AzerNews

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is preparing to implement a large-scale project in the information and communication technologies sector in Azerbaijan, a lawyer for the IREX international non-profit organization said on October 28.

According to Alasgar Mammadli, the project, which will be launched by the end of 2014, is aimed at creating effective relations between the government and civil society.

The five-year project, whose objectives include broad use of new technologies, will be funded by USAID.

“The project directions will be determined in 2014,” Mammadli said. “Presumably, it will focus on using information technologies in management, organizing the activity of municipal institutions in the online mode and so on.”

The project envisages the introduction of technologies based on mobile solutions, a complete shift of the media to electronic media, etc.

Over the nine-month period of this ICT Year in Azerbaijan 10.5 percent growth of the ICT sector was recorded as compared to the same period of last year.

The World Economic Forum’s Global Information Technology 2013 report ranked Azerbaijan 56th, improving its last year’s results by five points on the Networked Readiness Index among 144 world countries.

According to the report, Azerbaijan ranks eighth in “the government’s success in supporting ICT”, ninth on “the importance of ICT in future outlook of the government”, and 20th in “Internet access”.

Some 142.6 million manats ($182 million) were invested in Azerbaijan’s ICT and postal communication sectors in January-September 2013.

USAID is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government in charge of U.S. non-military assistance to other countries. The main directions of the agency include support for trade, agriculture, economic growth, health, humanitarian aid, assistance in conflict prevention and support for democracy in more than 100 world countries.

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