UWED PhD Candidate Nigina Saidova’s policy brief frames nationwide AI literacy not only as a domestic development priority, but as a new instrument of Uzbekistan’s soft power in the digital age. Drawing on Joseph Nye’s concept of soft power and the expanding logic of cyber power and digital diplomacy, the brief argues that a population equipped with AI skills becomes part of a country’s international attractiveness, signalling openness, innovation, and a future-oriented national identity. In this reading, human capital in AI is no longer simply an education agenda; it becomes a reputational asset that strengthens “digital nation branding” and enhances foreign-policy communication.
At the centre of the analysis is Uzbekistan’s Five Million AI Leaders initiative, presented as an extension of the Digital Uzbekistan–2030 strategy and the AI development framework through 2030. The brief highlights how the initiative is underpinned by policy architecture and measurable targets, expanding AI products and services, improving governmental readiness for AI deployment, establishing research laboratories, and building a critical mass of specialists. It situates this agenda within broader progress in IT education and youth skills development, portraying Uzbekistan as deliberately building the foundations of a competitive AI ecosystem and positioning itself to function as a regional digital hub in Central Asia.
The brief then explains how the initiative is designed to transmit clear external signals: investment in youth, openness to global tech partnerships, and regional leadership in convening AI dialogue. Cooperation with major technology actors, international internships, and platforms such as the Silk Road AI Forum are presented as channels of “digital diplomacy” that integrate Uzbekistan into global innovation networks while projecting a cooperative, modernising image, distinct from more closed models of digital sovereignty. Concluding, the author recommends institutionalising this soft-power potential through diplomatic promotion at major multilateral venues, consistent English-language reporting and success stories, alignment with SDGs (especially education and decent work), and stronger emphasis on AI ethics, data protection, and rights-based governance to reinforce Uzbekistan’s credibility in international AI discussions.
* The Institute for Advanced International Studies (IAIS) does not take institutional positions on any issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IAIS.
