The Institute for Advanced International Studies (IAIS) at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Representative Office in Central Asia in 2023-2024 implemented a research project dedicated to the study of a new social group - the emerging IT class in Uzbekistan.

The project was part of an effort to understand the impact of the information technology industry on societal transformation, employment and the innovation economy in the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and digitalisation. The study aims to identify the main characteristics, values and economic role of the IT class representatives, as well as to assess the impact of the government's digital policy and vocational education system.

The main directions of the research:

• Sociological analysis — conducting a large-scale field stage (survey of 326 IT specialists in 10 regions, expert interviews, focus groups).
• Mapping of the IT class — building a portrait of a typical representative: demographics, education, professional path, sources of income.
• Studying the digital environment and educational practices — analysing the channels of knowledge acquisition and assessing the quality of higher education in the IT sphere.
• Regional imbalance — study of personnel migration from the regions to the capital and factors affecting the inflow and retention of specialists.
• Public policy evaluation — consideration of digital inclusion programmes, legal and tax incentives for IT companies.

The aim of the project is to form an empirical basis for understanding the social and economic significance of the IT class in Uzbekistan, as well as to develop proposals to improve the conditions for its development and integration into the national strategy for sustainable growth.

Project details

Funding: Friedrich Ebert Foundation’s Representative Office in Central Asia

Duration: November 2023 – March 2024

Research Team: Akram Umarov, Azamat Seitov, Rustam Makhmudov