Head of TechnoHub Dushanbe on the opening of the tech hub and the development of the IT sector in Tajikistan

Masrur Ishanov, head of TechnoHub Dushanbe, spoke in detail about the new hub for IT professionals in Dushanbe during a live broadcast on our Telegram channel. We are sharing the most interesting thoughts in text format.

About myself

I graduated from the Moscow Technical University of Communications and Informatics and have been working in the telecom, IT, and related fields for over 15 years.

How the idea to open a techno hub came about

The initiator of the idea was one of our founders, Dilshod Jurazoda, who, during a trip to France in 2019, got acquainted with the educational institution Ecole 42. They train professional personnel in the field of coding across various directions and, within their program, teach more than 10 areas. The training follows an innovative peer-to-peer methodology, where students, while learning hard skills on the platform and working in teams, also develop their soft skills.

Subsequently, after this idea was voiced, we, combining the efforts of like-minded people and the team consisting of myself, Ravshan Kurbanov, and Farukh Khadzhatov, began developing the concept. In 2022, at the invitation of the World Bank, we went on a study tour to Georgia, where we visited their ecosystem components, specifically the Genie project, which gave us new momentum in implementing the TechnoHub project. Currently, all the people I mentioned earlier are our partners and co-founders of TechnoHub Dushanbe. Each of us has our own role, and I am responsible for the implementation and operational activities of the project as the director of this institution.

What is TechnoHub Dushanbe

At the moment, TechnoHub Dushanbe is not yet fully open. We held a technical opening during which we launched development courses. We also have several active courses.

The TechnoHub concept includes several modules and components. The first and most important, in my opinion, is the peer-to-peer education module. We have held negotiations and already have agreements in place to implement the Edu 01 franchise. This is an analogue of Ecole 42. This is the first module. The second module consists of short-term and medium-term courses. On average, they last from two to six months, with mandatory study of the English language. We are launching short-term courses on specific topics and disciplines. The third module is the organization of events so that our residents, students, and team of specialists can engage in interactive leisure activities to strengthen team cohesion. The fourth module is the coworking module, which is more focused on attracting smart partners, as well as specialists who, in addition to office space, are ready to develop an innovative ecosystem together with us by implementing joint projects and educational initiatives.

Our techno hub is equipped with the latest smart classroom system, which allows us to broadcast all our events and lessons online, enabling us to reach all regions of Tajikistan. For example, regional students will have the opportunity to communicate with teachers and ask questions in online mode. Our learning concept is based on practical specialists; that is, we do not have theorists and teachers in the standard sense that everyone is used to. All our engaged specialists are active professionals in this field, working in various technological and IT companies.

We plan to involve IT companies in the educational process so that our students, as part of their practice, solve real problems faced by businesses. In this way, we aim to prepare relevant specialists for our market.

Our residents are our students and partners. We have four important goals: the first is to create a community, so-called specialist community. The second is to bring innovation into educational processes and specialist training, implementing new learning methods and non-standard courses. At the moment, we are negotiating with partners about launching courses on artificial intelligence, specifically on how to properly use artificial intelligence and become a ChatGPT operator. The third is to give women the opportunity to develop in the IT field, because this is one of the few fields where women can earn a decent salary while working from home. The fourth goal is to contribute to the development of the country's innovative industry by training qualified personnel.

Course directions and how to become a resident

We are not limited to skills because we are talking not only about IT or programming; we plan to develop the technological direction specifically. By technological, we mean everything related to technology, whether it is artificial intelligence, digital marketing, and so on. All technologies that help businesses make money.

We have various courses, starting from zero level and ending with advanced courses for active specialists to upgrade their qualifications. And if we talk about coworking, we are looking not so much for companies that simply want to rent space from us and sit in the techno hub, but for smart partners who are ready to do some events, courses, masterclasses with us, and share their experience. Therefore, coworking residents can be smart residents who work in this field and want to contribute.

On what business model the hub is built

This is not a profit-driven project where we plan to make a lot of money; it is more of a social project aimed at developing the ecosystem. However, at the same time, understanding the issue of sustainability, we plan to be self-sustaining and not depend on donor funds. Therefore, almost all courses will be paid within a reasonable and affordable price for the residents of our country.

For everyone involved in this project, what we leave behind as a legacy is more important than how much we earn. Therefore, we registered as a public organization and want to contribute to the development of technological Tajikistan.

On the development of the IT sector in Tajikistan

The development of the IT sector in the Republic of Tajikistan is proceeding in full steps. There are many directions that are more developed in our neighboring countries than in Tajikistan, but we see only advantages in this. Thanks to the support of neighboring countries, we can achieve a significant acceleration of development pace. We can leapfrog — skip the mistakes that were made previously. And immediately implement the correct processes and tools for the development of IT and the innovative sector as a whole.

For example, at the moment, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan have agreed on the implementation of e-government. Within the framework of last year's Digital Bridge project, we discussed with Astana Hub the necessity not only of e-government itself but also of creating the necessary personnel potential for its effective operation. Thus, we are considering the possibility of joint training of personnel with our Kazakh partners for the successful implementation of e-government in Tajikistan and ensuring its sustainable functioning.

Plans

We want to turn TechnoHub Dushanbe into a platform that any of our partners can use for joint ecosystem development. We want to gather like-minded people who, like us, want to develop the country. After all, no single player can handle this alone. We need to unite our efforts and develop all this through joint efforts, projects, and products. At the moment, we already have a number of partners, both local and international, with whom we plan various events.

We are also conducting a number of negotiations with EPAM, IT-Park Uzbekistan, and Dahua, which plans to launch courses on artificial intelligence within TechnoHub.