Azernews.Az

By Leman Mammadova

A presentation of EU4Digital program was organized by the Ministry of Transport, Communication and High Technologies and the Ernst & Young company in Baku on May 31.

The event discussed the situation in the digital sphere in Azerbaijan, the achievements and future activities.

Elmir Valizade, Deputy Minister of Transport, Communication and High Technologies, highly appreciated the initiative for Harmonization of Digital Markets (HDM) in the formation and development of the digital economy, noting that Azerbaijan actively participates in the implementation of this project.

Valizade stressed that development of the Cyber Security Strategy in Azerbaijan is at the final stage. “I think that soon the work will be finalized and the strategy will be adopted.”

In his words, the new strategy will cover the upcoming five years.

Deputy minister underlined that at present, Azerbaijan has relevant legislation for the protection of personal data. However, it needs to be adapted to the European Directive, which is currently underway.

He also added that negotiations are underway for the recognition of Azerbaijan's electronic signature in EU countries. “We are currently working with Belarus on the mutual recognition of electronic signatures. We would like to carry out this process with other Eastern Partnership countries and other EU member states.”

Speaking at the event, Simona Gatti, Minister Counsellor of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan, said that the main goal of the program is to bring the EU’s benefits on a single digital market to the Eastern Partnership countries.

Then, Arturas Piliponis, Project Manager of EU4Digital, Ernst&Young's representative, made a presentation on the program.

The event continued with speeches and discussions on trends in digital development throughout the world. The current situation and perspectives of the digital field in Azerbaijan were also discussed at the event.

Later, a press conference was held within the framework of the event.

“Today, we represent the EU-funded regional program Eu4Digital for the Eastern Partnership countries with a budget of 11 million euros, which will contribute to a positive change in the work of state bodies and the lives of ordinary citizens and will create the basis for investment inflows, growth in trade and employment,” said Simona Gatti.

Gatti further added that after the EU4Digital project, EU will start to implement a cyber security project worth 7 million euros in Azerbaijan, noting its great potential for social and economic development, particularly for creation and promotion of new jobs. “Harmonization of digital markets will result in online services rendering at a more affordable price. This, in turn, will create a basis for investment flow, trade and employment growth.”

The project manager Arturas Piliponis stressed that the EU4Digital project, which will be implemented by the EU together with Azerbaijan, will reduce the cost of Internet in the country.

“We are particularly interested in providing access to high-speed Internet in rural areas. In this regard, digital transformation is very important, not only for Azerbaijan, but also for the entire region. We are working on it,” he noted.

Piliponis added that the EU4Digital project will be jointly implemented with most government agencies, including the State Customs Committee, the Ministries of Health and Transport, Communications and High Technologies.

Later, Rashad Azizov, head of Department of Innovative Development of Information Society and Electronic Governance of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies noted that Azerbaijan is actively involved in each of the 6 directions implemented within the HDM initiative.

“We highly value the HDM initiative in the formation and development of digital economy,” he said.

He noted that Azerbaijan is a coordinating country on the theme of "ICT innovation and startup ecosystem" and the "e-customs" subdirection. “We believe that the work under the HDM will support the development of digital economy in Azerbaijan.”

EU4Digital aims to extend the benefits of the European Union's Digital Single Market to the Eastern Partner states, channelling the EU support to develop the potential of the digital economy and society, in order to bring economic growth, generate more jobs, improve people’s lives and help businesses.

Through EU4Digital, the EU supports Eastern Partnership countries on reducing roaming tariffs, developing high-speed broadband to boost economies and expand e-services, harmonising digital frameworks across society, in areas ranging from logistics to health, building cyber security and developing digital skills.

The purpose of this event is to bring together key Azerbaijani stakeholders and present the EU4Digital Program as a flagship initiative channeling a broad range of actions in support of EU policy objectives in the digital area. The event will also take stock of the overall situation and progress made in the spectrum of digital topics in Azerbaijan, and look ahead to the next actions coming up.

The implementation of EU4Digital program will result in improved online services at better prices and with greater choice; stronger personal data protection. It will also attract investments and boost trade and employment. Existing companies will grow faster and start-ups will be created more easily.

---

Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz