IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

According to Velizade, at present approximately 220 electronic services are being provided for these state bodies.

He said work is nearing completion.

According to Khalilov, the Ministry of Finance already provides electronic services in the insurance field.

The introduction of new e-services will facilitate communication between the SSPF and policyholders, reduce the human factor in this process, and increase the transparency in the pension-insurance system.

"We have connected our database to information system for identity card registration of the Interior Ministry," Muslimov said.

He said the SSPF is currently placing its database on pensioners and citizens insured under compulsory state social insurance, on the e-government portal.

The plan envisages the necessary measures to create an electronic payment system and its improvement in 2011-2012, expanding the range of services provided by tax terminals, including the range of electronic services, construction of new terminals by December 2011, and preparation of proposals to amend the legislation to apply the "e-audit" system in 2011-2012. The plan also envisages studying international experience in e-commerce tax audit and the preparation of proposals in this sphere in 2011-2012.

Ali Abbasov, Azerbaijan’s Minister for Communications and Information Technologies praised the development of cooperation between the two countries in the field of communications, saying Azerbaijan takes interest in learning Estonian experience in this area.

To broaden the range of e-signature users, the company plans to provide additional benefits for the recipients, as well as to expand the list of e-services whereby they can be used.

The company plans to offer e-signature holders such e-services as ordering a loan without visiting the bank and remote opening of bank accounts. Moreover, users will be able to load balance to SMART cards used for water and gas counters.

RATI chairman Emin Huseynov says that in order to prove this it is enough to try to pass online-registration on the portal for the digital signature.

"Warnings in systems Mozilla, Opera, Chrome, which notify users that the security protocol of portals www.e-imza.az, www.e-gov.az and other public websites is not “not trusted" say the same as well, that suggests that these systems use invalid security certificates. It puts in jeopardy the persons performing any operations through any of these resources,” he said.

Azerbaijan's technology consultant at Microsoft Azerbaijan, Gachay Mirzayev said, the main reason behind the growth is that cloud computing increases the efficiency of the enterprise and lessens the rental cost of the virtual space.

"For example, the monthly rent of one gigabyte of virtual cloud space in Windows Azure costs 0.07 cents in Azerbaijan," he added.

According to Bank of Baku OJSC the relevant agreement has been signed between the Data Processing Center under the Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Communications and High Technologies and Bank of Baku OJSC.

According to the ministry, the issue was discussed within the board meeting held at the Ministry with the participation of departments.

Azerbaijani Communication and IT Minister Ali Abbasov instructed to accelerate the work within simplifying the access to the "e-government" portal, the process of getting the electronic digital signature by citizens and removing the problems with telecommunication, postal and TV and radio infrastructure to render quality services to the population.

The "E-government" portal will be a key tool for supporting work with citizens and enterprises of state and private sectors.

Launch of the portal will reduce the number of documents requested from citizens due to the fact that different authorities will interact with each other in electronic form.

Mammadov said the Presidential order determines the specific directions for the transition to e-government and use of e-services in the territory of the Republic.

The order tasks the Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies to accelerate the interaction with other government agencies.

"We think that the number of e-services presented on the portal will be increased in the future," he said. "The mechanism of their implementation will be further improved."

The work with the state bodies in this direction is being conducted upon a presidential decree dated May 23, 2011 on certain measures for rendering electronic services. He said that the formation of electronic services in Azerbaijan enters into the active phase of its development today.

"The official presentation of the portal is expected in autumn," Velizade said.

He said the total number of electronic services centered on the portal and provided to government agencies is 124 units.

At the meeting Osman Gunduz, head of Azerbaijan’s Internet forum said that de to transference to new electronic states services it is also necessary to adopt the program of electronic municipal services development (Electronic Municipality).

"The necessity of such a program is determined b the fact that currently there is a large numeral inequality between state and municipal authority bodies", O. Gunduz said.

Sybernet CEO Ilham Namazov has said that the Company jointly with the Ministry of Communications & Information Technologies is working on creation of state information system e-government within state program E-government.

"This will be an information portal, through which public and private entities, as well as citizens of the country, will be able to get information they need, carry out various operations, including banking ones. Officials of one ministry with access to classified information of the portal can, through its information system, to obtain the information they need from another ministry or agency. As a result, paper work will reduce much," he said.

A new section called "Non-resident" has been added to e- government portal www.e-gov.az. Initially, three government agencies have placed their electronic services in the section, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State Committee for Work with Diaspora, as well as State Committee for Family, Women and Children Affairs, the ministry said.

Deputy minister of economic development Sevinj Hasanova says that introduction of an e-control system in the MED contributed to the growth in internal flow of documents

"As a result of the introduction of the e-control system Ministry’s flow of documents rose 5-fold up to 12,700 letters, while previously it reached 2,400 service letters a year,” Hasanova emphasized.

To him, approximate list of the services to be rendered via the portal has been prepared and submitted to the Cabinet of Ministers and passed the ratification during the first stage:

'Our main goal – to render e-services to the population after the launch of e-portal and conclude their demand for services during work period. Knowing of people’s wished and offers are necessary for us in order to maintain activity of the portal at a satisfactory level'.