Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technologies will support the Electronic Village project, which envisions setting up Internet kiosks in Azerbaijan's regions.

The project was initiated by IREX, a non-profit organization operating in Azerbaijan since 1998.

IREX lawyer Alasgar Mammadli told Trend news agency that the project will be fully subordinated to the Ministry from July.

Under the $100,000 project, Internet kiosks were installed in 30 regions of the country, 26 of which are connected via fiber-optic lines. The main purpose of installing the kiosks is to provide the population with access to information so that they would have the opportunity to carry out online payments, apply to state bodies electronically and make complaints about issues of concern.

Working throughout the country, IREX currently administers a variety of civil society, higher education and media development programs funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the US Department of State.

"These kiosks are used by a fairly wide range of groups," Mammadli noted. "Implementation of the Electronic Azerbaijan State Program has led to the creation of the State Agency for Services to Citizens and Social Innovations (ASAN-service) and an increase in the number of e-services provided by government agencies. Accordingly, a simultaneous development of infrastructure is required for bringing e-services to the masses."

IREX Azerbaijan said that one of such kiosks helps to transform the local post office into a community center, where locals come to read online newspapers and browse the Internet, as well as do their usual business of posting letters and paying their bills.

Global Electronic Village (GEV) is a term used to refer to a village without borders, it means connecting people around the world using Information Communication Technologies (ICTs), where distance barriers are eliminated using ICT tools.