15 May 2024
VEON and Beeline Kazakhstan Partner with GSMA and Barcelona Supercomputing Centre to Support Use of AI in Local Languages Baku and Barcelona, 15 May 2024: VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON, Euronext Amsterdam: VEON), a global digital operator that provides converged connectivity and online services, is delighted to announce that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Beeline Kazakhstan, the GSMA and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomputacion (BSC-CNS) to explore collaboration on the development of artificial intelligence and language technologies for languages with low digital resources.
The parties will explore collaboration opportunities focusing on the development of mechanisms and documentation on language models and AI systems for under-resourced languages, including the local languages of the countries where VEON operates.
Director of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center Mateo Valero Cortes, Beeline Kazakhstan CEO Evgeny Nastradin, GSMA Chief Marketing Officer Lara Dewar and VEON Chief of Staff Hande Asik signed the MoU to explore collaboration in AI project in Baku, Azerbaijan and Barcelona, Spain.
The MoU was signed by the four parties during M360 Eurasia. The event, opening in Baku today, welcomes global connectivity leaders and policymakers for two days of discussion, debate and networking.
Out of nearly 7000 languages spoken around the globe, only seven are considered high-resource languages in the digital world: English, Spanish, French, Mandarin, Arabic, German and Japanese. The lack of resources in other languages results in an AI language gap which leads to sub-optimal user experience in AI applications, deepens the bias in AI models and risks deepening the digital divide in AI technologies.
Catalan is spoken by 10 million people, spread across various parts of Spain and other areas of Europe, such as Andorra and Alghero. For this reason, the BSC Language Technologies unit has as a priority generating digital resources to guarantee the presence of Catalan in the digital world, while making these resources useful for other languages with the same objective.
Operating in countries that are home to 7% of the global population that mostly speak under-sourced languages, VEON is committed to addressing the AI language gap by supporting the usage of low-resource languages in AI, starting with Kazakhstan where Beeline Kazakhstan's IT subsidiary QazCode already launched Kaz-RoBERTA-conversational - a Kazakh-language AI module supporting customer service in Beeline Kazakhstan's digital applications.
Artificial Intelligence is the next game changer in the history of technology, and it is in our hands to design and develop it in a way that promotes inclusion for all. Enabling low-resource languages to be a part of the world of AI empowers hundreds of millions of people around the globe by addressing the current shortcomings of the AI landscape. We are delighted to be the first operator group to partner with Barcelona Supercomputing Center and the GSMA to explore opportunities to raise to this challenge. said Kaan Terzioglu, Group CEO of VEON.
Beeline Kazakhstan is the leading operator in AI technologies in the markets where VEON operates. Having previously developed AI-based solutions in Kazakh language, Beeline Kazakhstan and Qazcode are well aware of the challenges and opportunities that come with Kazakhstan's transformation into the age of AI. We are extremely excited to partner with Barcelona Supercomputing Center and the GSMA, bringing international experience to our journey of developing new use cases for Kazakh-language AI applications. said Evgeny Nastradin, CEO of Beeline Kazakhstan.
The development of artificial intelligence also generates gaps between languages. It is important to close them. For this reason, we are making our knowledge and resources available. The work through the Aina Alliance keeps growing and has allowed us to sign a strategic agreement with the GSMA. This is one more step for making our open-source AI expertise accessible to the international community. BSC has published a wide-range number of datasets and open-source models through the Aina project, leading the path into the open-source AI resources availability. said Mateo Valero Cortes, Director of the BSC-CNS.
The project with VEON and Beeline Kazakhstan is the first on our exciting journey with the BSC. We now call on industry to join us and work together to reduce the disparity in developing and applying AI technologies across different languages. This disparity exacerbates the AI language gap, and the challenges that come with it, including siloed innovation and widening the digital divide. The Aina Alliance aims to ensure that no language is left behind as the world advances into an increasingly AI-driven future. said Alex Sinclair, Chief Technology Officer of the GSMA.
Key to the partnership will be the GSMA Foundry innovation accelerator, an initiative that brings together mobile operators and the wider technology industry, to help members forge the digital future by rapidly developing real-world solutions to industry challenges.
Cooperation will take place within the scope of Aina Alliance, a collaboration between the Government of Catalonia and the GSMA, which builds on the Aina Project promoted and financed by the Government of Catalonia, and which seeks to support the presence of non-global languages in artificial intelligence models, enabling speakers of all languages to participate fully in the evolution of the digital world. VEON is the first pilot in the partnership, with the Aina Alliance now inviting other mobile operator partners and organisations to take part in addressing the AI Language gap through collaborative effort.
