IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

Prospects of Belarus' digital future were discussed today in Minsk at an international forum in the field of telecommunications. Our country is in the top 40 in the world ranking of readiness for e-government. And by the level of e-services development our country is 32nd among 200 countries. A new step towards the digital transformation will be the introduction of ID-cards, which will open a simple and easy access to e-services for Belarusians, e.g. obtaining certificates literally in one click. Experts believe that e-government enables a new era of communication between the state, the citizen and business. And Belarus is making serious steps towards digital changes.

On May 10, the Council of Ministers adopted a resolution and a series of orders in electronic form, BelTA reports.

The documents were processed with the help of the FlexEDoc system developed by the Council of Ministers.

The decree “On Changing of the Composition of the Board of the State Committee on Property”, which was adopted on Friday, was issued in the Belarusian language.

One of the proposed initiatives is creating a new educational institution that will train personnel for the specialized companies. At the meeting, the President noted that terms “computerization” and “digitalization” should be understood by all Belarusians. The urgent issue is the introduction of e-government. This technology will be set up by 2020.

The university's main goal will be training the personnel. BSU, BSUIR and the High-Tech Park will create the platform for training extra-class specialists! The HTP residents can be the key sponsors!. Such a university will prepare employees for specific tasks. The President supported the initiative as the university can be an excellent platform to improve the entire education system.

The sides will also discuss establishing an ICT bilateral cooperation working group, Azerbaijani Communications and IT Ministry Scientific Capacity and Strategic Planning Department Director Isfandiyar Aliyev told Trend. The group's first meeting will be held in early 2011.

Azerbaijan has presented a list of its proposed working group members to Belarus. Belarus is expected to present a similar list to the Azerbaijani side.

Belarus is counting on UN-Habitat's support for smart cities projects, Belarusian Ambassador to Kenya, the Permanent Representative of Belarus to the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN‐Habitat) Pavel Vzyatkin said during an online-meeting with UN‐Habitat Executive Director Maimunah Mohd Sharif, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Belarusian ambassador highlighted the important role of UN-Habitat in promoting urban green infrastructure technologies and achieving sustainable development goals. He said that Belarus has started implementing a number of smart city projects and is counting on UN-Habitat's support in this regard.

Belarus has made it to the top 20 countries with the best e-government services, according to a research conducted by the company Artezio, BelTA informs.

Artezio analysts evaluated e-government services in different countries and ranked Belarus 18th in the list of countries with the most comfortable and technologically advanced services. Artezio pointed to the rapid evolution of e-government services in the country, many of which are on par with the European analogues in terms of quality and accessibility.

According to him, the forum promotes the search for ideas and interaction between the Azerbaijani and Belarusian companies which work in the field of software development.

The working committee is to submit proposals to the government on integrated information systems by 15 January, 2005.

The European state recently found a model state to follow in Asia: South Korea. And it is making great efforts to emulate everything from Korea’s public administration to economic policies.

“Belarus is a pearl in a shell,” said Anatoly N. Morozevich, president of the Academy of Public Administration under the Aegis of the President of Belarus. “We want to open the shell with help from Korea and show the pearl to the outside world.”

In 2017 Belarus may issue 5,000 digital visas to foreigners according to the government program on developing the digital economy and the information society in 2016-2020, BelTA has learned.

The development of the computer system to issue digital visas is part of the government program. The system is supposed to be developed in 2016-2017. The document reads that the number of digital visas issued by Belarus to foreign citizens will rise by 2,000 every year and will reach 11,000 in 2020.

Belarus plans to implement the smart city concept in ten cities, Elena Shorr, the deputy head of the department for state-run ICT projects and procurement at the Belarusian Communications and Informatization Ministry, said at the forum “Smart sustainable cities: from concept to implementation” on 3 March, BelTA has learned.

“The government set the task to start targeted digitalization, because it is impossible to do it throughout the country at one stroke. We started with the pilot project [to implement the smart city concept] in Orsha in 2019 and adjusted the general concept. This year there are plans to introduce the concept in another ten cities: Baranovichi, Pinsk, Novopolotsk, Polotsk, Mozyr, Lida, Borisov, Soligorsk, Molodechno and Bobruisk. We also intend to implement the concept in Minsk in 2020-2021,” Elena Shorr said.

Index of e-government is formed of three factors: the extent and quality of online services, the development of telecommunications infrastructure and human capital. Belarus has special achievements in the indicator of the level of telecommunications infrastructure development. Thus, Belarus has risen by 36 positions from 84th to 48th place in this index compared to 2008.

This will be a distant-learning course lasting for 1.5 years. After completing the program graduates will be granted a degree “Master of Public Administration”. The program graduates will specialize in computer engineering and public administration. The program is meant for employees of ministries implementing e-government solutions, company managers responsible for interaction with the government and local authorities, members of regional government agencies who maintain close contacts with the manufacturing sector and the public.

The goal of the two-week visit is study in detail the history, status and development plans for electronic government in Belarus. Korean experts will help form a roadmap for e-government development taking into account the existing advanced technologies and solutions. The delegation has comprised representatives of Samsung SDS, the Korea National Information Society Agency (NIA) and the Korea Information Certificate Authority.

Belarus considers Korean experience of developing information technologies as a priority for studying and putting into practice. The statement was made by Belarusian First Deputy Information Technologies and Communications Minister Dmitry Shedko during the IT business forum held in Minsk on 23 April for representatives of the Republic of Korea, CIS and Baltic states, BelTA has learned.

According to the source, Belarus prioritizes studying and putting into practice the South Korean experience of developing information technologies. “We appreciate the open nature of multilateral interaction within the framework of existing relations between our countries as well as the contribution of the Republic of Korea to the development of cooperation with Belarus,” said Dmitry Shedko.

A meeting with the representatives of the Chinese Embassy in Belarus and Inspur Group Co., Ltd. Took place in the Communications and Information Ministry of Belarus on 4 May. The sides confirmed their interest in further development of the Belarusian-Chinese cooperation in ICT and discussed its prospects. In particular, the Chinese side showed its interest in the implementation of the draft national programs on development of services in the ICT sector for 2011-2015.

“A big Korean delegation is set to visit Belarus in March. The delegation will include representatives of government agencies and private companies. They will come here to discuss implementation of the e-government system,” the diplomat said.

Belarus and the Republic of Korea will expand cooperation in the development of e-government projects. Such an agreement was reached during the fifth session of the joint committee held in Seoul on 4 September, BelTA has learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

While welcoming the successful cooperation in the area of high technologies, including in the context of the industrial and technology parks, the parties stressed the need to raise bilateral contacts to a new level.