World Monitor Mag, Digitalisation WM_June 2019 web | Page 25

EXPERT OPINION
which the EUROBAK Digital Committee
will actively participate.
If we talk about global projects,
everything related to the provision of
services goes into digitalisation. This is
an area in which we will soon see big
changes. When UBER appeared, no one
thought that the company’s opening and
operating in America would affect the
private transportation market so much
that private fleets would cease to exist.
Who would have thought that private
fleets would find it hard to compete
with mobile applications such as UBER
or Yandex. Signing up for services in
a beauty salon, ordering food, as well
as other services are all going digital. I
would also like to note that one cannot
do without innovations. Innovation
will come from startups. And we in
Kazakhstan should reverse the trend.
What is the life model of a startup?
First, an idea appears, and only then
a company - a startup. When the
company reaches a capitalization of
over $ 1 billion, they begin to call it a
unicorn. An unusual, fairy-tale creature,
in the ordinary life though such a
phenomenon cannot be found. When a
startup goes to IPO, as did Facebook
or UBER, it becomes a corporation.
Imagine that in America there are
100,000 + startups, 150+ unicorns,
50+ corporations that have already
completed the full life cycle. In Russia,
startups are 20,000, 2 unicorns and
2 corporations. Kazakhstan statistics
says about 700+ startups, but we have
neither unicorns nor corporations. Why
has this happened? Because the main
resources have always been directed
to the field of natural resources and
mining. However, do not get upset –
everything has its time. Now the trend
is changing.
If you look at your surroundings and
compare, then before talking to
people, most people wanted to work
in the public sector or in the extractive
sector – the flagship of Kazakhstan's
economy. Previously, this work was
prestigious and well paid. Now, when
we talk with young people, they say
that they would like to open their
own startup, to work in the field of
IT. Thus, the trend itself and the
outlook of people is changing. Many
different ideas and start-ups are born
in this space, where unicorns will
grow up in the future. I think that our
EUROBAK Digital Committee, using
the knowledge of the whole world, will
help create the right ecosystem. There
are problems in business, there are
initiatives in the state, and EUROBAK
is a conductor of knowledge, to help
independently conduct a dialogue with
both parties. We will help shape the
direction of the ‘digital get-together’
movement. In terms of training, there
are universities that do an excellent
job with the training of specialists.
We, with the support of companies
within EUROBAK and independent
opinion, will make recommendations
and participate in the creation and
strengthening of the environment
where young talent with advanced
ideas will come. It is very important
to add that all the accumulated
experience that we have needs to
be shared. We have an open agenda
in a transparent, independent and
understandable manner.
Personally, I’m very interested in
everything related to the interaction
between digital and economics – this is
exactly the direction that is now called
digitalisation. I would very much like to
see interesting projects in Kazakhstan
in the near future that we could be
proud of, so that tomorrow we can say
that the actions of EUROBAK helped to
achieve interesting results. From the
KPMG side, we want to take an active
part in promoting the digital agenda
at the EUROBAK site, while we have a
parallel initiative that we are launching
as part of KPMG Central Asia.
Now in Singapore, we’ve developed
a platform called KPMG Digital
Village. This platform allows you to
combine all the key elements of a
successful startup from creation to
fully functioning. Startups, various
companies from the corporate
sector, and investors can come
there and register, and we help
organize an access point between
investors, corporations, integrators,
methodologists to form the so-called
right project. One of the successful
projects of the Digital Village is the
so-called Digital Wallet – a block
chain-based Singapore Airlines loyalty
program.
This programme allows people
to accumulate points in different
airlines, and they can then use these
points when staying in hotels or when
buying goods in stores. And imagine
that there is no need to check the
balance of accumulated points or
to call anywhere or no need to fill in
any forms – payment can simply be
made from a phone with accumulated
points. This platform was fully
implemented by our Digital Village
division, together with Microsoft and
startups. We see the need to create
the same platform, with the same
access point in Central Asia. We are
talking about a start-up community
in Kazakhstan, with innovators and
corporations who voice their problems
and find the right solution here.
Working together, the launch of the
KPMG Digital Village platform and the
proactive position of EUROBAK, as
well as the experience and knowledge
of all the member companies of the
EUROBAK association, will give a
strong synergistic effect for the
future.
supported by EUROBAK
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