About Barcelona Supercomputing Center - Centro Nacional de Supercomput
Europe Stories
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Composition Builder 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: The Composition Builder 2025 application for macOS enables TV stations and Live Event broadcast...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAr just:live pro 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: just:live pro 2025 is a Single Channel Live Production Playout solution for video and static or real-t...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAr just:play pro 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: just:play pro 2025 is a Single Channel automated 24/7 Master Control playout solution with SD, HD and ...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAr live:cut 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: live:cut is an option to just:in mac pro 2025 and enables multicamera production workflows for up to 16 cam...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite NDI 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite NDI application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specific...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Just In Mac Lite 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: The Just In Mac Lite application is a streamlined media capture solution designed specifically for...
03/12/2025
ToolsOnAir just:in mac pro 2025 Boilerplate
More Details: just:in mac pro is a macOS-based client-server multichannel capture solution to record SDI, HDMI, N...
03/12/2025
Tracy Bonareri Onchoke, Thomson's Young Journalist of the year 2025 is hoping the accolade will be a springboard to more cross-border collaboration between ...
03/12/2025
For the fourth time, Bad Bunny is the most-streamed Wrapped artist on Spotify gl...
03/12/2025
The wait is over. It's time to look back at the audio that defined your year with 2025 Spotify Wrapped, our annual celebration for fans, artists, creators, ...
03/12/2025
Por cuarta vez, Bad Bunny es el Top Artista Global de Wrapped en Spotify, con 19...
03/12/2025
Spotify Wrapped is back, and as always, it's powered by the billions of streams that fans around the world delivered throughout the year. From the artists w...
03/12/2025
Spotify Wrapped is the moment when hundreds of millions of fans around the world...
03/12/2025
With more than 700 million listeners around the world turning to Spotify to soundtrack their lives, it's time to look back at the audio that defined the yea...
03/12/2025
Con m s de 700 millones de oyentes en todo el mundo usando Spotify para acompa ar su d a a d a, es momento de mirar hacia atr s y ver el audio que marc el a o....
03/12/2025
From page-turning thrillers to inspiring memoirs, audiobooks are becoming a core...
03/12/2025
Com mais de 700 milh es de ouvintes em todo o mundo recorrendo ao Spotify para embalar seu dia a dia, chega o momento de revisitar o udio que marcou o ano. Nos...
03/12/2025
Spotify Wrapped celebrates the audio that defined our year, and the annual globa...
03/12/2025
Wuppertal December 3, 2025
Riedel and Haivision Join Forces to Advance Wireless Video TransmissionRiedel Communications today announced a new partnership with...
03/12/2025
Tell us a little bit about your job I am a Digital Marketing Executive working on Paid Social, PPC, and Organic Social. I joined the team in May 2025 and am enj...
03/12/2025
SAN JOSE, Calif. and VIENNA - Dec. 3, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) and Normann...
03/12/2025
S an Nollaig
Celebrate 2025's top Irish sporting stars with RT Sport Awards live from RT Studios on RT One and RT Player
RT pays tribute to Ror...
02/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
02/12/2025
--
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the International Telecommunication Unio...
02/12/2025
Harmonic's cOS Platform Will Redefine Subscribers' Quality of Experience, Lowering Churn SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 2, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: HLIT) today...
02/12/2025
S an Nollaig
Hollywood blockbusters The Banshees of Inisherin, Barbie and Oppenheimer make their Irish TV debut
Tune into the classics such as Love Actual...
02/12/2025
Showcasing fresh Irish storytelling and emerging talent Storyland 2025 signals a fantastic time for Irish drama
RT and F s ireann/Screen Ireland are proud to...
01/12/2025
MANCHESTER, UK - November 2025 - Announced two days before the 30th anniversary of Oasis' debut album, Definitely Maybe, the Oasis Live '25 tour marks t...
01/12/2025
01 Dec 2025
Kyivstar and Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation Select Go...
01/12/2025
The prequel to the global hit Sky Original mob crime saga, Gomorrah' is a s...
01/12/2025
Featuring Florence Welch, Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Flea, designer Bella Freud...
01/12/2025
Fox Corporation Chief Financial Officer Steve Tomsic to Participate in Upcoming ...
01/12/2025
Arvato Systems' Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Receives BSI C5 Certification (T...
01/12/2025
Summary This short video gives you an summary of the changes in under two minutes.
--...
01/12/2025
As the festive season approaches, RT Supporting the Arts is proud to showcase a...
01/12/2025
Festive specials of Christmas in Kilmainham presented by Marty Whelan, High Road Low Road, Callan Kicks the Year and Keys to My Life
Ring in the New Year with ...
01/12/2025
Architect and television presenter Hugh Wallace, best known to RT audiences as a long-serving judge on Home of the Year, has died at the age of 68.
In a state...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
15 May 2024
