Mehriban Aliyeva's Chairmanship in the Digital Development Council: Political, Economic, and Administrative Advantages
The establishment of a separate Digitalization Council by Presidential Decree and the appointment of the First Vice-President as the Chairperson of the Digital Development Council increases the level of responsibility for such a critically important project as digitalization, and correspondingly, public trust in it.
The creation of a dedicated Council and the appointment of Mehriban Aliyeva as its head is, above all, an indicator of the importance that the President attaches to this direction.
In the Strategic Partnership Charter signed during the visit of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance to Baku, special emphasis was placed on cooperation in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) data processing centers and digital infrastructure. This means that American companies are the primary partners of Azerbaijan in the field of digitalization. And J.D. Vance is the individual who signed the document and directly conducted the negotiations.
The leadership of Azerbaijan's First Vice-President in such a strategic issue as the digitalization of the national economy is a strategically important appointment to enable American companies to transform Azerbaijan into a regional digital hub. Mehriban Aliyeva's chairmanship of the Digital Development Council provides American companies with high-level political guarantees for operating in Azerbaijan. The First Vice-President minimizes project risks for foreign investors.
An authoritative leader and strong management serve as a guarantee not only for foreign but also for local investors, reducing risks and increasing the economic profitability of the project.
This indicates that President Ilham Aliyev is determined to achieve success in this international economic competition.
This also means that the government's flexibility will increase, interdepartmental coordination inherent in all states will be maximally accelerated, the time spent on bureaucratic processes will be reduced to the necessary minimum, the decision-making process will be simplified and expedited, control over the execution of tasks will be strengthened, and efficient resource management (financial and technical) will be ensured, all of which collectively guarantee the timely and high-quality completion of projects.
This will also enable the implementation of a unified technological policy, integrating various technical fields (engineering, IT, infrastructure).
From now on, 'digital development' encompasses all sectors of the economy, even education and science, taking on the significance of a 'digital economy' and 'digital life.' The creation of the Council is an indicator of a new structuring aimed at keeping pace with the times.
The fact that the Council is a separate, supra-departmental structure, along with leadership from the First Vice-President, will drive the spread of technological renewal across all sectors, even those that do not show commercial interest in innovation or may hesitate on spending funds for technological development.
The fact that the Chairperson of the Council is the First Vice-President will encourage large state-owned companies to allocate a certain portion of their annual revenues to technological development. This, in turn, will lead to the activation of private companies in this direction.
Ibrahim Mamedov
