Pursuant to the decisions of the Heads of State taken at the OTS Summit held in Astana in 2015, the Organization of Turkic States has engaged in cooperation in the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). So far, five meetings of the Ministers in charge of ICT and six Working Group meetings on ICT cooperation took place. The Ministers in charge of ICT also met at an ad-hoc meeting in Baku.

The Secretariat attended Business Forum entitled ‘Organization of Turkic States and World Telecommunication and Information Society Day’ hosted by the Ministry of Transport, Maritime and Communications of the Republic of Türkiye on 17 May 2017 in Istanbul, the IT conference and exhibition \"WCO IT 2017” that was held on 7 June 2017 in Tbilisi and the International Forum “Taza Koom” (Smart Society) held on 11 June 2017 in Bishkek.
Moreover, ad-hoc Meeting of Ministers in charge of ICT was organized on 9 September 2019 in the margins of “ITU World Telecom 2019” in Budapest.
On 21 September 2020, an online Ad-Hoc Meeting of the Organization of Turkic States Sub-Working Group on Cyber Security was conducted to discuss the measures taken by the Member States in the cyber security area, exchange information and best practices to better respond to the current regional security challenges and security threats expected as a consequence of COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to develop an appropriate mechanism for establishing regional cyber-security platform within the Organization of Turkic States.
Furthermore, field visit programs were conducted by Secretariat to Azerbaijan (“ASAN Service”) and Kazakhstan (“Zerde Holding”) in 2021 to exchange their experiences and best practices in e-government and e-services, as well as to explore the experiences of one-stop-shops and open data.The special Forum on the theme \"Role of Innovation and Technology Development in the Turkic Region\" was organized by OTS Secretariat in the framework of the \"InnoWeek.Uz-2021\" on 23 November 2021 in Tashkent. During two panel sessions on the topics \"Regional Technology Development: from Past to Present\" and \"Turkic Model of IT and Technology Transfer Cooperation\", participants had interactive discussions on the evolution of technology development in the Turkic region and exchanged best practices and views on enhancing coordination among relevant national/regional actors and IT and innovative companies and high-tech parks operating in the region, as well as explored main challenges faced by the Turkic countries in this field.
The First Meeting among the Space Agencies and Relevant Authorities of the Organization of Turkic States was convened on 20 December 2021 in Baku. At the meeting, Parties made presentations regarding their activities and prospective projects in the field of space as well as cooperation opportunities under the roof of the Organization of Turkic States. During the meeting, Parties underlined the importance of increasing cooperation in the field of space and agreed to establish working groups in “spacecraft and infrastructure development projects and programs” and “education and space awareness programs”. Parties further agreed to work on joint-usage of satellite data from the resources of Member States’; sharing the expertise in various applications, such as water management, natural disasters monitoring, ecology, agriculture and others; designing, manufacturing and launching a joint satellite by the Member States; studying the matter of space standards development in order to coordinate future cooperation; as well as promoting capacity building and experience sharing programs in Aero-Space Research and Development Activities. At the end of the meeting, Parties signed the agreed points and joint project proposals to be realized in the upcoming period.
The Secretariat of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) convened two days online ad-hoc meeting of the Working Group on Information and communication Technologies (ICT) with the participation of experts from relevant authorities of the Member States of OTS in 3 sub-groups namely: digital infrastructure, e-government and cyber-security on 26-27 April 2022. The Member States agreed to further explore opportunities for sharing knowledge, experience and information in the field of information technology, as well as exchanged views on the agenda of the special Meeting of Ministers in charge of ICT to be held on 26 May 2022 in Baku.
The Second Working Group Meeting among the Space Agencies and Relevant Authorities of the Organization of Turkic States was convened on 11 May 2022 in Tashkent. Technical experts from the Member and Observer States in the field of space technologies took place at the Working Group Meeting to discuss the prospective cooperation opportunities with the aim of developing joint projects. In this regard, the Parties discussed the details of developing a joint cube satellite and organizing joint workshops and youth camps within the Organization of Turkic States.
