Digital Skills for Private Sector Competitiveness in Uzbekistan

5. Next steps

Abstract

A summary of recommendations made throughout the report as well as a suggested timeline are provided to support the Government of Uzbekistan with the implementation of reforms to support the digital upskilling of firms.

Conclusions

The OECD recommends that the Government of Uzbekistan first prioritises improved data collection of the needs of the private sector for the type of digital skills. This collection together with systematic digital skills assessments will provide the foundation on which to adapt and improve public policy. Next, Uzbekistan can identify existing digital upskilling initiatives and gather them in a one-stop-shop. Awareness raising campaigns and outreach efforts to the private sector can maximise the uptake of these programs.

Moving forward, the National Digital Strategy should then incorporate objectives for the private sector to develop digital skills by industry based on identified needs. The NDS design, implementation and revision should integrate all relevant stakeholders in a co-ordinated way, including the public sector, educational institutions, the domestic private sector, and multinational corporations. Incentives for the private sector to upskill on both digital and complementary dimensions should be introduced.

With a comprehensive upskilling system in place, the government should take care to integrate gender-sensitive policies in all its incentives. It can expand its efforts to develop financial, regulatory, and legal incentives to enlarge the uptake of digital upskilling initiatives among firms.

Table 5.1. Overview of recommendations and suggested implementation timeline

Proposed stage 1
Short term (<1 year)	Medium term (1-3 years)	Long term (>3 years)
Assess private sector digital needs and opportunities through industry consultations and data collection Conduct baseline assessment of the private sector’s digital skills Consult private and educational sectors to understand awareness needs and focus	Have a single coordinating body responsible for the identification, implementation, and co-ordination of digital upskilling initiatives Expand use of channels to raise awareness Develop mechanism to guide SMEs to appropriate actors and resources	Define an agency acting as the one-stop-shop for SME digitalisation Develop digital self-assessment tools for firms to evaluate their digital literacy Provide information and raise awareness of benefits of digitalisation and available tools in a systemic manner Develop a one-stop-shop integrating all available public support on digital and complementary upskilling
Proposed stage 2
Short term (<1 year)	Medium term (1-3 years)	Long term (>3 years)
Include a digital skills component of the private sector in the NDS Clarify and reorganise NDS mandates, stakeholders, budgets and targets in a coordinated manner Integrate objectives related to the dissemination of knowledge on the benefits of digitalisation in the NDS, including a gender dimension Introduce sector-specific digital roadmaps with objectives, KPIs and targets within the NDS	Facilitate ecosystem co-ordination (public, private, academic) Develop mechanism to integrate private-public dialogue in NDS Leverage international experience for a digital skills coalition Monitor and assess the impact of NDS on private sector digitalisation uptake based on quantitative and qualitative KPIs	Adapt educational priorities to individual and labour market needs Expand sector-specific tools, trainings and seminars to equip firms with digital and complementary skills
Proposed stage 3
Short term (<1 year)	Medium term (1-3 years)	Long term (>3 years)
Collect gender-disaggregated data Offer incentives to attend trainings Raise opportunities for women in the ICT sphere	Enlarge existing financial and regulatory incentives to promote firms’ investment in digital upskilling	Ensure civil servants are aware of and have the opportunity to systematically attend digital trainings Improve co-ordination of public service provision