From June 9-11, 2026, the Institute of Smart Systems and Artificial Intelligence (ISSAI) participated in the Digital Archive Expo III Congress of Archivists, held at the Alem.AI center in Astana.
The Congress of Archivists serves as a key professional platform that brings together specialists in archival science, records management, and representatives of the academic and expert communities. This year’s event welcomed participants from across the globe, including experts from the United Kingdom, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, the United States, Singapore, Poland, and other countries.
Throughout the three-day congress, ISSAI actively contributed to the event through a variety of activities. At the exhibition area, ISSAI showcased its AI-powered products and research initiatives to attendees. The exhibition featured organizations and companies from different countries working to advance archival science through digital technologies and artificial intelligence, providing an opportunity to exchange ideas and explore emerging trends in the field.
ISSAI’s Founding Director, Dr. Huseyin Atakan Varol, participated in the official opening ceremony of the congress. On the first day of the event, Amina Baikenova, Acting Deputy Director of Product and External Affairs at ISSAI, joined the panel discussion titled “Archives and AI: Tools, Ethics and Future Strategies.” During her presentation, “OCR and Diarization: Digitizing National Memory,” she highlighted how artificial intelligence is transforming approaches to archival work and discussed the potential of technologies such as optical character recognition (OCR) to streamline the digitization of historical records and cultural heritage materials.
A notable contribution of ISSAI during the congress was the deployment of its AI-powered subtitling and translation tool, TilSync. Throughout all three days of the event, TilSync provided real-time transcription and translation of presentations, enabling participants to follow discussions more easily. Speeches were translated into English and Kazakh, helping to improve accessibility among the international audience. TilSync received positive feedback from distinguished participants of the congress, including Charlotte Lindberg Warakaulle, Director of the United Nations Library & Archives Geneva, and Dinara Shcheglova, Vice Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan. They highlighted the tool’s contribution to improving accessibility and facilitating multilingual communication during the event.
ISSAI expresses its sincere gratitude to the Presidential Archive of the Republic of Kazakhstan for the invitation and the opportunity to contribute to this important international event. The congress demonstrated the growing role of artificial intelligence in preserving, managing, and expanding access to historical knowledge. ISSAI remains committed to supporting the digital transformation of archives through innovative AI solutions and collaborative partnerships.