Almaty has secured 38th place in the inaugural Intelligent Cities Index 2026 compiled by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Qazinform News Agency reports.
Kazakhstan’s largest city received an overall score of 62 out of 100, placing ahead of Jakarta, Rome, Milan, Melbourne, Delhi and São Paulo.
The index assesses how effectively cities use digital technologies and artificial intelligence to improve public services, residents’ quality of life and economic opportunities.
Almaty was included in the group of “emerging” intelligent cities. The report indicates that the city has already adopted a range of AI-enabled solutions, although their number remains below the average among the locations studied.
At the same time, Almaty performed comparatively well in terms of outcomes for residents.
Almaty also appeared among cities where the use of smart city applications and residents’ satisfaction with them are broadly aligned.
In addition, the city demonstrated a relatively balanced combination of technological infrastructure and so-called soft enablers, including access to talent, investment and innovation ecosystems.
London topped the global ranking with 85 points. Dubai, New York City, Washington and Amsterdam completed the top five.
BCG evaluated 61 cities across 39 countries using 35 indicators. The assessment covered five areas: outcomes, strategy, technology adoption, ways of working and enabling conditions, including digital infrastructure, funding and skilled personnel.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that 20 Kazakh universities were included in the QS World University Rankings 2027.