DUSHANBE, January 29, Asia-Plus -- Tajikistan intends to create a system of electronic government.

Transport and Communications Minister Abdurahim Ashurov remarked this at a meeting with journalists in Dushanbe on Friday, January 26.   

According to him, four projects have been prepared in the communications sector: electronic government; electronic passport; medical services and digital services.   

The minister noted that all those projects had been worked out as part of the Information and Communication Technology Development Program.  “In future, we plan to replace the existing communications networks and install optic-fiber communications networks, linking all regions of the country to each other,” Ashurov said.  

Dwelling on the electronic government, the minister said that it will senior public sector professionals and decision makers with relevant and accurate sources of comment and information from both their public sector peers and the foremost private sector solution providers.  Ashurov noted that the ministry had submitted for consideration to the government a draft electronic government development concept, adding that it is necessary to project a program and plan for the implementation of this project.    

Meanwhile, Asia-Plus has learned from the Public Service Directorate under the President of Tajikistan that 20 state structures have to date been connected to the single system of the electronic government as part of the pilot project.  

Electronic Government (also known as e-gov, digital government, online government or in a certain context transformational government) refers to government’s use of information and communication technology (ICT) to exchange information and services with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government. e-Government may be applied by legislature, judiciary, or administration, in order to improve internal efficiency, the delivery of public services, or processes of democratic governance.  The primary delivery models are Government-to-Citizen or Government-toCustomer (G2C), Government-to-Business (G2B) and Govrnment-to-Government (G2G).  The most important anticipated benefits of e-government include improved efficiency, convenience, and better accessibility of public services.