Description

TASK:
Problem: The world is rapidly moving towards a new type of economy, where digital technologies become the main tool for its formation. In many countries, digitalization is a strategic priority of development. However, this development is impossible without a high-quality human resource capable of inventing/implementing/improving digital products.
At the same time, there is an acute shortage of specialists in the field of IT and the development of new technological products in the labor market. Universities in the country are introducing special courses and subjects into their curricula, but the main expertise in the field of new technologies is now in business companies specializing in creating their own IT products.
Solution:
Beeline Kazakhstan is a successful, dynamically developing company. Today, it employs around 650 IT specialists who are ready to share their knowledge and practices both inside and outside Beeline - transferring their experience to young people interested in developing digital competencies and focused on developing careers in the field of digital.
In order to develop IT skills among the country's youth, Beeline has been holding a Special Digital Startup Contest since 2018. It is held within the framework of the Enactus National Cup https://enactus.kz/ - a large large-scale event, following which the best student teams of Kazakhstan represent the country at the Enactus World Cup https://enactus.org.
The project executes several goals of the sustainable development. They are: goal # 9 – Innovations, goal # 4 - Quality education, and goal #17 - Partnership for sustainable development.
Results:
Since 2018 4 contests have been held. During this period, more than 250 projects were submitted to the contests, more than 2800 students and high school students took part in their creation. 12 projects received grants from Beeline; the total investment amounted to 23 million KZT.
Since 2021 the company has opened a special business incubator within the framework of the contest, the program and the work of which is carried out by Beeline employees - experts in IT, finance, marketing, and PR and business analytics. In 2021 180 students and schoolchildren became its participants, the projects of which passed the first stage of the 2021 contest.
The project was included in 2022 as a paradigm example into the National Review of Kazakhstan on the implementation of sustainable development goals. This report was presented at the United Nations this summer.
The project is actively covered in the media, including in such as Forbes.kz, Khabar TV channel, channel 31, Profit.kz, Zakon.kz, Baigenews.kz, Tengrinews.kz, Nur.kz and many others. In total, during the contest there were more than 50 publications and stories in the republican media.

Links:
https://m.forbes.kz/process/businessmen/tri_luchshih_tsifrovyih_startapa_poluchat_grantyi_ot_beeline_kazahstan/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgofmiMIWb0https://profit.kz/news/59013/Tri-luchshih-studencheskih-startapa-poluchili-granti-ot-Beeline/
https://www.zakon.kz/6000264-tri-luchshikh-tsifrovykh-startapa-poluchat-granty-ot-beeline-kazakhstan.html
https://baigenews.kz/it-proekty_s_serdtsem-_shkolniki_i_studenty_predstavili_sotsialnye_startapy_na_konkurs_didzh_132525/
https://www.nur.kz/society/1944354-enactus-amu-realizovannye-nami-proekty-dobilis-priznaniya-na-mirovoy-arene/
https://tengrinews.kz/kazakhstan_news/natsionalnyiy-kubok-studencheskogo-predprinimatelstva-440972/

Credits

Anar Zhumagulova – CSR manager
+ annually around 20 employees of the company from IT, new products, marketing, business analytics and HR