OREANDA-NEWS. May 14, 2013. A meeting of the Board of the State Committee for Communications, Information and communication technologies dedicated to the results of the work in the field in the first quarter of 2013, the process of introduction and development of information and communication technologies, defining the prospects and directions of future activities took place.

The heads of departments, divisions of the Committee, joint stock companies, enterprises and organizations in the field of communication, information and telecommunication technologies took part in the work of the Board. The participation in the meeting of territorial bodies of the Committee, as well as regional sector enterprises was provided through videoconferencing.

It was noted that at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers dedicated to the results of the development of the country in 2012 and the priorities for 2013, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Islam Karimov paid special attention to the development of modern information and communication technologies.

In the first quarter of 2013, the growth in services provided by companies of the sector has been 18.3%, including the growth of services rendered to the population, which has been 19.4%.

The forecast for the projects implemented by attracting direct foreign investment and loans has been fully implemented.

As of April 1, 2013 the number of entities providing data transfer services, including providers of Internet connecting services, has reached 928 and the total number of shared points has reached 1045.

The tariffs for Internet services (external channel) established for operators and providers have come down by 9.1% during the first quarter.

The work for the implementation of broadband telecommunication networks has been carried out. The number of ports installed to provide broadband access to the Internet, has been brought to 407.9 thousand, the number of ports has increased up to 207.1 thousand, the growth, respectively, is 76.8% and 36.3%. This can significantly increase the number of subscribers that are connected by high-speed fixed-line communications.

Targeted programs have been accepted to transfer public services to online form in 2013, including 173 online services, 33 of which have been introduced in the first quarter of current year, and the development and implementation of information systems integrated in the national information system, which includes 137 information systems.

The implementation of the Program of further introduction and development of information and communication technologies in the Republic of Uzbekistan for 2012-2014 has been discussed, according to which the work on the development of ICT infrastructure, training, retraining and skills development of personnel, improvement of websites of governmental bodies and their online services, providing information security, promotion of ICT to the population, including those in rural areas, is carried out.

110 information systems are registered in the Register of information systems of state agencies.

To date, the number of enterprises and organizations - software developers - has reached 250. Since the beginning of the year their number has increased by 12.

Total number of certificates of electronic digital signature (EDS) and valid keys issued by EDS registration centers amounts to 238848. To the beginning of 2013 the Agency on Intellectual Property has registered 307 software products, 284 computer programs, and 23 databases.

More than 1,500 software products, more than 10 developers and about 30 companies have been registered in the national directory of programmers and software products Software.uz in the first quarter.

The issues of executive discipline, implementation of the objectives set out in the framework of the State program "Year of well-being and prosperity" carried out by relevant enterprises and organizations of the sphere, have been considered at the meeting.

The issue of the quality of services provided by telecommunication operators, including mobile operators, as well as the culture of customer service has been separately discussed. The operators have been instructed to take necessary measures to improve the quality of services with the effective use of telecommunication network resources.

Special attention has been paid to training of personnel in the field of communications, information and telecommunication technologies. In particular, relevant decisions have been made and the instructions have been given to heads of regional offices of the Committee to employ the graduates of Tashkent University of Information Technologies and professional colleges that train specialists in the field of ICT, as well as to consolidate the graduates to specific companies and organizations for practical training and subsequent employment.

The issues of interaction between the Center of computerization in the regions with public authorities at the local level and their interaction with territorial divisions of the State Committee for Communications, Information and telecommunication technologies have been considered. In this context, the managers of territorial offices of the Committee and a number of enterprises of Kashkadarya, Khorezm regions have been set stringent requirements for filling the existing lag in the implementation of ICT and increasing the role of Centers of computerization in the process.

Future challenges of the industry have been also discussed in the meeting. Among them, above all:

acceleration of the progress in the development and implementation of a comprehensive program for the formation of "e-Government" system, the introduction of electronic forms for the delivery of interactive public services to businesses and the public;

widespread adoption of innovative technologies;

further development of service infrastructure, application and development of modern services;

further development of telecommunication infrastructure, in particular, the implementation of broadband telecommunication networks;

acceleration of projects to improve the coverage of digital television and others;

acceleration of projects for the production of telecommunication equipment in FIZ "Djizak".

As a result of the issues discussed the Board took an appropriate decision.