Author: Alena MOROZ Baku
ASAN-Xidmet, the unique state-run agency for services to citizens and social innovations under the country's president, has been operating in Azerbaijan for over two weeks now. And in this short space of time it has succeeded in not only becoming a popular topic of discussion among the people, but has clearly proved that, if the will is there, it is possible to avoid bureaucratic delays in even the most "delicate" areas of preparing and obtaining very important documents.
When speaking about the importance of such a structure, one need only cite two solid arguments. First, it is targeted at the development of electronic services in Azerbaijan acting as state bodies for the population, which in itself is an important contribution to the formation of an electronic government in the country, and, secondly, this service is capable of making a significant contribution to the fight against corruption.
Rolled into one
The purpose of the ASAN service, which was set up on the personal initiative of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, is extremely simple, and at the same time, unique. It is unique in that there is no other structure of its kind in the world today, never mind one similar to it. This means that anyone turning to ASAN-Xidmet can take advantage of the services of several state bodies at one and the same time. This saves a lot of time and - let's be honest - patience, because often you need to keep your cool when filling in and obtaining documents.
There is one more obvious advantage. You only have to visit the building of ASAN-Xidmet's centre No 1 in Baku to realize there is no question of having to bribe the staff. This building is…transparent in the literal and metaphorical sense. There are no concrete partitions, so you can see what the staff are doing. These partitions are made of glass.
Furthermore, there are CCTV cameras everywhere and, the staff say, speech recordings are also made. In other words, if you decide to take advantage of the service of the state-run bodies at ASAN-Xidmet, you can be confident that the activities of this structure are as transparent as they can be and meet the basic purpose of the fight against corruption, which is to eradicate blackmail and bribery in the state bodies.
According to Inam Kerimov, chairman of the State Agency for services to citizens and social innovations under the Azerbaijani president, "if there is evidence of corruption in relation to staff at ASAN-Xidmet centres, the toughest measures, including punishment under criminal law, will be applied".
As of 15 January this year 23 services of nine state bodies at ASAN-Xidmet have been available. They are the Ministry of Justice, the Interior Ministry, the Ministry of Taxes, the State Property Committee, the State Customs Committee, the State Migration Service, the State Committee for Land and Cartography, the State Social Protection Fund and the National Archives Department.
The list will later be increased with new state structures and their services. This has been revealed at the State Agency for services to citizens and social innovations and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, which is responsible for the development of e-services in the country.
The relevant decree of the head of state also sets out specific instructions regarding the improvement of services to citizens and guaranteeing transparency. And it covers not only safeguarding the interests of citizens in providing the services of state bodies and eradicating corruption, but also efficiency, politeness, convenience and introducing state-of-the-art technology.
According to Fuad Alaskarov, head of the department for liaison with the law-enforcement bodies of the Azerbaijani president's administration, a special place in the head of state's decree is allotted to shaping a new way of thinking in relations between civil servants and citizens - the "civil servant's duty is to safeguard the rights of the citizen" approach. You have to agree that this is quite an important step towards creating a democratic state, where the interests of the citizens, and not the bureaucrats, are paramount.
By the way, the ASAN-Xidmet logo clearly demonstrates the very essence of the task entrusted to this structure: it depicts a flower with a person in its centre. He is surrounded by "petals" - state bodies which provide him with high-quality services.
It should be pointed out that ASAN-Xidmet is an alternative. In other words, a citizen can choose to approach it, say, to obtain a civilian passport to the Passport Registration Department of the Interior Ministry, or to ASAN-Xidmet. The amount of customs duty for obtaining a passport is, of course, the same.
Technology for the people
Here is another quite important point: ASAN-Xidmet Centre No1 is literally stuffed with the most state-of-the-art developments.
Citizens will be treated on the basis of an electronic queue. A "Chagry" ("Call") 108 call-centre has been set up at the State Agency for services to citizens and social innovations under the Azerbaijani president. If you call this number you can not only reserve your place in a queue, but also obtain information about all services and necessary documents. Calls are handled by operators straightaway and in a real-time mode. The plan is for "Chagry" to provide citizens with services that provide information and through a video reception system. A place in a queue can also be reserved via the Internet by entering "On-line queue" section at www.asan.gov.az.
Obtaining information at the centre itself could not be simpler as there are electronic signs and panels everywhere.
Considerable attention is focused at ASAN-Xidmet on making things easy for people with disabilities. There is wheelchair access and a special area for people with impaired eyesight who can obtain all the information they require on special sensory panels.
The ASAN-Xidmet data centre has been integrated into the information systems of other countries. This means you can obtain information about the documents required for providing various services via the data bases of these state bodies without the need to present these documents. To put it more simply, if you want to obtain a single document you no longer have to apply to several different bodies.
Furthermore, at the centre there are blood-analysis laboratories, a bank, post-offices, Pay-Point terminals, photo-studios, a dispenser for the payment of fees, an internet-caf? and children's play areas, as well as medical services. In other words, there are lots of things to do while you wait your turn in the queue.
A year under the hi-tech sign
The creation of a separate Innovations Centre at the State Agency for services to citizens and social innovations was a piece of good news. According to Fuad Alaskarov, the head of the department for liaison with the law-enforcement bodies under the Azerbaijani president, the purpose of this structure is to conduct research into simplifying state services and to test innovative ideas. In other words, by analyzing the services, the Innovations Centre will create and improve the relative software, information systems, data bases and an electronic services register.
The country's president has declared this year the Year of Information and Communications Technology. In speaking about the measures due to be carried out this year, Ali Abbasov, the Azerbaijani Minister of Communications and Information Technology, singled out the task to improve the quality and increase the quantity of e-services to the population. "This work will be carried out along with ASAN-Xidmet," the minister said.
It is relevant to point out that a project to promote in the country the latest concept of Mobile Government, which will embrace a number of e-services, will be developed and implemented at the Innovations Centre.
Stress on quality
As we can see, the country is clearly bent not only on improving the quantity but also improving the quality of e-services. Already in January of this year the State Agency for services to citizens and social innovations under the Azerbaijani president has adopted "Regulations to assess the organization and provision of electronic services in state bodies". The aim is to define the quality (level of provision) of the e-services of state bodies.
Within the framework of a pilot project an assessment will be made of the e-services provided by the Tax Ministry, the State Customs Committee and the National Archives Department of Azerbaijan. At the conclusion of the pilot project, an assessment of the services by experts of the state agency will be conducted on a permanent basis at each state organization.
The parameters of the assessment are simple: operational efficiency, integration into the general electronic state services information base, compliance with approved standards, norms and requirements, quality of the infrastructure of information exchange, simplification of services procedures, administration of this system, transparency of services, and so on. Significantly, this assessment will be carried out once a month.
The e-system of a state body that obtains less than 50% possible points will be classified as unsatisfactory; 50-70% will be satisfactory; 70-90% good and 90-100% excellent.
Full compliance of the electronic services with the established requirements is assessed as 2 points, partial one point and non-compliance 0 points.
Finally, we should point out that currently residents of Baku's Nasimi and Narimanov Districts may take advantage of the services of state bodies at the ASAN-Xidmet Centre No 1 as part of the pilot project. The services are available daily from 1000 to 2000, and to 1700 on Sundays and will be open at lunchtime. All payments are carried out electronically. By June the services will cover all parts of the capital, as well as Ganca and Sumqayit.
A maximum of four ASAN-Xidmet centres are due to be built in Baku. They will all be located within the city precincts and close to the main transport arteries (the metro and bus routes). Itinerant ASAN-Xidmet services will be available for people in the country's regions.
In his speech at a session of the Cabinet of Ministers on the results of the country's socio-economic development in 2012 and the coming elections, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said: "ASAN-Xidmet is already starting to operate and many of the factors I have pointed out - innovations, services to the population, the fight against corruption, transparency, newness and modernization - are concentrated in this service."
This is the most laconic and precise feature of this new structure. And it is quite possible that with the emergence of ASAN-Xidmet many state bodies, without extraneous interference, will step up their work to improve their services to the population, and this will, arguably, be their greatest achievement. And the time is not far off when people obtaining all the documents they need will be an everyday procedure.
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