Digital Silk Road in Central Asia: Present and Future NARGIS KASSENOVA & BRENDAN DUPREY, EDITORS JUNE 2021 Digital Silk Road in Central Asia: Present and Future Nargis Kassenova & Brendan Duprey, Editors JUNE 2021 Digital Silk Road in Central Asia: Present and Future is a project of the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, and the Sustainable Kazakhstan Research Institute, Narxoz University, supported by a grant from Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Kazakhstan. © 2021 Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Cataloging-in-Publication data ISBN: 978-0-578-93435-8 Please direct inquiries to: Nargis Kassenova Kathryn W. and Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies Harvard University 1730 Cambridge Street, Suite S301 Cambridge, MA 02138 Phone: 617.496.5684 Fax: 617.495.8319
[email protected] The full text of this report can be accessed at https://daviscenter.fas.harvard.edu/digital-silk-road. Limited print copies are also available. ii Digital Silk Road in Central Asia: Present and Future Contents iv Acknowledgements v Introduction Nargis Kassenova and Brendan Duprey vii Executive Summary 1 The Puzzle of the Digital Silk Road Elisa Oreglia, Hongyi Ren, and Chia-Chi Liao 9 Sino-Russian Advocacy for “Internet Sovereignty” and State-Led Internet Governance Miranda Lupion 17 Digital Silk Road and Surveillance Technology in Central Asia Cian Stryker 55 The Sino-Russian Digital Cooperation and Its Implications for Central Asia Miranda Lupion 77 Beyond the GovTech: The Pitfalls of Kazakhstan’s Digitalization Agenda Anna Gussarova 85 Turkmenistan’s Digitalization Strategy: Old Practices, New Façade? Rustam Muhamedov 93 The Role of Big Earth Data for the Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals in Central Asia Brendan Duprey and Akmal Akramkhanov 118 About the Authors Contents iii Acknowledgements We would like to thank the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Kazakhstan for providing moral and financial support to the project.