On 29 September ISTC organized a hybrid, in person   and online, round table discussion with several   Kazakh  organizations with proven record of   successful  partnership with the Center. ISTC     Executive Director David Cleave welcomed at the   Main  Office: Prof. Dr. Tleuken Akhmetov, Member of   Kazakhstan’s National Academy of Natural Science,   Secretary to the Kazakh chapter of the Pugwash   Movement; Dr. Yerlan Ramankulov, General Director,   National Center for Biotechnology, and Pavel Tarlykov,   Head of Laboratory therein; and Seit Aliyev, Director,   Information Center Energy of Future, Nuclear Society   of Kazakhstan. Other online participants in the   discussion included: Boris Zhaparov, Association of users of the scientific and educational computer network of Kazakhstan (KazRENA); Alexander Klepikov, Deputy Director, Nuclear Technology Safety Center; and, Arman Miniyazov, National Nuclear Center of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The interlocutors surveyed a concept paper on Digital Platform of Integrated Security, a cloud-based digital knowledge management system, providing a venue for interaction on security issues and facilitating access to expertise. The framework of security challenges it would address comprises various areas ranging from cybersecurity to nuclear safety and security. The main idea of the Platform is to create an analytical information service on complex and multifaceted security issues, to serve the needs of both industries, and cross-sectoral interdisciplinary research. The organizations that collaborate as initiators intend to conduct trainings at several cybersecurity, nuclear and biosafety learning centers.

Executive Director David Cleave pointed out that in its transition guided by the State Parties, ISTC expands the scope of its priority areas, such as cybersecurity, while at the same time the Center builds on partnerships with reliable counterparts with whom it has carried out successfully numerous projects in Kazakhstan. Other members of the ISTC Secretariat who attended the meeting were: Aydin Turebayev, Deputy Executive Director; Sonya Vekstein, Chief Financial Officer; Kamen Velichkov, SPM &DA; and Diana Akhmetova, Project Officer.