On system crises in country� s management

It is popular today to reveal all problems of Azerbaijani economy as going back to the system crises and the lack of basic values. Political experts tend to associate it with the system of management and political freedoms: freedom of speech, democratic election system (dependent upon executive power), impartiality of judicial system, transparency of on-budget expenditures, economic stability and, the most important thing, lack of alternative and competition in the country. That"s their right.

The Mingechevir accident is said to disclose an abortive management system in the country. Аutumn 2015 developments at the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Communication were identical to the Mingechevir accident, weren"t they? (10 heads of the branch had been on remand for nearly two years). A banking system of the country turned Azerbaijani residents into bankrupts, didn"t it? Hence, any corruptionists-led sphere is a source of such an outburst.

To all appearance, every department in charge of a branch is a domain of a separate individual, not a system. Cadres had a value in the USSR, highly skilled managers were trained in the country to comply with a principle "cadres decide everything". Moreover, a political will to fight the corruption was laid down in the country"s backbone. Suffice it to look at the Chinese case where some hundreds corruptionists are every year.

Hence, negative phenomena remain on the agenda until functionaries are properly punished for their crimes. The USSR dissolution went to show that no goals are attainable through the use of administrative methods only, without professionals" assistance while implementation of technological political purposes requires the use of new regulation principles, appropriate management and training of specialists. I"ve repeatedly referred to the specificity of communication sector. Thus, in 2002 when restructuring the Swedish "Ericsson" the company reduced its staff from 110,000 to 49,000, i.e. twice as many. Of interest is the fact that among remaining 49,000 staff members there were just two persons from the outside.

One should display caution when attracting people from the outside, and remember that the communication branch needs highly skilled people with due regard for continuity, including technical, financial, management, commercial and cadre. I wonder, how many people from the outside or "my people" have been provided with jobs at the Ministry of Communication following appointments of the last two Ministers of Communication? (20.02.2004 and 15.01.2015)?

In all probability, we have to work transparently and effectively and discontinue sharing posts in line with kinship and favoritism. Yes, no country is guaranteed against reiteration of previous mistakes in terms of authoritarian regime, monopoly principle of decision-making at all levels of power and restricted participation of the public in the process. An eloquent testimony to this was a shameful incident at the Ministry of Communication in autumn 2015 when there appeared an article in mass media titled "A gang of communication workers", first ever over the 147 years of the history of telecommunications of Azerbaijan. Let me repeat a quotation: "It"d be undesirable for the older generation of Azerbaijani communication workers to be charged with trivial cowardice when evaluating current processes in the communication sector today!".

We need a protectionist cadre policy in all the branches of Azerbaijan and in the telecommunication in particular. It is essential to dispose of real statistics in training and retraining of the said cadres (not formal approach to the issue). There is an urgent need in specialized institutions of transport and communications (scientific-research, design and educational institutions)as is the case in oil industry.

It remains unknown how many real communication workers are presently employed in the apparatus of the new Ministry of Communication and High Technologies. Note that the development of the branch is dependent upon competent and skilled cadres. It is possible to understand the specificity of the branch if we take into account the availability of top level telecommunication specialists in the apparatus of the Ministry. Also, they must be far superior from those employed at communication enterprises. Otherwise, they, similarly to the previous team of 2015, would be unaware of what is going on behind them.

At present, the latest scientific achievements are practically introduced in any developing countries worldwide through the unprecedented access to appropriate information sources. The access became possible through goal-oriented efforts of foreign experts and is aimed at capturing poor national economies of developed countries.

It is imperative to avoid blind introduction of "ready made" without adoption of strategies of innovative development of communication sector in the country. We need sectoral institutions (training, design and scientific-research) or, at least, three in one under the University of Transport and Communication of Azerbaijan to develop higher perspective goals following 25 years of independence. Account has to be taken of the fact that high technologies per se are not a guarantor of economy survival while the introduction of imported technologies provides for higher competence in the branch in order to avoid burying "the new" together with millions expended.

It is impossible to turn the whole branches into a test range of "paper projects"!

