WB, Azerbaijan mull priority areas for digitalization

Azerbaijan has become a major regional economic player and an international transport and transit hub. However, the country does not intend to stop there: the developed "Strategy for the socio-economic development of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2022-2026" includes digitalization among the five priority areas for the development of the national economy. Azerbaijan has been cooperating with the World Bank in this direction for many years.

Report presents an interview with Nicole Klingen, acting director and practice manager for digital development in Europe and Central Asia in the Infrastructure Practice Group of the World Bank:

- How can the World Bank help Azerbaijan develop digitalization?

- Each country is on its own path of digital development, trying to adapt and keep pace with the future. How important digitalization is - we first realized it during the COVID-19 pandemic, when suddenly no one could move from one place to another anymore. Countries where people, businesses, and governments have access to affordable, high-quality, and secure communications have fared better and grown faster than others. We realized that there are great inequalities within and between countries. Within countries, urban spaces function better than rural spaces, and different segments of the population manage better depending on the level of education and qualifications. The most important thing was first to provide affordable communication.

We’re working globally with countries and each of them is at the different start of that journey. Nobody starts from the blank page. In some countries sometimes people don’t quite trust to use digital platforms, or they don’t have enough skills. So, we work with countries on the foundations, connectivity and skills to make sure that people can use e-payments, do the transactions on platforms, and to have better services.

The government in Azerbaijan has a national development strategy, in which the digitalization holds a big part. We have been working with the government on the transformation and strategy development. We’re now starting the discussions on the skills development. We have also worked on very specific items around laws and regulations on completion law and on connectivity.

In the past we worked on a broad bank strategy which is important to understand who has access to broad internet, is it affordable, secure etc. Now we’re happy to work in the broader strategy that Azerbaijan has set out for itself and happy to support it in any way shape of form that the government would like us to engage.

- According to the WB study on smart villages in Azerbaijan, the country has a lot of work to do to bridge the digital divide between rural and urban areas and improve digital skills in rural areas. What opportunities and ways does the WB see for improving digital skills in rural areas of Azerbaijan?

- Population skills are extremely important. As for the gap between rural and urban areas, it is primarily a matter of access to connectivity and then the ability to use it effectively.

The development of digital skills takes place at different levels. First of all, this is the basic ability of a person to use a phone or a website: send emails, attach files, etc. Many countries are trying to bring them into basic education. Some countries have digital kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, etc. It is very important that people in rural areas also go through the education system to this level.

Then at the university already - scientific technologies and programming, i.e. we are moving to a higher level of opportunity, which is important to link them to labor markets. We often see that university graduates do not have jobs, they have not acquired the necessary skills.

If we have a good connection, we can do online learning. We saw this also during the pandemic, which must be taken into account. There are courses that you don't have to attend physically. I see a lot of opportunities for people who don't live in the city.

- In addition to "smart villages", what other steps is the World Bank taking to contribute to the digital development of Azerbaijan? What areas of digitalization in Azerbaijan are considered by the World Bank?

- Right now, we are discussing with the government in which areas they would like us to be most involved and in which areas we could be most useful. The government is developing a plan and discussions are underway on how best we can contribute. Azerbaijan is doing a great job of bringing broadband across the country, not just in cities, so the question is how can we support that.

- Azerbaijan creates smart villages/cities in its liberated lands. How could the WB be involved in this or support this process?

- The World Bank’s original name is the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, which first began work in Europe after World War II to rebuild infrastructure. We have been working all the time in post conflict settlings all over the globe: Afghanistan, Iraq etc. We bring a lot of experience and not just in one area, it’s usually a team that works in different sectorial specialties to ensure that these people who live in these areas get the opportunities. We’re very happy to engage in post conflict settings everywhere in the world including Azerbaijan. When we work in post conflict areas basic services become very important, be that: health sector, education or social protection. That depends very much on a country’s situation. It’s also important to ensure that people have hope, get services and can create their lives.

- How do you assess the digital development of Azerbaijan in general? How could it be developed further?

- What is very impressive is that Azerbaijan’s current strategy focuses so much on digital. Not all the countries do that. It’s necessary to really ensure that productive sectors of the economy become more productive but also that the people can keep up with all the development. Digital sectors are the fastest developing one. We need to ensure that the industry develops, that Azerbaijan goes in a direction which the country really wants to be in terms of the regional and global competitiveness.