INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY

The digital revolution in the communications sector has resulted in fundamental transformations on our way towards an information society. The potential social, economic and political effects are unprecedented. They may well be greater than all previous technological revolutions and will extend into every sphere of life.

The technology behind this revolution is the information superhighway - a national communication infrastructure, information and media technology. Information superhighways are combinations of information, creative potential, technology and people, and they make it possible to create, manage, access and broadcast information electronically - anytime, anywhere.

Of course, Azerbaijan, which declared information and telecommunications technology [ICT] to be one of its economic strategies, must participate in promising ICT projects. Thus our country has initiated a project to build an information superhighway between the East and the West.

Sign of mature statehood

Azerbaijan began to consider, as early as 2007, the possibility of a project involving 20 European and Asian nations to build a fibre optic network, Trans-Asia-Europe (TAE). The project already has support from the UN Global Alliance for the promotion of ICT, the Regional Communications Association, the TAE association and Russia, Slovenia, Estonia, Belarus, the United States and other countries.

The main reasons for initiating the project include the major developments in the ICT sector in recent years and the sector's huge influence on the nations' social and economic development. The superhighway, which will provide cheap access to high-speed internet, stimulate further development of the high-tech sector and create a regional electronics market across the two continents, will have vital importance for participating countries.

The most important element of the information superhighway infrastructure - the broadband network, which is at the heart of the information age - already exists in developed countries. Today's information superhighways provide the best opportunities for developing nations to effect economic growth and positive social changes because they make it possible to become part of the information society and bring real benefit to their populations. The IT infrastructure and its applications will reach and connect houses, workplaces, hospitals, schools, libraries, government facilities and data processing centres. This infrastructure will work with innovative applications to radically transform the very nature of our society, beginning with how we work and ending with how we provide health care and education services. The prospect of universal access to information and, therefore, to the core infrastructure, is the main characteristic of today's information society.

There are two extensive information superhighways in the world: one is in the West - connecting Western Europe and North America - and the other is on the Pacific rim, from Japan via Korea, China, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia to New Zealand.

It must be said that the idea of the information superhighway was first conceived, to wide approval, in the United States during the 1992 presidential campaign. Reference materials on this issue note that after Bill Clinton's election, this project became part of the national programme of development of the Information Infrastructure (NII). The obvious investors in this case were the regional telephone companies (RBOC) and operators of cable TV. Both groups expressed their readiness to undertake NII implementation in return for the lifting of some government restrictions: the regional Bell operating companies wanted permission to enter the cable TV and long-distance telephone markets, whereas cable TV companies wanted access to the local telephone market.

The US NII program was developed further in Europe. The European Commission came up with the idea of an information community. The document describing the idea included earlier proposals to develop the telecommunications infrastructure and to support European projects in this sector. It also dealt with the initiative, "television without borders" and proposed a status for ownership for universal information systems.

The US NII programme alert was not confined to Europe. Large and small countries on all continents began to consider developing their own information superhighways - or at least plans to build one - a sign of mature statehood.

Project for 20 countries of Europe and Asia

Going back to the Azerbaijan-initiated project, Ali Abbasov, Azerbaijani Minister of Communications and Information Technology, said at a regional ministerial summit that, to implement the idea of a multinational Eurasian information superhighway, it would be expedient to create a consortium of participating countries and, eventually, to merge with Trans-Asia-Europe. "If the project proves successful, it could be implemented within 1.5 - 2 years," said Mr. Abbasov. Let us note that the meeting was attended by high-ranking officials from 16 countries (Azerbaijan, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Slovenia, Egypt, Afghanistan, the United States, Georgia, Iran, India and Jordan). The Russian representative spoke against the idea of a consortium. In the opinion of the Russians, the consortium is unlikely to be able to regulate the sector in participating countries' domestic markets. At the same time, the Russian side proposed the involvement of the International Communications Association in the project.

As the initiator of the project, Azerbaijan undertakes to deal with the most important business issues. The draft project is being developed by Booz Allen Hamilton, which is why the final cost is not yet known. Developers believe that large investment will be needed into the development of an infrastructure which, in the future, will serve to increase the flow of information.

Obviously, projects of this size can be implemented only with the direct assistance of governments. The point is that the majority of international investors demand political support for the project in view of the problems in the region. "We will need to prepare and send the draft agreements on the East-West information superhighway to our governments for discussion," said Ali Abbasov.

In addition, a Baku Declaration by the participating countries was adopted, which in itself is a guarantee for potential investors. The declaration states that the participants of the regional ministerial summit in Baku for a multinational Eurasian information superhighway will intensify their efforts to develop multinational information highways. The meeting also decided to set up a working group to study the level of interest from regional countries (Eastern Europe-China) in participation in the project.

So we can say that the project, which just two years ago seemed a matter for the distant future, is already taking tangible shape. Azerbaijan is getting closer to its goal of turning ICT into a powerful alternative to the oil sector.