Conceptual framework of the formation of IT clusters in Kazakhstan: promising directions and positive effects

The issue of diversiϔication of national economy structure and decreasing its dependence on natural resources appears on the agenda in economic policy of Kazakhstan. Even during good pre-crisis years there was a common understanding that economic growth was assured by temporal factors and that it was necessary to move to Kazakhstan’s sustainable growth based on innovations. Modern trend of innovative development is characterized by the unavoidable process known as globalization. This phenomenon causes conscious or not entirely conscious copying of more successful forms of branch development organization and the use of the existing potential for innovative thrust. In this list pride of place goes to the cluster as a tool of structuring and placing of “local” players presenting separate elements of innovation systems with the goal of consolidate development strategies implementation for the increasing of regions’ competitiveness. At this it is important to solve the task of innovative development in the era of progressive information technologies. To solve this task in the conditions of information economy a new approach in regional policy makes sense, the approach assuming not only equalization of economic development level in regions but also lifting of informatization and electronization level in society, promotion of market players’ corporate interests, organization of cooperation between suppliers and producers, research institutions and government agencies. The solving of new tasks requires the elaboration of science-based conceptual approaches to regional policy development focused on the formation of a new model of region’s knowledge-based economy through the creation of IT-clusters that will be more integrated, productive and innovative. The issue of the formation of IT-clusters in Kazakhstan lacks sufϔicient elaboration due to the low level of fundamental research in the ϔield of effective cooperation between IT-enterprises because of the geographically adjacent position, as well as the greater access to information and communication portals through the decreasing of the ”digital gap” level in the country and its regions.