President-chaired consultation reviews Armenia’s 2018-2030 digital transformations agenda

Today, a consultation was held with the President of the Republic of Armenia on the “2018-2030 Digital Transformation Agenda for Armenia” framework document and the 2018 Action Plan.

Attended by the Prime Minister, representatives from Digital Armenia Foundation (DAF), Center for Strategic Initiatives (CSI) and other public stakeholders, the meeting discussed the work carried out by the Digital Armenia Foundation. In addition, the President of Armenia was briefed on the core principles and the strategic framework for digital transformation, international best practices, the programs necessary for creating and maintaining an interoperability platform, as well as the effectiveness of modern services provided through the use digital technologies.

The speakers reported on the positive results achieved in different countries due to digital transformation, namely effective management and targeted funding, enhanced service quality, accountability and transparency, as well as cost and time savings.

DAF Executive Director, Chief Adviser to Prime Minister Edward Nersisyan and CSI Executive Director Alexander Khachaturyan dwelt on the different stages of digital transformations, its impact on the economy, public administration and society, the priority programs for 2018, the expected results and a number of other issues related to the digitization process.

The President of Armenia highlighted the role of digitization, stressing that it is necessary to summarize the proposals and the ideas presented so far in order to have a realistic program with accurate deadlines, financial justifications and responsibilities.

“I think all of us have long been convinced that the introduction of digital technologies is the most effective way to ensure management efficiency, higher service quality, transparency and accountability.

As a State, we have been dealing with this issue for about twenty years, but we have never had a specific program, neither a responsible entity that should coordinate and steer the proposed activities. I believe that the Digital Armenia Foundation can tackle the problem. We already have a preliminary plan, we have ideas, and we now have to thoroughly discuss them and develop an action plan that would be realistic in terms of deadlines, costs and so on, so that we could come together after a while and see what we have been able to do.

I am confident that the costs will be fully covered by the savings that these services will bring about. Public spending will certainly become more targeted as a result of digitization. The introduction of digital systems will be instrumental in improving the quality of life in general,” the President of Armenia emphasized.