BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 22. Azerbaijan aims
to foster a culture of data-driven decision-making in both the
public and private sectors, strengthen the integration of
government information systems and develop digital solutions,
Shahin Aliyev, deputy chairman of the board of the Innovation and
Digital Development Agency, said, Trend's correspondent reports from the event.
Aliyev made the remarks on Thursday at a conference in Baku
dedicated to the digital transformation of public finance.
He said one of the key priorities of digital transformation was
to build databases and accelerate data-driven decision-making. At
the same time, the full digitalization of internal processes is
expected to minimize paper use.
According to Aliyev, another major priority is the adoption of
artificial intelligence (AI) solutions. Plans include automating
processes using data generated in the digital environment,
deploying agent-based solutions, and developing national AI models
for use by government agencies.
He noted that developing the innovation ecosystem was another
key component of digital transformation. Under this approach,
services, data and infrastructure solutions developed within
government systems are expected to become accessible to the
innovation ecosystem.
“This is intended to support the development of innovative
products and local startups, encourage the establishment of venture
capital funds, attract foreign companies to Azerbaijan, expand the
country's IT market and increase its export potential,” he
said.
Aliyev stressed that cybersecurity was also a key priority in
digital transformation, with the aim of ensuring the security and
resilience of the emerging digital ecosystem.
Addressing the importance of interoperability between government
information systems, the agency official said the objective was not
simply to digitize individual services or create standalone
systems, but to build a unified ecosystem.
“The goal is to create a single ecosystem. Naturally, it needs
to be coordinated,” he said.
According to him, under current legislation, the integration of
government information systems and resources is carried out through
the e-Government Information System. Government agencies structure
the integration of their own systems in line with this approach,
enabling other agencies to access the data they need to digitize
their services.
Aliyev said data generated by government agencies could be
accessed by both public institutions and private sector entities,
subject to citizens' consent. The next stage, in cooperation with
the Finance Ministry, is expected to involve establishing
integration opportunities for the private sector as well.
He added that IT companies operating in the market were
developing AI-based and enterprise resource planning (ERP)
solutions to digitize companies' internal processes.
“In this case, we will ensure that this data is transferred to
companies through digital transactions. This will enable companies
to offer more innovative solutions to businesses operating in the
domestic market. At the next stage, these solutions could also be
exported to foreign markets,” he stressed.
According to the agency official, one of the main objectives is
to make data-driven decision-making an established practice in both
government agencies and private companies. Work is underway to
establish a national data exchange framework to support this
goal.
He said the plan was to securely consolidate data held by
individual agencies in the government cloud and, where necessary,
enable secure data exchange between relevant sectors and
institutions. This approach would help address challenges more
efficiently and ensure that decisions are based on data.
