A meeting of the Kostanay Region Digital Headquarters was held under the chairmanship of the regional head, Kumar Aksakalov. The Head of State declared 2026 the Year of Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence.

Within the agenda, the issue of implementing the Strategy for building "smart cities" in the Kostanay Region was considered.

A report was presented by the head of the Department of Informatization, Provision of Public Services and Archives of the Kostanay Region Akimat, Azamat Kashiev. Co-reporters included the Akim of the city of Kostanay, Marat Zhundubaev, the acting head of the Department of Energy and Housing and Communal Services of the Kostanay Region Akimat, Azamat Sabirzhan, as well as the director of ECO-SERVICE-2030 LLP, Vitaliy Siukhov.

The meeting presented the current results of the digitalization of the city of Kostanay and the region's housing and communal services, implemented within the framework of the Republic of Kazakhstan's "Smart City" Reference Standard.

It was noted that by the end of 2025, 6 key digital projects with a total value of approximately 242 million tenge had been implemented in the regional center. Among the priority areas are the development of the Situation Center and the "AiKey" information system, the introduction of digital control services in the utility sector, and the development of the urban digital platform "Smart Qostanai," which integrates 78 services for the population.

Special attention during the meeting was paid to issues of urban infrastructure development. Measures for automating street lighting, modernizing traffic light facilities, introducing "smart" bus stops, digitalizing utility service accounting, and improving public safety levels were considered.

Projects planned for implementation in 2026 were also discussed. They are aimed at further introducing artificial intelligence technologies, developing video surveillance systems, and implementing pilot solutions in the areas of "smart" transport and urban environment monitoring.

During the meeting, the regional Akim, Kumar Aksakalov, emphasized the strategic importance of the region's digitalization:

"We must systematically make efforts to transform the region into a modern digital region. Within the current year, the launch of a number of projects to introduce advanced technologies, including solutions in the field of artificial intelligence, is envisaged. However, not only the technologies themselves are important, but also their quality, as well as their real contribution to the region's economy. More than 900 industrial enterprises operate in the region; 117 industrial 'smart' robots have been introduced at the KIA and KamlitKZ plants (in 2023, there were only 3). 28 robots are also used in the mining industry. In agriculture, 100% of arable land, 90% of pastures, and 95% of hayfields have been digitized. In livestock farming, 7 modern 'smart' dairy farms are operational, and precision farming technologies have been introduced in crop production. Significant progress is also observed in the Smart City direction — over the past three years, the number of cameras connected to the Regional Operational Management Center has increased from 102 in 2023 to 285 in 2025, that is, by 2.8 times."

Following the meeting, the necessity of continuing systematic work on digitalization aimed at improving the quality of life of the population, the efficiency of urban management, and the formation of a modern, safe, and technologically advanced urban environment was noted.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/kostanay/press/news/details/1193644?lang=kk