Maribor, December 24, 2025 – As part of a regional visit Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to Slovenia Altai Abibullayev, met with the leadership of the Institute of Information Sciences (IZUM - Institut informacijskih znanosti, Maribor) and discussed in detail the prospects for strategic and innovative cooperation, the development of digital technologies, artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

The Director of the Institute, Ales Bošnjak, noted that the Slovenian supercomputer and AI infrastructure is based on the integration of research information and library information systems. The Institute serves as UNESCO's regional center for library information systems. A special role in this is played by the cooperative bibliographic information system COBISS (Cooperative Bibliographic Information System), which unites 8 European countries. The system is based on the principle of a single catalog and metadata, used by all participating libraries, which ensures high data quality, cost reduction and full compatibility. An agreement in principle has been reached on establishing cooperation between COBISS and the National Library of Kazakhstan.

The Ambassador got acquainted in detail with the functionality of the Slovenian VEGA supercomputer, which was launched as part of the HPC RIVR (Research Infrastructure of the Eastern Region) initiative. VEGA with a capacity of 6.9 petaflops is designed for high-load computing in the fields of seismology, climate, weather forecasting, high-energy physics and space, medicine and pharmacy (drug search, disease modeling), engineering and industrial modeling, artificial intelligence and machine learning. Slovenia was able to successfully integrate the national supercomputing ecosystem into the unified national SLING supercomputing network.

Currently, a new large-scale VEGA-2 project, the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Factory, is being implemented in Slovenia on an area of 3,000 square meters. meters with a total budget of about 150 million euros, which consists of two interrelated parts: the acquisition of a new AI-oriented supercomputer, as well as the creation of AI services, research and industrial implementation. The project is being implemented in coordination with EuroHPC Joint Undertaking and is part of the pan-European AI supercomputer ecosystem (resources are distributed according to the principle: 50% of computing power are European projects, 50% are projects where Slovenia is the leader). AI Factory's focus verticals include green transition, smart cities, industrial AI, agro- and food-tech (one of Slovenia's strongest competencies).

Following the meeting, an agreement was reached in principle on further deepening bilateral scientific and technical cooperation and the development of joint innovative projects that strengthen the technological potential of both countries, in particular, the joint holding of the «Digital Bridge» IT Forum in Slovenia and the establishment of business cooperation between Astana Hub and IZUM. Special attention was also paid to the development of cooperation in the aerospace sector, including joint research initiatives, training of specialists and technology exchange.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/mfa-ljubljana/press/news/details/1131854?lang=kk