Digitalising a university in Uzbekistan: where do you start, and which systems does it need?

Short answer. Start from the accreditation list. It marks mandatory an information system for managing teaching (HEMIS, an LMS or similar), anti-plagiarism, an e-library and planning documents. Then KPI and the LMS, on one base, one at a time. The ministry's digital education centre, the university's own team or a software company builds them; Zarmed University's six systems are an Avada project.

Which systems, and what each document asks for

The main yardstick is the indicators for comprehensive state accreditation (order No. 5 of the director of the National Agency for Education Quality Assurance; below, "accreditation"). Where a criterion or an indicator is mandatory, the table says so.

Criterion 5 has more indicators: the system holds student and teacher data, the timetable, grades and attendance; it is integrated with the ministry's and the agency's systems; technical support and information security are in place; the data is accurate and kept up to date, and a yearly analytical report is discussed by the university council.

The indicators name a few more systems, all as general indicators. Under mandatory criteria: student movements shown in HEMIS and the LMS on time (criterion 14), a digital admissions system (criterion 13), access to e-learning platforms (criterion 41). Under general criteria: a single database on graduate employment (criterion 11), information systems for monitoring research output (criterion 33).

What "mandatory indicator" means. If it is not met, the criterion is rated "not met" whatever else it scores (accreditation order, note, sub-point 4). A criterion rated "not met" keeps its whole direction from being "met", and so does any mandatory criterion that is less than fully "met" (the Regulation approved by Cabinet resolution No. 498, point 43). A university passes accreditation only when every direction is "met" (point 48).

This binds private universities too. Comprehensive state accreditation covers state and non-state institutions alike (the Regulation approved by resolution No. 498, point 3). Comprehensive accreditation covers institutions that already have graduates; new programmes go through special accreditation before teaching on them starts (points 3 and 7). A university that fails gets six months to fix the shortcomings; if it does not, the Agency puts to the founder whether the leadership should stay in post (point 56) and proposes to the ministry that a private university's licence be revoked (point 57). After a "not passed" decision it may not advertise, admit students, have education loans allocated to its students or issue diplomas (point 59).

Where to start: the order

1. Write down where things stand. Where each process lives: HEMIS, Excel, paper or a separate program. Who enters the data, and into how many places the same data is typed.
2. Check it against the accreditation list. Mandatory first: the information system (criterion 5, a mandatory indicator), anti-plagiarism (criteria 10 and 29, a mandatory indicator in each), the e-library (a mandatory criterion), planning the teaching process (criterion 17, a mandatory criterion; planning in an information system is one of its general indicators). Then the general criteria: assessment (9), KPI (27), the digital learning environment (46).
3. Choose one base. Student and staff data is entered once; official data stays in HEMIS. Integrating the university's own system with HEMIS on the ministry's requirements is mandatory (PQ-60, point 6; for a private university, resolution No. 403, point 3 "g"); settle the terms with the ministry and its digital education centre. How the connection works is on our page LMS and HEMIS.
4. Roll systems out one at a time. Short ones that belong to one office first: anti-plagiarism (a mandatory indicator in two criteria), then planning (a mandatory criterion, though its information-system indicator is general); then those that touch the whole university. KPI is a general criterion and can come later. The LMS takes longest: besides the software, lessons have to be prepared and checked by departments (our reading).
5. Personal data. Biometric data must be stored in Uzbekistan; the rest has conditions: the data law.
6. Agree support and reporting up front. Who provides technical support and information security, who adapts the system when HEMIS changes, who prepares the yearly analytical report: criterion 5 asks for all of these.
7. Review every year. The accreditation list and the acts change; the ministries merged in October 2026.

One vendor or several?

The law does not decide it. HEMIS is a state system; the university does not build it. The ministry's digital education centre is the "single integrator" for building information systems in the sector, and a university may contract it directly (PF-58, annex 2, point 5). A university with other software for managing teaching integrates it with HEMIS (PQ-60, point 6); a private university must have an information system and integrate it with HEMIS (resolution No. 403, point 3 "g"). Whether the "single integrator" limits who may build a university's own system, the act does not say: it gives a right to contract the centre, not a duty; confirm your case with the ministry.

One base means data entered once and one integration. Several vendors means a separate integration, separate support and a separate contract with each. Either way, put in the contract: who owns the code and the data, how fast the data comes back to you, who adapts the system when HEMIS changes (our reading).

