Zixin Lin, Regional Lead for Central Asia and South Caucasus region, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
“Sovereignty and control are not the same thing. What matters is knowing which parts of the technology stack — compute, data, models, applications, energy, talent — Eurasian nations can realistically control or steer, and where it is wiser to depend deliberately on partnerships, to maximize strategic latitude. Strategic interdependence doesn’t mean giving up control; countries can diversify partners, embed portability rights in contracts, and require real investment in knowledge, tech and skills transfer to grow domestic ecosystems.
Eurasia’s unique geostrategic position already makes it a corridor for goods and talent. It can also position itself as a digital corridor with closer cooperation so that partners see the region as a bloc and not fragmented mid-sized markets. Clear, consistent regulations across the region will attract partners by reducing uncertainty and risk, and creating scale. They also strengthen nations’ bargaining power. In parallel, the region must shape its own rules. Most AI and data governance frameworks today are written in Western Europe and North America. Eurasia can and must define principles suited to its own context. Africa’s sandboxes and ASEAN’s cross-border frameworks offer some inspiration.”
Temur Khisamutdinov, Director of the IT Park Dushanbe under the Agency for Innovation and Digital Technologies under the President of the Republic of Tajikistan
“The countries in the region are developing along different paths. When we talk about sovereignty, it should not be confused with isolation; sovereignty is not about cutting ourselves off. Rather, digital sovereignty should mean balanced partnerships and shared growth. In Tajikistan, for example, we view digital sovereignty as a collaborative process: we work with major tech companies to develop local talent, strengthen data infrastructure, and nurture an innovation ecosystem. We engage with big tech as active partners — never as passive users. Although we may not yet host large R&D centers, we are building the foundations for deeper collaboration and gradually moving from an outsourcing model toward homegrown innovation.”
Chubak Temirov, Deputy Director, High Technology Park of the Kyrgyz Republic
“Speaking of the public–private partnership model in Kyrgyzstan – government, private sector, and academia often act independently, which makes it difficult to generate real value. As the High Technology Park, we are working to bridge these gaps by aligning stakeholders around shared goals. We are helping the government update its roadmap by incorporating private-sector priorities, and we are encouraging universities to create tech parks so they can collaborate more closely with industry. Today, academia and the private sector operate in different realities, and universities have largely lost sight of their role in preparing specialists for the market — one of the country’s biggest challenges. While there is no simple solution, we are launching several initiatives aimed at bringing these sectors together so they can ultimately function as a more unified ecosystem.”
Kamran Aghayev, Head of Data Management Department, IDDA
“Digital sovereignty refers to a state’s ability to maintain control over its data, its digital infrastructure, the technologies it uses, and the digital identities of its citizens. Azerbaijan actively collaborates with major global technology companies, and we have extensive partnerships with them. However, these collaborations are conducted in a locally managed and fully sovereign environment. By “sovereign environment,” I am referring in particular to the Government Cloud (G-Cloud) which was approved and signed into law by the President of Azerbaijan in 2019. Through G-Cloud, we work with global tech companies, use their platforms, and benefit from their products, while ensuring that all data and digital operations remain under national jurisdiction and securely managed within Azerbaijan’s sovereign digital ecosystem.”
