Denis Stepanets spoke at the forum ‘Digital Almaty: The Digital Future of the Global Economy’
On 31 January, Almaty hosted the Forum ‘Digital Almaty: The Digital Future of the Global Economy’ with the participation of the Prime Ministers of the EAEU countries.
Denis Stepanets, Managing Director of the DKA, spoke at the panel session "Vectors of Digital Transformation of the EAEU: 2020-2022‘ and spoke about the desirable path for the development of Eurasian electronic platforms:
’Various proposals are being put forward, such as the creation of a single Eurasian platform or the integration of national platforms, etc. In my opinion, both positions are debatable. I would like to express the following opinion.
We must look at the development of global technology giants in China and America. Through private innovation and rapid development, they are improving people's lives and making trade and financial products accessible to the general public.
With the support of their governments, tech giants are expanding beyond their countries' borders, exporting their countries' influence to other countries. We see this in the examples of Alibaba, Google, Amazon, etc. I will repeat once again that tech giants and ecosystems develop through private initiatives.
Our countries have fundamental tasks:
1) to support economic growth and 2) to protect the interests of the country. However, to solve these problems, it is not possible to replace technology with government efforts; on the contrary, it is necessary to promote the development of private technology so that platforms (ecosystems) become competitive.
Our countries have so-called national champions. These ecosystems are developing rapidly, improving people's lives, simplifying access to products and finance, protecting customer interests and strengthening the country's competitiveness. In other words, we need to support our existing ecosystems.
If the state seeks to replace the private sector and do better than the private sector, this will not be a sign of successful development. The same applies to excessive regulation by the state. Examples of what we already have include: the responsibility of aggregators in Russia, which has led to numerous legal disputes; in Belarus, the mandatory registration of online stores as a hidden form of licensing; in these countries, it is impossible to sell certain types of goods, etc.
As for Kazakhstan, we currently have adequate regulation, but there are constant attempts to over-regulate the processes of big data analysis, biometrics, and personal data.
Government agencies should note that in order for something to develop and function, it does not need to be regulated, especially when national private technology companies are in the process of being formed. Business develops where there is less state involvement. Development requires liberal regulation and state support (protection).
Otherwise, foreign technology companies will come, or are already on the threshold, and the dependence of our countries and populations on these foreign companies will grow.
There are no examples of technological breakthroughs resulting from government efforts that have strengthened the competitiveness of countries in the long term.
As a result, if the trends described above continue on the part of our governments, foreign technology companies will win this battle, and the competition from our companies will be zero.
Denis Stepanets, Managing Director of the DKA, spoke at the panel session "Vectors of Digital Transformation of the EAEU: 2020-2022‘ and spoke about the desirable path for the development of Eurasian electronic platforms:
’Various proposals are being put forward, such as the creation of a single Eurasian platform or the integration of national platforms, etc. In my opinion, both positions are debatable. I would like to express the following opinion.
We must look at the development of global technology giants in China and America. Through private innovation and rapid development, they are improving people's lives and making trade and financial products accessible to the general public.
With the support of their governments, tech giants are expanding beyond their countries' borders, exporting their countries' influence to other countries. We see this in the examples of Alibaba, Google, Amazon, etc. I will repeat once again that tech giants and ecosystems develop through private initiatives.
Our countries have fundamental tasks:
1) to support economic growth and 2) to protect the interests of the country. However, to solve these problems, it is not possible to replace technology with government efforts; on the contrary, it is necessary to promote the development of private technology so that platforms (ecosystems) become competitive.
Our countries have so-called national champions. These ecosystems are developing rapidly, improving people's lives, simplifying access to products and finance, protecting customer interests and strengthening the country's competitiveness. In other words, we need to support our existing ecosystems.
If the state seeks to replace the private sector and do better than the private sector, this will not be a sign of successful development. The same applies to excessive regulation by the state. Examples of what we already have include: the responsibility of aggregators in Russia, which has led to numerous legal disputes; in Belarus, the mandatory registration of online stores as a hidden form of licensing; in these countries, it is impossible to sell certain types of goods, etc.
As for Kazakhstan, we currently have adequate regulation, but there are constant attempts to over-regulate the processes of big data analysis, biometrics, and personal data.
Government agencies should note that in order for something to develop and function, it does not need to be regulated, especially when national private technology companies are in the process of being formed. Business develops where there is less state involvement. Development requires liberal regulation and state support (protection).
Otherwise, foreign technology companies will come, or are already on the threshold, and the dependence of our countries and populations on these foreign companies will grow.
There are no examples of technological breakthroughs resulting from government efforts that have strengthened the competitiveness of countries in the long term.
As a result, if the trends described above continue on the part of our governments, foreign technology companies will win this battle, and the competition from our companies will be zero.
