Olzhas Bektenov holds NU and NIH Supreme Board of Trustees meeting

Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov held a meeting of the Supreme Board of Trustees of NU, NIH and Nazarbayev Foundation. The report on the work done was heard and plans for further development were considered, El.kz cites primeminister.kz.

NU President Waqar Ahmad said that the university is one of the leading institutions of higher education, research and innovation in the Central Asian region. Since 2011, about 360 scientific projects, more than 9 thousand publications, more than 500 start-ups have been presented. Contribution to the development of human capital is characterised by a high employment rate since 2015 about 95% of graduates get a good job or continue their studies. The meeting outlined approaches to improve the quality of education and efficiency of NU to achieve the goal of entering the top 300 of the Times Higher World University Rankings and the top 2 among CIS countries.

Anuar Zhangozin, Chairman of the Board of NUSH, spoke on the development of secondary education. To date, 135 regional educational organisations have been supported under the Capacity Development of Support Schools in Rural Areas project, and 583 specialists have been trained, who subsequently became principals of rural schools. In the coming year, it is planned to develop another 200 reference schools in rural areas.

The Chairman and members of the Board of Trustees voiced a number of questions regarding the plans of NU and NISH to improve the quality of education, taking into account the current agenda, improvement of administrative and budgetary processes.

During the visit to the technology park at NU University Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov got acquainted with the advanced scientific developments in the field of healthcare and development of AI, mining and metallurgical industry, which are implemented by researchers of the university and aimed at commercialisation of scientific solutions.

The Head of the Government was informed that today 32 Kazakhstani companies operate on the territory of the technopark with the area of 3 thousand square metres, experimental workshop, digital prototyping laboratory, special economic zone regime opportunities are provided. Heads of scientific projects together with industrial partners demonstrated their products and reported on the dynamics in terms of achieving the objectives set earlier by the Prime Minister on commercialisation and promotion of developments.

Each project is evaluated on the TRL scale, receiving scores from 0 to 9 according to the level of technology readiness.

The maximum score was given to a number of developments: educational IT project Codiplay, startup Smartview Innovation for the mining and metallurgical sector and a medical device manufacturing company IHT Central Asia.

Kazakhstan startup Codiplay, a project aimed at developing digital skills among schoolchildren, currently covers more than 450 educational institutions in 10 countries, including the UK, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Azerbaijan. Work to introduce the technology is underway in schools in Kazakhstan. By the end of this year, 10 educational organisations in Turkestan region will be connected to the Codiplay ecosystem with further expansion to another 60 institutions in 2025, including in Aktobe and Karaganda regions. Olzhas Bektenov instructed the Ministry of Education together with local executive bodies to actively implement Codiplay developments in schools, which will allow for more effective teaching of digital innovations to schoolchildren. The project was approved by the Altynsarin National Academy of Education, and the company's product Coditeach was recognised by UNICEF as a Digital Public Good, which creates additional opportunities to enter international markets.

Smartview Innovation LLP's startup is aimed at improving the efficiency of mining. The new technology saves up to 90% of labour hours, increases employee safety measures by 80%, and increases the efficiency of apparatchiks by 50%. The head of the Government was informed that at the moment a pilot project has been implemented with Central Asia Mining Co. in Turkestan region, and an additional partner is being sought. The startup plans to expand into international markets, including Russia, Canada, Australia and the US.

IHT Central Asia specialises in the development and production of medical devices. The Kazakh-Spanish company has already produced more than 4,000 items this year, including coronary stents and catheters that help treat myocardial infarction and coronary heart disease. The company plans to open a joint research and development centre with the Technopark, launch a factory for the production of domestic suture material and expand cooperation with SK-Pharmacia. Currently, the company exports its products to Kyrgyzstan and plans to enter 7 countries. The Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of Healthcare to work with SK-Pharmacia and the National Centre for Expertise of Medicines to assist domestic manufacturers. In turn, the Ministry of Industry has been tasked to expand the coverage of TNA with export support measures.

The Head of the Government was also presented with projects on launching production of exoskeletons for rehabilitation of people with impaired locomotor functions, creation of a system for long-term transport of a donor organ at the preclinical stage, a new anti-cancer drug. The developments are at various stages of clinical trials.

On the project in the field of transplantology Olzhas Bektenov, taking into account the growing demand among the population, instructed to accelerate the procedure for obtaining certification in case of compliance with all the requirements of modern medicine. Chairman of the Board of University Medical Centre Corporate Foundation, cardiac surgeon Yuri Pya noted that the uniqueness of the development lies in the ability not only to preserve the isolated organ for more than 24 hours, but also to carry out treatment, monitoring of its condition, in particular, doctors have access to such procedures as ultrasound, intravascular research.

On a number of projects in the use of artificial intelligence in the management of water resources, deep processing of metals, today negotiations are underway to identify industrial partners, detailed plans for the development of production.

In addition, the head of the Government was presented 10 new developments with commercial potential in the fields of information technology, medicine, robotics, artificial intelligence, energy, education.

Olzhas Bektenov emphasised that the Government supports advanced projects that aim to develop the economy and improve the quality of life of the population. The university management and heads of the concerned state bodies have set tasks to integrate science and production, to establish sales and targeting exports.

"In his Address, the Head of State emphasised the need to strengthen the connection between universities and the real sector of the economy.Scientific developments, some of which we have familiarised ourselves with, have serious prospects of becoming successful business projects. It is important for us to synchronise innovation policy with the country's scientific and technological priorities. We must not only create favourable conditions to stimulate R&D projects, but also facilitate their commercialisation.This will strengthen Kazakhstan's position in the international arena and will give an impetus to the development of high-tech industries," Olzhas Bektenov noted.

Subscribe to our Telegram channel and be the first to know the news!