Azernews.Az

By Nigar Orujova

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Communications and High Technologies is planning to hire a consultant in preparing a package of proposals, Azerbaijani Minister of Communications and High Technologies Ali Abbasov said at the board meeting on April 17 dedicated to the results of the first quarter of 2014.

"A tender will be made in this regard," Abbasov said. "The leading international and local experts will be able to participate in it."

The consultant will ensure the achievement of the goals set in the new state program for the development of the information society.

The draft of the state program will be prepared within four months. The work on the preparation of the state program is being conducted as part of the national strategy for information society development in Azerbaijan for 2014-2020, which will be implemented in two stages.

National strategy is aimed at realizing the economic potential of the country, utilizing the existing capabilities and improving the governance methods in the age of modern technology.

Booz Allen Hamilton as the consulting company prepared a package of proposals for the further development of the ICT sector in Azerbaijan in 2008.

The company unveiled a detailed package of proposals in which all necessary works are broken down. The package included the analysis of the country's export potential in the field of ICT.

"Azerbaijan has approved about 30 percent of the prepared proposals," Abbasov said. "By implementing the recommendations, we have achieved a level of development of the ICT sector, where we are today, which certainly will not be ignored by the world community. Azerbaijan is between developed and developing countries in terms of ICT development today."

This February, Azerbaijan's ICT ministry called 2013 the most successful year in the last decade in the development of ICT.

Last year was declared the Year of ICT in Azerbaijan, and it was marked with a series of significant events such as launching Azerbaijan's first telecommunications satellite, Azerspace-1.

Moreover, last year saw a 10.7 percent increase in revenues of the ICT sector to over $2 million. The sector demonstrated a growth by 14 percent.

Azerbaijan has also preserved its leading positions among CIS and Central Asian countries for internet penetration, which stood at 70 percent in 2013.