Country Readiness Assessment Report – Kyrgyzstan Introduction The modern trend of globalisation in the world community reflects the rapid developments and innovations in information and communication technologies (ICT) of the last decade. The swift advancement of ICT has made it possible to bring together people, economies and cultures. However, more than 850 million people in developing countries are still excluded from this process and remain greatly isolated from the information and progress inherent in science and technology today. The Kyrgyz Republic is a landlocked country, endowed with few natural resources, but it has a tremendously advantageous location on the major crossroads between Asia and Europe. The development of Euro–Asian transport projects will, however, require a wide range of telecommunication services to serve the day-to-day operations of the transport corridor. The country also has potential in industries such as the hydro-electric production, tourism, and management of water resources, each of which require sophisticated information processing. With the help of the World Bank, the EBRD and other international agencies, a basic telecommunications infrastructure has been built in the Kyrgyz Republic. USAID, UNDP and ADB have sponsored development of the network software applications for state agencies and the educational sector. The NATO Science Programme is supporting the National Research and Educational Network (NREN) through provision of satellite communication services for the Kyrgyz academic sector. The Trans-Eurasia fiber optical line (Shanghai – Frankfurt) goes through the territory of this country and is providing access to the World Internet at a capacity of 622 Mbps. The educational level is very high in the Kyrgyz Republic, producing many highly-qualified domestic IT specialists. This offers a challenge for the Kyrgyz Republic to improve linkage with industrialised countries through the rapid development of the telecommunications sector. 3