Upon proposal of Azerbaijani side, the Ad-hoc Meeting of the Ministers in charge of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) of the OTS was convened on 26 May 2022 in Baku in the margins of the Aerospace and Technology Festival “TEKNOFEST” (26-29 May, 2022). During the meeting, Ministers shared information on the developments in the Information and Communication sector and the mobile and internet services, digitalization, public-private partnerships as well as role of start-ups in achieving the technological innovation in their respective countries. Parties further held discussions on the existing cooperation in the ICT field under the sub-working groups namely: Development of Digital Infrastructure, E-Government, Cyber Security as well as cooperation in implementing joint projects for the development of ICT infrastructure in the Member States. Parties supported the initiative to develop a “Common Mobile Device Registration System” among the OTS Member States, establish cooperation among the start-ups from the different spheres of the Member and Observer States as well as raised the issues related to the “Digital Innovation Catalogue of the OTS” project in the upcoming period. At the end of the meeting, Executive Director of the Center for Analysis and Coordination of the 4th Industrial Revolution under the Ministry of Economy of the Republic Azerbaijan and Executive Director of the MEXT Technology Center of Türkiye made joint presentation about the activities of their Centers and communicated their views on establishing close cooperation in the field of technology transformation, implementing capability building programs and the 4th Industrial Revolution among the Member States. The delegation of the Organization of Turkic States headed by the Secretary General participated in the 4th Digital Bridge 2022 International Technological Forum being held on 28-29 September 2022 in Astana. Within the framework of the Digital Bridge Forum, the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) co-hosted a panel session with the theme of “Innovation and Startup Ecosystem Enablers in the OTS Member States” held on 29 September 2022 in Astana, which was initiated by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan H.E. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during the Istanbul Summit of the OTS. During the panel discussions, the panelists briefed the participants about the development of the innovation ecosystem in their countries and the conditions created for the startups and IT companies in the Turkic region. The heads of the Turkic IT and Techno Parks also discussed the ways to enhance the network and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation among them and exchanged views on the priority areas of their collaboration including ecosystem development programs, facilitation with R&D, infrastructure, investment attraction, providing access to various markets, and capacity building as well as concepts of planned projects and programs within the Organization.As an outcome of the discussions, the Memorandum of Understanding among Technoparks from the Member States of the Organization of Turkic States was signed within the framework of the Digital Bridge Forum.
The Fourth Meeting of the Ministers in charge of ICT of Organization of Turkic States was convened on 26 October 2022 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan. During the meeting, Ministers exchanged views on the developments in ICT, transformation of public services and E-gov, digitalization, public-private partnerships as well as role of start-ups in achieving the technological innovation in their respective countries. Heads of Delegations highly appreciated the successful organization of major IT-related events within the OTS in line with theme of the 8th OTS Summit “Green Technologies and Smart Cities in the Digital Age”, such as panel sessions of Turkic Technoparks within “Astana Digital Bridge Forum” and “ICT-Week Uzbekistan”, “Expert conference for IT professionals specializing in \"Smart cities\" in the framework of \"InnoWeek - 2022\", as well as signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation among the techno parks of the OTS Member States.
The Ministers also made proposals on the exchange of experiences and best practices in e-government and e-services, the implementation of projects “Global Public Services Gateway”, “Digital Silk Road” and creation of a startup valley in Turkic space, establishment of joint venture funds as well as exploring the experiences of one-stop-shops and non-stop-shops and open data in OTS region. Following the meeting, Heads of delegations signed the “Memorandum of Understanding on the development of IT field in the Member States of the Organization of Turkic States” and adopted the “Concept on Creation a permanent platform of experts and IT specialists to exchange experience and transfer innovations in building Smart Cities”.
Recently, the Secretariat of the Organization of Turkic States in close partnership with “Bilkent Cyberpark” organized a field visit program for OTS Member States to “Technoparks and Innovation Centers of Türkiye” on 9-11 May 2023 in Ankara and Istanbul.
