The Astana City Department of Digitalization and Public Services, in collaboration with Astana Hub and Astana Innovations, has successfully completed the Astana Smart City Accelerator program. This program aimed to introduce advanced technologies into key sectors of the city’s infrastructure. On November 20th, the final stage of the program, Demo Day, took place, where participants presented their innovative solutions that are transforming city life.
The selected startups have been successfully launched in Astana’s public clinics, schools, public transport, and other urban services and infrastructure facilities. These projects optimize the work of medical organizations, reduce the burden on doctors, increase safety in educational institutions and social facilities, save resources, and improve the quality of urban services.
“These technologies have proven their effectiveness: they not only make life easier for citizens but also make the city safer, more environmentally friendly, and comfortable. We are witnessing Astana becoming a platform for innovations that will be recognized worldwide in the future,” said Tanat Oskenbayev, Managing Director of Astana Hub.
The program generated significant interest from the tech community. Out of 128 applications, 107 projects passed the initial selection, and the finalists received funding of up to 5 million tenge through Astana Hub’s Seed Money program. Participants also received expert support and infrastructure that allowed them to test their solutions in real-world conditions.
Startups presented at Demo Day:
- Protector AI: An AI-based system for analyzing video recordings. It can identify signs of violence such as punches, falls, and pushes.
- AdsIQ: An AI-based system for managing content and advertising on monitors in public transport.
- SPLASH: An environmentally friendly mobile car wash service that allows you to wash cars in the city without harming the environment.
- HOOD: A platform for managing digital outdoor advertising (DOOH), which provides advertisers, especially small and medium-sized businesses, with a convenient tool to launch and adapt advertising campaigns in real-time.
- Autism Spectrum: An application aimed at the Kazakhstan audience for children with autism and their parents.
- Rationeel: A hybrid system that combines a cloud solution and a mobile application. It is adapted for digitalizing business processes and optimizing data collection.
- i-ConS: A mobile application and web interface that facilitates the management of construction and repair work, budget control of projects, and material tracking.
- Green Cars: Develops electric vehicle infrastructure in Kazakhstan, offering an IT platform and a network of charging stations.
- Hi Doctor: A clinical decision support system that acts as a doctor’s clinical assistant.
- qMed: A platform for managing chronic non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure.
The Astana Smart City Accelerator program not only proved the effectiveness of introducing advanced technologies into the urban environment but also laid the foundation for the development of Astana as a center for digital technologies. The results of the pilot projects show that technologies are solving pressing problems in the city and improving the quality of life for residents. In the future, it is planned to scale the best solutions to other regions of Kazakhstan and enter international markets, which will strengthen Astana’s competitiveness and make it a model for the development of smart cities in the country.
