AI for All: How Small Nations Become AI Powerhouses Through Global Collaboration
Organized by: Permanent Mission of the Kyrgyz Republic to the United Nations, the High Technology Park of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Background
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly becoming one of the most transformative technologies in human history. Yet the most important question is not how powerful AI will become, but who will benefit from it. Today, most AI systems are trained on a limited number of major languages, leaving the world’s other 7,000+ languages at risk of becoming digitally marginalized. If a language is absent from the digital age, its unique knowledge, culture, and traditions risk losing their voice in the future.
This marks a critical shift in global digital development. The next phase of global transformation must embrace the vision of AI for All and AI for Every Language, ensuring that every person, every language, and every nation can participate in the AI revolution.
For the past 20 years, the combination of the internet, cloud services, and open source has flattened the global marketplace. Today, being a player on the global scene no longer depends on geography or size. Scale is now measured by agility, unique datasets, and collaborative will. Are small nations the new AI superpowers?
The experience of the Kyrgyz Republic demonstrates that even a small nation can contribute to shaping the future of AI. Through community-driven initiatives to digitize the Kyrgyz language, develop speech technologies, create open-source language datasets, and build Text-to-Speech (TTS) systems like Kani TTS, we are proving that an inclusive, sovereign AI ecosystem is possible.
But we shouldn't do this in isolation. Small nations face similar challenges and we would benefit immensely from exchanging experiences and pooling resources. That is why during UN Open Source Week in New York, we are gathering to launch SNAP: Small Nations AI Powerhouses.
This is an open invitation to founders, developers, policymakers, and open-source advocates from agile ecosystems worldwide. Let’s connect, share real-world blueprints, and build a global alliance that ensures every language and culture has a strong voice in the AI era. The most important ingredient is people, and by focusing on language technologies, education, and innovation, small nations can become global AI leaders where size is no longer the decisive factor.
Objectives
To explore how small nations can leverage international cooperation, open data, and talent development to preserve cultural heritage, eliminate the digital language barrier, and drive inclusive global AI growth and become an AI powerhouse.
Format
High-Level Policy Dialogue (60 minutes)
Opening Remarks
Permanent Mission of the Kyrgyz Republic to the United Nations;
Speakers
Mr. Azis Abakirov, Ambassador for SNAP (Small Nation AI Powerhouses) community, CEO of the High Tech Park of the Kyrgyz Republic.
Mr. Lambert Hogenhout, Chief of Data, Analytics and AI at the United Nations.
Mr. Ulan Abdurazakov, Leader SNAP community, AI model research and architecht, Kyrgyz language, founder nineninesix.ai (Bishkek, Kyrgy Republic) video message.
Mr. Mohammed Bahumaish, contributor SNAP community, Arabic language, AI engineer (Cairo, Egypt) video message.
Mr. Jean Sauvenel Beaudry, contributor SNAP community, Creole language, AI engineer, founder DataMio, (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) video message.
Mr. Christoph Schuhmann, contributor SNAP community, German language, Master in Physics & Computer Science, Founder Laion.AI, (Hamburg, Germany) video message.
Guiding Questions
How can small nations turn their agility and lack of legacy systems into a competitive advantage to become global AI leaders?
What concrete mechanisms are needed to build open-source local language datasets and prevent the digital extinction of minority languages?
How can developers, researchers, and policymakers from different continents effectively collaborate to solve shared infrastructure and educational gaps?
How do we shift the global AI narrative from geopolitical competition to a unified global community that serves all of humanity?
What role should international organizations play in scaling the successful localized AI projects of small nations to a global level?
What can governments do to catalyze a transition to an AI powerhouse? What about the private sector, academia? What are examples we can learn from? (e.g. High Tech Park of the Kyrgyz Republic)
Expected Outcomes
The event is expected to deliver a clear set of actionable proposals, strategic recommendations, and priority follow-up measures to accelerate the development of inclusive AI ecosystems and support Small Nation AI Powerhouses (SNAP). These outcomes will provide a practical roadmap for future cooperation, capacity-building, policy dialogue, and enabling small nations to better harness AI for inclusive growth, resilience, and sustainable development.