The primary aim of this visit program was to exchange best practices and experiences of Türkiye, to get acquainted with the advanced ecosystem created in the technoparks (infrastructure, services, incentives, investment and venture capital mechanisms, and etc.), to explore opportunities for future collaboration and networking among technoparks, enabling them to establish connections with potential partners, mentors, or investors.
During the program, delegation consisted of representatives of IT and technoparks, innovation centers of the OTS Member States visited “Bilkent Cyberpark”, “Ankara Technology Bridge”, “ODTÜ Teknokent”, “Hacettepe Teknokent”, “Bilişim Vadisi” and “TOGG” Headquarter, “Istanbul Technopark”, “Fark Lab” Technology Development Center, as well as held bilateral meetings with some of the best Turkish IT companies.
The Secretariat met with the Information Technology companies from the Kyrgyz Republic in the Secretariat of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) in Istanbul on 13 June 2023, where the Parties exchanged their views on potential works and mechanisms of development and strengthening cooperation between public and private sectors within Turkic region. During the program, the delegation visited and explored cooperation opportunities of institutions and technology centers in Istanbul that have an important role in Türkiye's digital transformation, such as “Istanbul Technical University Technopark”, “Bilişim Vadisi” and “Özdemir Bayraktar National Technology Center”.
An online meeting of respective national mobile/internet operator companies of the OTS Member States on “Digital Silk Way”- Trans Caspian Fiber Optic project was conducted by Secretariat of the Organization on 11 April 2023. During the meeting, Azerbaijani “AzerTelecom” LLC and Kazakhstan “KazakhTelecom” provided updated information on the ongoing work on realization of the Project and invited the OTS Member and Observer States to participate in the “Digital Silk Way” project. As a result of the discussions, the Parties agreed that the Secretariat will assist in determining the total need for internet traffic of the Turkic states to ensure the necessary overall throughput of the project.
The Secretariat promoted the two "Hero Training Programs" organized by the Astana Hub for technology start-ups from OTS Member States in Silicon Valley, USA.
Extraordinary meeting of the Ministers in charge of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) was convened on 20 June 2023 in an online format. The meeting was organized and hosted by the initiative of H.E. Bagdat Mussin, Minister of Digital Development, Innovations and Aerospace Industry of the Republic of Kazakhstan and chaired by OTS Secretary General, Amb. Kubanychbek Omuraliev. During the meeting the Ministers discussed and exchanged their views on the initiatives of the Republic of Kazakhstan such as Establishment of the “OTS Digitalization Center”, Integration of e-government and research and development of advanced digital technologies for implementation into national Gov Tech practices, Establishment of the “Turkic IT House” in USA, “Turkic Metaverse” and “Turkic Venture Fund”.
The 6th Working Group meeting on ICT cooperation and 5th Meeting of Ministers in Charge of ICT of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) was held on 6-7 December 2023 in Bishkek, with the participation of the Ministers and high-level representatives from the Member States and Observers. The Meeting was hosted by H.E. Nuriya Kutnaeva Minister of Digital Development of the Kyrgyz Republic and attended by H.E. Ambassador Kubanychbek Omuraliev, Secretary General of the OTS, and other High-Level officials of the OTS Member States and Observers.
During the meeting, the Parties discussed strengthening cooperation in the field of ICT among the OTS member states, in particular, issues of improving and expanding broadband infrastructure through participation in the Trans-Caspian Fiber Optic Project ("Digital Silk Way"), further implementation of e-government initiatives and digital government services, electronic document exchange, mutual recognition of electronic signatures, establishing a close network and cooperation between technoparks and technology/innovation centers, creating a common protection platform against cyber incidents and cyber-attacks, as well as continuing exchange of experience and knowledge sharing programs. The meeting also featured presentations on e-government of the Kyrgyz Republic's by "Infocom" State Enterprise and "Tunduk" State Agency, as well as the activities of the newly established "Silk Road Innovation Hub" (Silicon Valley, USA).
As an outcome of the meeting, the Heads of Delegations signed the Joint Declaration of the 5th Meeting of Ministers in Charge of ICT.

Last Update: 2.08.2024 17:33:06