Bishkek, April 28 - Today, a public discussion in the form of a roundtable on “Digital Sustainability: Strategies for maintaining a safe digital ecosystem of the Kyrgyz Republic in the context of digital transformation” was organized by the public foundation “Civil Initiative on Internet Policy” with the support of UNDP in the Kyrgyz Republic

In the context of bringing digital transformation to public administration and the economy, digital sustainability plays the main role in defining the digital agenda. There are three important components to consider: cybersecurity, business continuity, and data and privacy management. With this in mind, the roundtable featured speakers from a variety of professional backgrounds including public foundations, state enterprises, digital risk and resilience consultancy firms and business advisory networks.

The roundtable served as a space for free exchange of views and public discussions on topics such as ways to achieve digital resilience in Kyrgyzstan, digital sustainability for digital platforms of the public sector, business continuity, international practices in protecting information and cyber security.

Erkinbek Kasybekov, Senior Advisor to the UNDP Resident Representative in the Kyrgyz Republic said: "Over the past 2 years, UNDP has been providing assistance to the government, including strengthening cyber resilience policies and practices, as part of the peacebuilding program funded by the UN Peacebuilding Fund. This direction is implemented jointly with the Citizen's Internet Policy Initiative, which was initially aimed at preventing the spread of violent ideologies in the Internet space and the protection of digital rights and freedoms of citizens. However, in the course of further implementation, it became evident that the prevention of violent ideologies and the protection of citizens' digital rights should be considered as a whole along with issues of digital resilience, to ensure comprehensive protection of the digital space, inclusive of protection of digital rights, personal data and information infrastructure of public, private and non-governmental institutions from cyber-attacks, cybercrimes, cyber threats and other unlawful actions. Thus, the results that are being discussed today are not only about preventing violent ideologies, but also about digital resilience in its broader sense."

In conclusion, Tattu Mambetalieva, Director of the Public Foundation "Civil Initiative on Internet Policy," noted that in order to achieve digital sustainability in Kyrgyzstan, the following steps must be implemented: eliminating gaps in the legislation, creating an independent data protection agency, establishing a National Operational Center for Digital Sustainability, improving access to the Internet, and improving digital literacy of the population.

The event was held under the project "Inclusive governance and justice system to prevent violent extremism" with the financial support from the UN Peacebuilding Fund.

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Contacts for media:

Nurzhan Alymkanova

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nurzhan.alymkanova@undp.org

0555068833