On September 23, Anatoly Motkin, President of StrategEast took part in the conference Eurasian Insights: Strengthening Central Asian Studies in Europe supported of Erasmus+ program, co-funded by the European Union.
Speaking at Thematic Cluster Panel on Developmental Dynamics, Mr. Motkin underlined that the IT industry as a relatively new sector of the economy in Central Asia can act as an accelerator of economic reforms in the region. Transparency embedded into the IT industry makes it an alternative means of combating corruption.
Talking about policy recommendations, Motkin emphasized: “The governments of the Central Asian countries have to publicly prioritize the development of the local IT industry. Only the IT industry is capable to create a significant number of high-paying jobs for young people and to prevent brain drain in a short period of time in this region, heavily hit by unemployment.”
Among other participants of the conference were researchers from George Washington University, University of Zurich, CEUS-Universiteit Gent, and others.
Official partners of the conference are: WIKISTAN – an organic community of Central Asia scholars; European Society for Central Asian Studies – ESCAS – a longstanding informal cooperation network of Central Asian scholars; Centre for Anthropological Studies on Central Asia – CASCA – A new center for anthropological research and collaboration based in Switzerland and Germany; Novostan.org – An expert French-German language news organization providing critical views on contemporary Central Asian Developments.