science and the formal launch of the new Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence (ISSAI). All these initiatives aimed to accelerate innovation in digitalization and to prepare active professionals in these fields. The session was concluded with a signing ceremony for a joint Memorandum of Understanding between ISSAI and the Eurasian Resources Group (ERG), for joint research and development projects in the field of Smart Industry and Artificial Intelligence.

The NU Digital Day included exhibitions in the field of artificial intelligence and robotics of the University and Kazakh companies. As part of artificial intelligence infrastructure development within the territory of NU, there was a demonstration of “Smart Campus” project, and next-generation 5G wireless connectivity.

The event also featured the formal launch of the new book “The Next Master of the World. Artificial Intelligence” to the NU community by invited guest Karim Massimov.