KazNU has been awarded the prestigious Esri Award for the first time in Central Asia

Al-Farabi Kazakh National University has received the prestigious Special Achievement in GIS (SAG) Award from Esri, the global leader in geographic information systems. KazNU became the first higher education institution in Central Asia to receive this prestigious award.

This world-class achievement was awarded to the university for its innovative and effective use of mapping and spatial analytics software, as well as for its leadership in science and education. Today, the university has established a strong geospatial ecosystem that integrates GIS (geographic information systems), remote sensing of the Earth, and high-performance computing. In addition, an enterprise-level GIS infrastructure has been successfully implemented, including the ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Online platforms.

These modern solutions pave the way for bringing interdisciplinary research to a new qualitative level in such important areas as studying climate risks, combating land degradation, and modeling natural hazards. At the same time, they allow the use of advanced GeoAI (geospatial artificial intelligence) approaches for spatial analysis on a national scale. Having established a partnership with Esri and Data+ International, KazNU has today significantly strengthened its potential in the field of personnel training, education and applied geospatial innovations in the region.

"Receiving this award is a reflection of our strategic position on the integration of geospatial technologies, artificial intelligence and scientific research to solve national and regional challenges. This achievement defines KazNU's role as the leading GIS development platform in Central Asia. By combining modern computing infrastructure, geospatial data and interdisciplinary expertise, we form scalable solutions for sustainable development and environmental monitoring",- said Omirzhan Taukebayev, CEO of the Engineering and High Technology Cluster.

It is worth noting that the SAG Award, presented since 1998, is awarded annually only to the world's leading organizations that have most effectively applied GIS technologies to identify patterns and trends based on data in order to solve current industry problems.

Press-service of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University

“ZERDE” – THE FIRST STEP OF YOUNG RESEARCHERS ON THE PATH TO SCIENCE

9 November 2026

KazNU has been awarded the prestigious Esri Award for the first time in Central Asia

Other news