How long it takes

No act sets a deadline for rolling out every system, but a private university has HEMIS dates. Within a month of getting its licence it must enter data on the institution, its students and teachers in the relevant state information systems and keep it updated; for higher education the act names HEMIS and requires the data once teaching has started. This is a licence condition, and breaking it is a gross breach (the licensing passport, point 9, I "g"; annex 2 to resolution No. 80, the text in force). Each year's enrolment order is registered in HEMIS by 1 October (resolution No. 403, point 3 "a"). Accreditation comes every five years (the Regulation approved by resolution No. 498, point 8).

The state rolled HEMIS itself out in stages: three stages from October 2020 to September 2021 in the "Digital Uzbekistan 2030" programme; in PQ-60, a first stage by 1 March 2022 and a second by 1 May. The 2030 concept's target was an information system for managing teaching in every university by 2025. Avada's site gives 2–4 weeks for its "Roll-out in stages" step: set-up, moving the data, training staff. At Zarmed University the systems went live one by one, and the LMS is still rolling out.

What the law says

The ministry is the Ministry of Education and Science, created by Presidential decree PF-213 of 3 October 2026 from the Ministry of Preschool and School Education and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Innovation (it is their legal successor). The acts below still use the old name. PF-213 (point 4) gives two months for proposed amendments, so the acts may change soon. The new ministry's central office gets a department of digital transformation and information policy (PQ-380 of 19 October 2026, point 4). lex.uz/docs/-8519155 · lex.uz/docs/-8547582 (official text in Uzbek; Russian: lex.uz/docs/8519178, lex.uz/docs/8547593)

• Order No. 5 of 2 December 2025 of the director of the National Agency for Education Quality Assurance under the Presidential Administration (registered by the Ministry of Justice on 23 December 2025 as No. 3732), the indicators for comprehensive state accreditation of universities: criterion 5, an information system "(HEMIS, LMS, e-journal, management platform or others)" in place (a mandatory indicator), integration, technical support, information security, a yearly analytical report; criterion 9, assessment results on a digital platform; criterion 10, an anti-plagiarism system and organisational measures in place (a mandatory indicator); criterion 14, student movements shown in HEMIS and the LMS on time; criterion 17, planning in an information system with online monitoring; criterion 29, an anti-plagiarism system in place (a mandatory indicator); criterion 46, a digital learning environment. Note, sub-point 4: if a mandatory indicator is not met, the criterion is not met (our translation). lex.uz/docs/-7937311 (official text in Uzbek)
• Cabinet of Ministers resolution No. 498 of 6 August 2025, the Regulation on the accreditation procedure it approves: annex 2, section III, the information-system criterion sits in the "organisation and management" direction (our translation; general); the criterion on planning documents for the teaching process, in the "organisation of teaching" direction (mandatory); the information-resource centre and e-library criterion in the "facilities and equipment" direction (mandatory); the criteria on admission, student movements, and buildings and software (criteria 13, 14 and 41 in the accreditation order) are mandatory too; point 3, state and non-state institutions, special accreditation before teaching starts; point 7, institutions that have graduates; point 8, every five years; point 43, a direction with a criterion rated "not met", or with a mandatory criterion not fully "met", is not "met"; point 48, when every direction is "met", the institution has "passed state accreditation"; points 56, 57 and 59, six months, the leadership question and the licence, no advertising or admission. lex.uz/docs/-7671324 (official text in Uzbek)
• Presidential resolution PQ-60 of 24 December 2021. Point 6: the parts of the higher-education process management information system (HEMIS): teaching, research, administration, finance, quality control; a first stage by 1 March 2022, a second by 1 May; for institutions with other software managing education processes, integrating it on the ministry's requirements is mandatory (as worded by decree PF-107 of 3 July 2023); a state university may contract organisations in the ministry's system directly to introduce and service it. Point 5: a single "Electronic library" platform under the ministry. lex.uz/docs/-5793261 (official text in Uzbek; Russian: lex.uz/docs/5793264)
• Presidential decree PF-58 of 10 April 2026, annex 2, point 5: the ministry's digital education centre (official name in Uzbek) is the "single integrator" for building information systems in higher, vocational and specialised secondary education; HEMIS is one of the core systems of a single integrated digital ecosystem; education institutions are given the right to contract the centre directly. lex.uz/docs/-8129755 (official text in Uzbek)
• Cabinet of Ministers resolution No. 403 of 30 June 2025, point 3 (from 1 August 2025): "a", a private university registers its enrolment order in HEMIS no later than 1 October of the new academic year; "g", private education institutions must have an information system that manages teaching, research and administration and controls education quality, and must integrate it with HEMIS. lex.uz/docs/-7609624 (official text in Uzbek)
• Cabinet of Ministers resolution No. 403 of 30 June 2025, annex, the licensing passport for non-state education services (annex 2 to the unified regulation approved by resolution No. 80 of 21 February 2022), point 9, I "g": within a month of the licence, enter data in the relevant information systems (in higher education, in HEMIS once teaching has started) and keep it updated (a requirement whose breach counts as gross). lex.uz/docs/-7609624; text in force: lex.uz/docs/-5870213, annex 2 later amended by resolution No. 456 of 24 August 2026, sub-point "g" unchanged (official text in Uzbek)
• Regulation on higher education (ministry order No. 99 of 10 March 2026, registered by the Ministry of Justice on 3 April 2026 as No. 3807), point 31: students' teaching is regulated and monitored through the higher-education process management information system. For private universities its rules are advisory (preamble). lex.uz/docs/-8117474 (official text in Uzbek)
• Concept for developing higher education to 2030, approved by Presidential decree PF-5847 of 8 October 2019: chapter 3, §2, a "step-by-step move to the 'Electronic university' platform", an e-library, anti-plagiarism; annex, target 12 (as worded by PF-58 of 10 April 2026), the share of universities with an information system for managing teaching: 80 % in 2023, 100 % in 2025. lex.uz/docs/-4545884 (official text in Uzbek)
• Presidential decree PF-6079 of 5 October 2020 (the "Digital Uzbekistan 2030" strategy), annex 21: launch the "higher-education process management" information system and digitise teaching, research and finance step by step, October 2020, May 2021, September 2021. lex.uz/docs/-5030957 (official text in Uzbek)
• Law No. ZRU-547 of 2 July 2019 "On personal data", article 27¹ (as worded by Law No. ZRU-1125 of 26 March 2026): biometric and genetic data must be stored in Uzbekistan; the rest has conditions. lex.uz/docs/-4396419 (official text in Uzbek)

