Will Kazakhstan become the centre of the digital revolution?  

It is a long-held axiom that geography drives the course of human history. States that have controlled geographically important locations, such as trade routes and international hubs, have throughout time been able to grow their power and prosperity.

So goes the theory put forward by proponents of ‘geopolitics’ which, in its traditional meaning at least, attempted to understand international relations through the rigid logic of the world’s physical boundaries.

That’s why states that dominated East-West trade routes – such as the Abbasid Caliphate and Ottoman Empire – were able to accumulate vast power and wealth, before being displaced by European rivals who discovered quicker and more efficient means of connecting the world over sea.

The enduring appeal of a geographically-driven theory of world history is made clear by the success of Tim Marshall’s popular 2015 book Prisoners of Geography, which explained many of the world’s pressing political conundrums through recourse to the world map.

But in our increasingly connected digital age, where lightning-fast internet connections and the rise of remote working have become the norm, is geography really still relevant to understanding which nations might be at the vanguard of future development?

Well, it might just be – and, analysing a map of the world’s digital infrastructure, Kazakhstan emerges a somewhat surprising new candidate.

Kazakhstan is a nation of 20 million people at the heart of Eurasia, between China and Eastern Europe. Through a series of ambitious digital infrastructure projects supported by the country’s government, set to form part of a digital silk road, Kazakhstan is aiming to anchor itself at the heart of global internet connectivity.

The project is supported by close collaboration with the private sector, with Freedom Telecom, a subsidiary of leading Kazakhstan-based conglomerate Freedom Holding Corp, recently announcing a $37.5 million investment in a data transfer project to connect internet traffic between Western Europe and Southeast Asia.

Freedom Telecom have further announced a $198.8 million investment in two data centres in the East and West of the country which, when combined with the project to lay a 370-kilometre fibre optic cable under the Caspian Sea between Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, are set to cement the Central Asian nation’s position at the heart of the digital revolution.

But Freedom’s CEO Timur Turlov has his eye on another key resource that could help propel Kazakhstan’s status as a centre for the digital age to new heights: its young and highly talented workforce.

Turlov, a Kazakhstani citizen who has based his company in the country’s financial capital, Almaty, is keen to support the nation’s youth, telling the London Economic recently that ‘talent is key. If you have it, the country will be rich.’

Turlov continued that ‘Kazakhstan is a young nation of tech-savvy optimists’, expressing his belief that the nation ‘can create synergies and use global technology to create new products’.

It’s no surprise therefore that Turlov places a special importance on education for securing Kazakhstan’s future prosperity. Freedom Holding’s charitable arm, the Shapagat Coprorate Fund, has backed several initiatives to support Kazakhstan’s educational infrastructure, including a $4 million grant to finance the construction of a new university campus near Almaty.

Turlov himself, meanwhile, is a benefactor of iQanat, a project that aims to reduce education inequality between Kazakhstan’s cities and rural areas through an annual Olympiad that offers free schooling to the most talented students.

As entrepreneurs such as Turlov look to drive Kazakhstan’s homegrown tech talent, it’s no surprise that the Astana International Finance Center, based in the nation’s capital, is establishing itself as a key regional hub, as companies from around the world look to take advantage of the country’s proximity to East Asian and European time zones and rapidly improving digital infrastructure.

In fact, just last year the AIFC attracted a record number of new participants bringing the centre’s total to over 2600 companies from 78 countries, consolidating Astana’s reputation as Central Asia’s leading financial hub.

With the rapid growth of digital technologies and the advent of AI, the world is a more complicated and dynamic place then it was when Tim Marshall published his book just under ten years ago.

But while iron-clad laws of geography may not define international politics quite so rigidly as they once did, Kazakhstan is set to leverage its unique position adjoining two continents to establish its global leadership in a digital era.