Kazakhstan will develop a unique innovation system — Joseph Ziegler on the prospects of Astana Hub

The CEO of Astana Hub Joseph Ziegler announced this Nov. 5 on the sidelines of the International Innovation Forum Digital Bridge.

Joseph Ziegler is the creator of several software solutions, he participated in the development of DoubleClick Dart. In Kazakhstan, in the framework of Astana Hub, he intends to develop academic work in the field of startup projects.

“I was brought here to help build the Kazakhstan ecosystem. We start by attracting talented foreign professionals who already have experience to help us build an ecosystem here. We have a lot of work to do: we need to build a venture capital system, develop technologies, attract young people so that they can make a compelling and interesting career. Basically we want to shift the whole economy, to make it more based on ideas and the power of entrepreneurs. This is what I do here and I am very excited about it,” said Ziegler.

The expert shared his vision on the development of innovations in Kazakhstan.

“Everyone wants to duplicate the Silicon Valley. But we are not going to duplicate the Silicon Valley. Usually it does not work this way. We are going to create our own version based on the advantages that we have in Kazakhstan. Silicon Valley has been developed a long time ago, from defence systems, it is a completely different system. But we are going to develop a unique, Kazakhstani innovation system, using the advantages that we have here. For example, we have a stock exchange, a young, well-educated generation, many innovations in the field of resources, so this will be the Kazakhstan Silicon Valley,” Joseph Ziegler emphasized.

He also noted the need for such international forums.

“This forum will do two things. The first, of course, is the attraction of experts who share their opinions with each other and with the audience. Second, for me it is also networking with people who we can use to build everything in the future. For example, we have established contacts with representatives of the Startup Genome Ranking who make ratings of different ecosystems, they will help us improve the Kazakh ecosystem and thereby raise our position in their rankings. We also spoke with tax schools and other companies, we can hold a forum market expansion. Therefore, I am very pleased with such opportunities,” said Joseph Ziegler.

 


 

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