Implementation of E-Government in Azerbaijan: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

The invention of internet and advancement of information and communication technologies brought new possibilities and challenges for governments throughout the world. Governments began to realize that they are under the process of transformation to a new age of governance that will be possible with the broad deployment of ICT within the public administration. This new phenomenon was e-government.

Many regard this phenomenon as relationship created as a result of widespread usage of information and communication technologies (ICT). In fact, e-government is the process related to the transformation of state and society that eventually leads to the electronic governance.

At the core of the e-government not electronization, but is the state where the information and communication technologies are viewed as a means for access. In this regard, the construction of e-government should be approached as an improvement of citizen-centered, effective and efficient public administration. United Nations in 2012 declared that the aim of e-government therefore is to provide efficient government management of information to the citizen

better service delivery to citizens

and empowerment of the people through access to information and participation in public policy decision-making.

Three key components of electronic governance ? e-government, e-business, and e-society are formed under the influence of paradigms that our world faces which are globalization and liberalization of economy, expansion of use of information technologies, democratization and social changes. From this point of view, the use of e-government technologies is an effective management method towards the expansion the rights and opportunities for prompt delivery of government`s services to citizens, development of mutual relations between business and industries, provision of access for citizens to information.

As international practice shows this is a huge and long term process requiring from governments strong will, leadership, consolidation of efforts, dedication, time and resources. Therefore for many developing countries e-government is still challenging and through the process of implementation they face serious obstacles that, unfortunately sometimes cause the failure of whole project.

Azerbaijan started its e-government initiative with the adoption of National ICT Strategy in 2003 and achieved certain results in this area. But as studies reveal, without timely and comprehensive evaluationofe-government projects are likely to fail since different challenges arise while implementation process and they are to be determined and eliminated. The goal of this research is to examine Azerbaijani e-government, define common challenges for developing countries in case of Azerbaijan. The recommendations are presented on the basis of analysis and findings of the study.

Since there is no previous research done in this field, this study provides valuable understanding, first of all for both government and other interested groups or individuals in Azerbaijan. This paper describes the essence of e-government, its main features and advantages in comparison to traditional government. At the same time, through case study with Korea and face-to-face interviews with key persons involved in Azerbaijani e-government implementation process, it defines the existence of challenges in the process of implementation.

The result of analysis revealed that it is difficult to manage equal institutions on a project which accomplishment for each institution is measured and therefore it is recommendable to establish single central body to administer and coordinate e-government project. Furthermore, it is important to create a central fund to finance all government agencies since the financial barriers might be fatal for e-government projects in developing countries. It also found out that timely alignment of legislation with e-government development and evaluation of the project are necessary for successful realization. Finally, digital gap, lack of awareness, e-literacy and lack of focus to vulnerable groups of society are found relevant in case of Azerbaijan.

These arguments call for substantial measures - developing of necessary policies for strengthening e-government implementation both legally and technically, and enabling all social groups within a society to access and use e-government capabilities ? that were specified in Recommendations for Azerbaijani government.