Checked: 25 October 2026.

Example: Zarmed University

A medical university in Samarkand and Bukhara, an Avada project: two campuses, six systems on one base, each at the university's own address. Under "Before", the project page says: "Lessons, exams, teachers’ scores, teaching load and assets lived in separate spreadsheets, folders and programs." The systems went live one by one: online exams, teachers' KPI, teaching load allocation, staff and hiring, the asset register are in operation; the learning platform (LMS) is rolling out. Integrations: HEMIS. Today: 2 400+ lessons in the LMS, 9 000+ items with QR labels, two campuses in one register.

Questions and answers

Which systems does a university need? By the accreditation list: an information system for managing teaching and anti-plagiarism (both mandatory indicators), an e-library (a mandatory criterion), planning documents for the teaching process (a mandatory criterion; planning in an information system is a general indicator), digital assessment, KPI and a digital learning environment (general criteria). Students, grades, attendance and timetables are kept in HEMIS.

Where do we start? By writing down where things stand and checking it against accreditation's mandatory indicators. Then choose one base and roll the systems out one at a time; the LMS usually takes longest (our reading).

One vendor or several? The law does not decide it. One base means data entered once and one integration with HEMIS; several vendors mean a separate integration and separate support for each. The single integrator for information systems in the ministry's system is its digital education centre (PF-58, annex 2, point 5).

How long does it take? There is no single deadline for all systems; a private university has HEMIS dates (above). The state rolled out HEMIS itself in stages (PQ-60: 1 March and 1 May 2022). At Zarmed University the systems went live one by one and the LMS is still rolling out.

We have HEMIS: do we need anything else? HEMIS keeps students, grades, attendance, timetables, research output, staff and fee contracts (PQ-60, point 6). Accreditation also checks anti-plagiarism, the e-library, planning and the digital learning environment. A private university must have its own information system and integrate it with HEMIS (resolution No. 403, point 3 "g"); a state university that has its own system must integrate it too (PQ-60, point 6).

What happens if a university fails accreditation? It gets six months to fix the shortcomings; if it does not, the Agency puts the leadership question to the founder and proposes revoking the licence to the ministry. After a "not passed" decision it may not advertise or admit students (the Regulation approved by resolution No. 498, points 56, 57 and 59).

One step: see the six systems on one base and their status today on the Zarmed University project