Kazakhstan will be a digital powerhouse with the government declaring intentions to create a great international computing hub in the Pavlodar Region.  The region serves as the cornerstone to a larger plan of making use of artificial intelligence (AI) and  high-performance computing (HPC). It will  also bridge cross-border connectivity on the space of infrastructural development.

The project will turn the current Data Center Valley in – a coal-powered power infrastructure city – into a globally competitive computing industry. Furtherly, it will  accommodate cloud services, AI processing sites, and foreign data centers. Moreover, the growth will bring foreign, direct investment and cloud hyperscalers. It will furtherly enable Kazakhstan to move to high value digital services.

The officials have observed two enablers to the project which include cheap electricity from the local Ekibastuz GRES-1 power plant and improved telecommunications infrastructure across borders. The government has assigned a plot of land and  has hired a 300 megawatts (MW) of power capacity. This will  accommodate the preliminaries of the build-out. The government is also negotiating with international investors and technology companies as part of the preparation process.

Digital Expansion of Kazakhstan: AI and Connectivity Anchoring the International Computing Hub

In addition, officials have said that the success of the digital economy will heavily depends on a well-developed connectivity infrastructure.  On a nationwide level, the development of fiber-optic networks is complete, equipping highways with communications systems and connecting villages to high-speed internet. Such digital backbone investments will help in anchoring the international computing hub and AI ecosystem generally.

Moreover, they have emphasized that over 90 percent of villages will be connected to fiber-optic internet by 2027. Furthermore,  all national highways will be equipped with strong communications infrastructure. This will contribute to the increased popularity of the hub to foreign partners willing to have unproblematic data exchange between countries. Internet connectivity stations through satellite internet will  spread those services to adjacent nations. This will further strengthen the leadership position of Kazakhstan as a connectivity hub in the region.

An AI-powered Timeline and Anchor Facility

One of the center points will be the 50-MW AI-dedicated data processing hub currently being erected by the national telecom operator, Kazakhtelecom.  The center which will be be launched in the middle of 2027 will provide processing power tenfold to that of the recently acquired state supercomputer by the government. It will also improve its large AI model training, data analytics, and cloud service delivery capabilities.

Furtherly, the officials says that the hub will be a platform of a new economic model based on utilizing big data, machine learning, and cloud computing.  This will furtherly increase productivity in industrial, scientific and commercial areas. Ultimately, the investments in the infrastructure will  lead to the high-skilled employment and allow the  exportation of the digital services.

Perspective and Strategic Significance

The Pavlodar computing hub is a geographical shift in the digital development agenda of Kazakhstan. This can be explained by the desire of the government to use its resources in  developing technologies as one of the key drivers of economic growth. Moreover, the project has the potential to improve the positions of Kazakhstan in the global digital economy by enabling international collaboration and increasing digital infrastructure on a large scale basis.

Project Factsheet: Kazakhstan International Computing Hub

• Country: Kazakhstan
• Sector: Digital Infrastructure / Technology / AI / HPC.
• Project owner: Government of a Republic of Kazakhstan (Ministry of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Development)
• Location: Ekibastuz (Pavlodar Region).
• Key Elements: Global computers centre, data centres, 50 MW AI processing facility.
• Power on Reservation: GRES-1: 300 MW.
• Digital Enablers: Networks National fiber-optic coverage, cross border connectivity infrastructure.
• Status: Land allocation already done; negotiations with investors are taking place; a data center is set for construction.

Key Milestones:

• Connection growth and infrastructure development (2026-2027)
• AI centre commissioning (Mid-2027)
• Hub growth in partnership with other airlines (2027 onwards)

The computing hub will solidify the claim of the country of Kazakhstan as a technology hub in the region.