In honor of “Europe Day” on May 9 and “World Telecommunication and Information Society Day” on May 17, the Kyrgyz Internet Society hosted a webinar entitled “What are the digital opportunities for rural residents?” The webinar was attended by leaders of several EU-funded projects in Kyrgyzstan that provided information technology opportunities and grant support to youth, women and migrants in rural areas.
The webinar was opened by Hans Farnhammer, First Counselor of the Delegation of the European Union to the Kyrgyz Republic, Head of the Cooperation Department.
“Kyrgyzstan has taken a big step in digitalization. I think that the development is very fast and covers all areas: education and services. To develop them on a larger scale, we need an in-depth study of digital skills. I am very pleased that we are working with civil society to bring these skills to you. This is an invaluable opportunity for all of us,” said Hans Farnhammer.
Kseniya Tyshkevich, Project Coordinator from the European Neighborhood Council (ENC), Project “Promoting Equal Economic Opportunities and Resilience of Youth” in the Kyrgyz Republic (Sanarip Insan):
“To put it simply, a young entrepreneur living across the ocean or in a remote part of Kyrgyzstan can sell his products on the Internet, advertise or draw new ideas from the global flow of information, and he has such an opportunity. Based on this logic, the Sanarip Insan project is being implemented with the support of the European Union.”
Also speaking at the webinar were Prof. Ermanno Pietrocemoli, President of the Escuela Latinoamericana de Redes (EsLaRed) Foundation of the International Center for Theoretical Physics of the ICTP Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, and Grégoire Pouget, Co-Founder and CEO of Nothing2Hide:
“We all know about the benefits of the Internet, but sometimes it can be counterproductive and our joint project Sanarip Tazalyk helps and protects local journalists and activists.”
The remainder of the webinar featured presentations by the leaders of several projects funded by the European Union. Banur Abdiyeva, DigiKonush project coordinator, Leader PF director, Zhash Tabyshker project manager, Enactus Kyrgyzstan executive director Gulbarchin Suyunova, Sanarip Insan project media expert Sapargul Abdinabiyeva and Nurbek Arzymbayeva, Sanarip Tazalyk project manager shared information about their projects, goals and ways of their implementation.
At the end of the webinar, Talant Sultanov, Chairman of the Kyrgyz Internet Society, summed up the importance of achieving goals through cooperation and thanked the participants of the webinar.
The purpose of the webinar “What are the digital opportunities for rural residents?” – to inspire people in the regions, especially youth, women and migrants in remote rural areas, to learn about education, technology education, and provide information about grant opportunities. The main broadcast was on the Zoom platform, which was broadcast live on the official pages of the Kyrgyz Internet Society on YouTube and Facebook. It was attended by about 200 people from all over the country.
