About Project
Who we are
“Assisting the Government of Uzbekistan in the formulation and implementation of information and communication technologies for development policy” (“ICT Policy” - ICTP) project is a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Uzbekistan. The project is aimed at the implementation of two specific, but at the same time, interrelated objectives: development of information and communication technologies (ICT) as a sector in Uzbekistan and facilitate usage of ICT by Government to achieve development goals.
In the pursuit of its goals ICTP is engaged into a number of activities grouped into five broad directions:
- Strategic consultations
- Implementation of Pilot Initiatives
- Capacity Building
- Awareness Raising
- Public and Private Partnership Enhancement
Strategic Consultations
Strategic Consultations represent the focus of the ICTP’s activity and cover the critical issues of ICTs development and application such as development and endorsement of favorable regulatory policies and practices, provision of affordable access to ICTs, e-government, e-education, e-commerce, creation of information resources, and other emerging issues.
ICTP builds its strategic consultations on the studies and researches regularly conducted by domestic and international experts. The featured areas include ICT development in Uzbekistan, copyright in IT, free / open source software, and outsourcing. ICTP backs its recommendations with provision of needs tailored technical assistance programs.
Implementation of Pilot Initiatives
Implementation of pilot initiatives is used as the most convincing approach to demonstrate the benefits of ICTs and to draw the roadmap for future wide scale implementations. In the design and implementation of pilot initiatives ICTP encourages active involvement of its partners.
Through its e-government pilot project, .uz domain zone improvement project, creation and development of electronic digital signature registration centers, and telemedicine project, ICTP helps government agencies, academic institutions, local communities and broad public to explore the potential of ICTs for achieving specific development goals.
Capacity Building
Development and application of ICTs as development tools remains in Uzbekistan as a relatively new phenomenon that calls for provision of capacity building assistance. In provision of assistance ICTP stems its activities from the broad definition of capacity building and provides assistance aimed at human resource, organizational and institutional development.
ICTP helps to build capacities through a series of IT trainings, seminars, round tables and consultations, development of education materials and guidelines for a greater participation in the ICTs development processes and policies. Recent examples of activities in this area include premier seminar on protection of intellectual property rights in IT, improving teaching capabilities of Tashkent University of Information Technologies, IT training to other UNDP joint projects, and consultations on mainstreaming ICT components in UNDP projects in Uzbekistan.
ICTP uses unique approach in capacity building through the special IT Volunteers Service established under ICTP that mobilizes resources of IT educated enthusiasts and provides free technical assistance and trainings to non-commercial organizations, government, academic institutions to improve the knowledge and skills in ICT sphere and to fully exploit the benefits from more effective use of ICTs.
Awareness Raising
Availability of effective channels of information exchange and promotion of open dialogue are essential to ensure that decisions respect the interests of all stakeholders. Public awareness on ICTs’ benefits in social and economic development can help to prioritize the ICTs development as well as to accelerate ICTs penetration and broaden their application areas.
ICTP supports awareness raising on ICTs’ benefits among general audience through creation, advancing and dissemination of relevant information on regional and national levels. ICTP promotes access to national resources in the Internet and assists national partners in the development of national content on social, cultural, economic, and other aspects. ICTP encourages involvement of people in the ICT issues through special TV contests, broadcasting “Tarraqiyot Sari” (Towards the Development), an educational program on TV dedicated to the ICTs, and maintains close cooperation with media to ensure coverage of ICT related news and events.
Public and Private Partnership Enhancement
Many development efforts call for close cooperation between different organizations on a bilateral and multilateral framework. Partnerships can enhance capabilities of an individual organization, offer access to resources and allow for joint action.
ICTP encourages and creates a platform for close partnership of key government decision makers, private sector, international community and civil society for open dialogue on ICT related issues. Annually conducted National Summit on ICTs, regular meetings, seminars, and conferences are aimed to facilitate exchange and fortify partnership. ICTP aims to enhance public and private partnership in the framework of the National Association of IT Companies and Organizations of Uzbekistan (Uzbek IT Association), an initiative advanced by ICTP and supported by the Government.
Partnership
ICTP closely cooperates with variety of government agencies, international organizations, academic and research institutions, private companies in Uzbekistan and abroad to create partnership network for ICTs wide-scale penetration in Uzbekistan. ICTP invites all stakeholders to cooperate in ICT field and is open for the new partnership initiatives.
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UNDP Uzbekistan, has previous experience of implementing similar programmes in the ICT field, DDI Programme is one of them.
The DDI Programme was initiated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as a response to the needs of Uzbekistan’s government. Having started its activities since October 2002, DDI focuses on assistance to ICT Council. Uzbek Agency for Communication and Information was determined by the Government as an executive agency of the Programme. In accordance with that the main efforts of the Programme were aimed to provide the favourable legal base for ICT development in the country, arranging and holding the trainings for state officials, evaluation of e-readiness of the Republic of Uzbekistan and annual monitoring of ICT development. The Programme also provided assistance in elaboration of conceptual and programme documents on informatization and implementation of information technologies in public administration of the country.