Talant Sultanov is the Chair and Co-Founder of the Internet Society Kyrgyz Chapter (ISOC) and Co-Founder of the Center for Strategic Initiatives “Taza Koom”. He is a member of the UN Secretary General’s Multistakeholder Advisory Group for Internet Governance (UN IGF MAG). Talant’s experience includes working at the World Bank as a Digital Development Specialist. He has served in the Kyrgyz Government as the Adviser to the Prime Minister in charge of the Taza Koom Digital Transformation Strategy and as the Director of the Government Think Tank NISI. Previously he has worked in academia as the CFO of the American University in Bishkek and as the Scholarship Coordinator at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco, as well as in the private sector at Kazkommertsbank in Almaty. Additionally, he served on boards of the Kyrgyz National TV and Radio Corporation, the Business Council of the Kyrgyz Parliament, the Bank of Asia, and Humo Microcredit Foundation in Tajikistan.

Talant and ISOC team promote Internet connectivity and digital development. Some of the projects include them“Sanarip Insan” digital skills project for women and youth in rural areas funded by EU and the “ilimBox” project (Knowledge-in-a-Box), which brings educational content in local languages to unconnected rural schools and libraries. The ilimbox was listed among seven worldwide digital education initiatives by Thomson Reuters Foundation. This initiative has grown into an online educational platform IlimBox.kg. Additionally, Talant and ISOC teammates are working on activities related to digital disaster resilience, personal data protection, and cybersecurity.

Talant holds a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (2006) and a Bachelor’s degree (Summa Cum Laude) in International Relations from San Francisco State University (1999). He has also received executive education at the Harvard Kennedy School and NESA (2016).