Last year the government enacted a 2013-2020 national strategy for IT development. It has already rung up considerable achievements, like creating about 200 government websites. The Single Interactive State Services Portal (YePIGU) is already available at my.gov.uz in three languages – Uzbek, Russian and English. Uzbeks can accomplish many tasks now without leaving home. Since my.gov.uz began functioning July 1, 2013, more than 25,000 Uzbeks have used the site.
"Our country attaches tremendous significance to the development of IT and its integration into the government," Eldar Mirsaliyev, spokesman for the state-owned Computerisation and Information Technologies Developing Centre, said. "Uzbekistan will continue to integrate inter-active services and modern information systems into government agencies. But it is important to have a solid legal foundation for these initiatives."
Convenience and transparency
A law on transparency in government work took effect in May. Meanwhile, the lower chamber of parliament is debating a bill on e-government.
"The transparency law ... guarantees all citizens the right of access to information on the activities of government agencies, on officials and on the decisions they take," Andrei Myatilin, a Tashkent lawyer, said. "The law will undoubtedly increase their accountability and will make previously secretive agencies transparent. The law compels every agency to have its own website and regulates the information going on every agency's website."
"The e-government bill is necessary to improve the efficiency of inter-active government services, speed up their provision and reduce their cost," member of parliament Tokhir Umarov said. "We're studying the experience of foreign countries. ... If the bill is passed, the law will push the modernisation and integration of all government agencies' computer networks."
The "nerve centre" of e-government in Uzbekistan is YePIGU. Today, citizens can use it to solve all sorts of problems – from housing and utility matters to creation of one's own business.
"A little more than a year has passed since YePIGU was launched ... and this tool already has revolutionised relations between the state and citizen," Yevgeny Galiulin of YePIGU said. "You can contact more than 500 different ... agencies and access about 200 different services. The most popular options are complaints, suggestions and appeals. Users also look up various kinds of information and register their businesses."
High praise
Various citizens are praising the innovations for making their lives easier.
"The street next to my apartment building, which had been in terrible condition for years, was re-paved after I appealed via YePIGU to the local authorities," Sodik Jurbayev of Almazar District, Tashkent, said. "I even received official confirmation in the mail that the work had been done. ... YePIGU really does work."
"There was no children's playground in our apartment courtyard, so we decided to complain through YePIGU," Albina Yuldasheva, a woman from Yakkasarai District, Tashkent, said. "The playground was finished in less than a month. ... I am very pleased to have this resource."
One factor that might boost YePIGU's popularity is its easy-to-use system for feedback.
"The user personally grades the agency's response on a five-point scale," Galiulin said. "The site publishes user ratings of the agencies. Outside consultants work with them and come up with recommendations to improve their work."
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Autor(en)/Author(s): Maksim Yeniseyev
Quelle/Source: Central Asia Online, 18.08.2014
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