IT Park Uzbekistan has won the Global Free Zones of the Year Awards 2026 in the nomination "Knowledge Zone of the Year - Asia-Pacific Region". The international award is organized by fDi Intelligence, a specialized publication of the Financial Times Group. The award was given for the development of the country's technological ecosystem, attracting foreign companies and investments, as well as training specialists for the digital economy. The organizers annually evaluate economic zones based on their effectiveness in attracting business and capital. In 2026, the competition covered industrial zones, knowledge zones, and promising territories, with the latter category combining sites focused on IT, financial and business services, and other high value-added areas.
One of the key areas of IT Park Uzbekistan's work remains the training of specialists for the international technology market. According to the organization, the One Million Uzbek Coders project has covered 1.7 million young people, and the Five Million AI Leaders initiative has covered another 1.3 million people. In addition, 4926 young specialists received support in preparing for international IT certification. More than 18 billion soums were allocated to compensate for training costs and exam fees. As part of the IT-Talents program, an additional 3.17 billion soums were allocated to support educational organizations whose graduates find jobs in export-oriented IT companies.
The development of digital skills is also promoted by the ICT4Girls project, startup incubators, national technology competitions, and university artificial intelligence laboratories. According to IT Park Uzbekistan, there are 20 such laboratories in the country's universities. The combination of educational initiatives, support for aspiring specialists, and the development of technological infrastructure has become part of a strategy to strengthen Uzbekistan's position in the international IT market. The award received recognizes the results of this work and efforts to create conditions for the development of companies operating in high-tech industries.
