PRESS RELEASE NO. 2001/02
2 February 2001
UNDP and the Government of Armenia Sign a Project on Support to Information Society and Democratic Governance
On 29 January 2001, the National Academy of Sciences, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, and UNDP signed a Project document on Support to Information Society and Democratic Governance (ARM/01/001).
Governance is the exercise of authority and consensus-building in pursuit of a society’s present and future welfare, derived from the interests of the citizens; it comprises the mechanisms and processes for citizens and groups to articulate their interests. Thus, the Project aims at contributing to the empowerment of the Armenian society for it to make educated decisions on ways
of interaction between its various segments along both vertical and horizontal axes.
By capitalizing on the assets created and developed by its predecessor Project on National Information Infrastructure for Sustainable Development and the Armenian Freenet public access and training facility established by it, this initiative is about making the Internet accessible for all and everyone, no matter where one is: in the capital of the country or in a remote region; and using the information technologies as tools for enhancing democracy and
participation in the country.
The Project consists of three interlinked components: (a) information society, (b) democracy & participation, and (c) ICT strategy for governance. Creation of information society has two aspects: technical accessibility and capacity. Technical accessibility will be reached on the basis of the Armenian Freenet,
by extending its services to the regions of the country. Capacity will be ensured by training and knowledge-sharing in the use of ICT and its instruments.
Internet is a powerful lever for democracy & participation. By creating on-line communities and gradually furnishing them with ICT tools, like e-mail, discussion forums, websites, intranet, etc., the Project will voice the existing action groups in different domains (environment, human rights, gender, local communities, business associations, etc.) and give them extra possibilities to interact, discuss, resolve issues, and raise them vis-à-vis
the decision makers.
The elaboration of the national ICT strategy will introduce a qualitative change in the way the government, the private sector and the CSOs plan the short, medium, and long-term development of the sector. Such change in Armenia is of utmost priority since the situation with the underdeveloped public regulatory framework for ICT is exacerbated by the controversial legislation and lags far behind what the country has practically achieved in the sector.
The 2000 Okinawa G8 summit resolution on information and communications technologies reiterated the importance of supporting the development of ICT in the developing and transition economies. Bridging the digital divide was considered as an important dimension of development in the new circumstances
of globalisation. The use of ICT becomes catalytic for development if it is linked to activities aiming at the further democratisation of the society and overall improvement of governance in the country.
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