Azernews.Az

By Nigar Abbasova

The sustainable development of the sphere of information communication technologies is an integral part of the economic and political reforms which are currently implemented in Azerbaijan, Minister of Communications and High Technologies Ramin Guluzade told Trend.

“State programs which are aimed at the comprehensive development of the non-oil sector are currently underway in the country. The programs necessitate the switch of the ICT sector to the new level. Azerbaijan is the first and the only country that adopted the strategy of switch to the information-oriented society in the South Caucasus region,” he said.

He also underlined that the country is the only in the region with space industry, mentioning that the project is considered to be one of the greatest achievements of the country in ICT sector.

Azerbaijan’s first telecommunication satellite which has already took its place on the global market of satellite systems was designed to offer digital broadcasting services, Internet access, data transmission, to create multiservice networks and provide for governmental communication. A number of countries use its resources and their number is expected to increase in the future.

Among the other major achievement of Azerbaijan in the sphere are the system of e-government, the application of e-signature which gives a stimulus to the further development of the sphere. The country has also started the use of 4G service which is considered to be a brand-new technology in the system of mobile telephone network and creates an opportunity for the access to the high-speed Internet all over the country. The signal of the digital broadcasting covers approximately 99 percent of the country.

“The sphere of ICT may be deemed as the most dynamically developed sphere of the country,” he said.

The minister also said that the works which are currently implemented in the sphere of ICT are aimed at improving the quantity and quality of the services rendered to the population. “Electronization and maximal accessibility of services for the citizens is one of the crucial issues for us,” he said.

Commenting on the formation of e-government Guluzade said that the project is considered to be one of the priority areas and the head of state pays attention to the issue. “Main objective of the project is to provide qualitative online-services by the state structures as well as move the “citizen-government” and “citizen - official” relations to a qualitatively new modern format,” he said.

The e-government portal was launched in Azerbaijan in 2013. Since then state institutions in Azerbaijan have been establishing e-service sections on their websites. The portal offers approximately 400 e-services through 45 government agencies. Over one million citizens are active users of e-services of the state agencies. Moreover, the e-government portal also allows for providing e-services to citizens of foreign countries. All services provided by Azerbaijani government agencies are expected to be online by 2020.

Speaking about the internet access as well as the level of penetration the minister said that over 75 percent of the country’s population have an access to the Internet. One of the main issues in this sphere is the quality of provided services. Currently we are engaged in the construction of the optic-fiber network in all regions of the country which will provide for qualitative internat and communication services. Main objective of the project is offering the Internet with the speed of 100 Mb/s, the services of IP TV (Internet television) and telephone communication. The project has already launched in Baku.

One of the other important issues is turning the country into a transit informative hub of the region. “The creation of the Data-centre allows us approaching to the realization of the target”

The center which is considered to be the largest in the region was already constructed. Currently, the work is underway for its commissioning. The centre is the first licensed centre in Azerbaijan and the Caucasus region. The DATA Center was tested for resilience by American Uptime Institute in order to obtain a certificate of Tier3 level. The certificate is an official confirmation of reliability and security. Tier 3 is considered to be one of the highest levels in this sphere which offers 99.98 percent availability.

The minister added that the centre will also operate as an alternative supplier of the foreign traffic which has a huge role from the strategic point of view.

Touching upon the issue of reforms in the sphere of postal services in the context of rendering financial services including issuance of credits and reception of deposits, the minister said that the sphere is in need of further improvement. The minister expressed his confidence in the creation of the postal service which will be eligible to provide a postal service meeting all modern requirements. “We are considering the prospects of turning the country’s postal service into international transit hub.”

Azerpoct launched the process of financial services rendering in April 2012. The entity which is eligible to implement all types of banking services except credit issuance and attraction of bank deposits.

Commenting on the issue of consideration of customer’s appeals Guluzade said that the ministry is considering the possibility of creating Customer Service Center in the future. “The appeals of the customers assist us in defining future steps in the sphere”

ICT is considered to be one of the crucial spheres for the further development of the country.

--

Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz