Uzbekistan proposes joint computing network for Central Asia and Azerbaijan

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev proposed on 8 October that Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan pool their capabilities and begin building a common computing infrastructure, the text published by his office says.

He made the proposal at the eighth Consultative Meeting of regional heads of state at Avaza in Turkmenistan, and said the infrastructure could be based on an interconnected network of national data centres. The text gives no capacity, budget, governance model or timetable.

The proposals

Mirziyoyev said artificial intelligence and big-data work are already changing industry, transport and energy, and that digital projects often deliver results faster than large infrastructure construction (translated from the Russian text). He said a shared network of data centres would allow computing capacity to be used more efficiently, support national digital products and create conditions for large AI projects. He also proposed joint sector training programmes, support for scientific projects and more opportunities for technology entrepreneurship. A separate summary from his office lists "common digital services and investment mechanisms" among the proposals on trade and investment.

Computing was one item on a broad list. The same speech proposed a regional alliance on critical minerals, digital monitoring of water resources and a coordinated transport and logistics network, so the computing network sits alongside several larger regional agendas. Neither document says which facilities would take part, who would operate or fund the network, how capacity would be allocated between countries or what technical standards would apply. Neither mentions satellite or fibre links between the countries.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev took a different approach at the same meeting, focused on governance rather than infrastructure. 24.kz said he proposed a Central Asian partnership programme on AI so that research centres, universities and technology companies can share information and experience. Trend reported that he said Kazakhstan has proposed a declaration on the responsible use of AI by the Central Asian states and Azerbaijan, and that the countries should begin developing joint approaches to control over critical technologies. Neither report links to a transcript from the Kazakh presidency, and neither mentions data centres.

The national baselines

The countries are at different stages. Kazakhstan's government said on 6 October that it plans to commission 186 MW of data centres in 2027 and a further 109 MW in the second quarter of 2028, and that its flagship Data Center Valley in Ekibastuz would have a capacity of at least 1 GW. In Uzbekistan, Mirziyoyev said on 19 September that six projects worth $8 billion would be carried out in a special zone for AI and data centres in Karakalpakstan, and the digital ministry said on 22 September that Uztelecom's new data centres in Bukhara and Kokand connect to TAS-IX. Azerbaijan's deputy digital development and transport minister, Rashad Hasanov, told an investment forum that talks on a data centre in the Alat free economic zone were nearing completion, Report.az reported, without naming a counterparty.

Interconnection is uneven. The Internet Society's Pulse tracker says 97 per cent of active networks in Tajikistan can exchange traffic through a local exchange point, against 73 per cent in Kazakhstan and 22 per cent in Uzbekistan. It lists no active exchange in Azerbaijan or Turkmenistan. The measure shows reach, not the data centre links a shared computing network would need, and it relies on self-reported records.

An idea with no capacity, budget or timetable

The proposal is at the stage of an idea put to leaders. The items to track are:

• whether the other governments respond to the computing proposal in a joint statement or follow-up working group;
• whether Uzbekistan attaches capacity or funding figures to it, for example through the Karakalpakstan zone;
• whether Kazakhstan's AI partnership and declaration are merged with it or run in parallel.