It was an impetuous rise in digital technologies worldwide that caused critical issues of legal nature arising from the necessity of regulating relations between all participants of communication sector of the country. From management standpoint, for country"s transition to the information society it is essential for the government to work out alternative measures on the establishment of non-state institutions entitled to develop and introduce the telecommunication policy together with independent regulator outside of the state.

With end in view, it is necessary to observe rights and protect interests of not only state bodies but all private consumers, operators and providers of the country under no new market conditions of Azerbaijan. Otherwise, the situation around Bakteleqraf and Azeurotel with interference into natural evolution way of telecommunication development may be repeated.

Civilized methods are required to privatize the country"s telecommunications as follows:

• A country"s overt decision on terms of the start and the end of privatization in the sector;
• Sectoral commissions on privatization acting not on the instructions "from above";
• An open contest, including involvement of foreign investors concerned ...

But who is in charge of retracing tendencies going on in the world in order to keep pace with technological innovations while there is not a sectoral institute of transport in Azerbaijan? For decades we have been dragging out an establishment of such a University (topic raised as far back as in June 1992) capable of addressing the tree issues. Such a University (or, at least, three in one) would enable us to create required specialists-producers of "digital technology" capable of driving us out of impasse in the communication sector of the country.

It has to be kept in mind that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is responsible for specifying a level of telecommunication development of the country not on the number of mobile telephones but on the basis of fixed telephone sets per 100 residents. To compare, Azerbaijan with its nearly identical population with Belarus is as twice inferior by this paramet http://www.rcc.org.ru/. A question arises: why?

However, the main thing for restructuring of communication sector in the future is a the whole range of social, political, technological, economic, investment, production and cadre issue in the country"s telecommunication system.

Important communication goals for developing countries, including Azerbaijan, are elaboration of technical conditions and creation of competitive economic environment to remove "digital irregularity" in the country and exit from stagnation by fixed telephone sets per 100 residents and Internet as a basic infrastructure and the whole digital network of the country.

Of particular anxiety in the former Soviet republics is the situation in rural regions (communication networks are meant) where the telephonization is worse by far from capitals. The latter sharply decreases interest of potential investors in privatizing the sector and infringes the rights of rural residents to communication and Internet use.

Can we compare communication conditions between Baku and the countryside?

The future of country"s communication system should be decided here, not abroad!

In 2025, the most conservative part of telecommunication in the West - the last mile of wires and cables for personal and periphery devices will sink into oblivion. Note that the wireless access to Internet is expected to cover 80% of globe"s surface, and a share of distance education to make up about 50% of total school, college and university education.

Evidently, personal computers will reach capacities of computation centers (comparable to human brain) and transform our world into a single gigantic computer. Perhaps, by mid-21 century the solar energy will become cheap and accessible to meet the whole energy demand of mankind while a sophisticated personal computer will be an habitual belonging like a home washer.

Given the above, the world will have to pass laws regulating relations between humans, robots and productions, including their rights, duties and other functions.

Beyond any doubt, it is flexibility, decentralization and alternatives as set forth in telecommunication networks that will create a real competitive environment and thus accelerate the development of future technologies in the communication sector of the country. Today we can hardly believe in forecasts of this sort; however, in considering incredible paces of society, science and digital technology development, the above is quite probable in the near future.

Azerbaijan cannot yet lay claims to technological leadership in the world (like Ericsson, Siemens, Apple, etc.) and we have no required institutions and communication producers to thus act as co-participants of this engineering. However, one cannot build the future telecommunications of the country without producers, continuity and professionals to act as "mechanical collectors or users. A power to discipline the economy of Azerbaijan in the post-reform period is, to all appearance, an alternative, transparent competition and non-state regulation.

Given the above, professionalism and continuity are an inalienable attribute of successful development of any branches of national economy (not prosperity of operators), especially in anthropogenic sectors, including telecommunications, high quality professionals, etc. The humanity has entered a new, unexplored information epoch while a level of country"s future development will be evaluated not only by democracy maturity or inclusion into the WTO but a level of country"s telecommunication development as well.

We highly appreciate ASAN services. However, ASAN with its army of public officers being a product of digital technologies, is not a guarantee of democracy and transparency development in the country. Moreover, the creation of data base for each individual in terms of "authoritarian regimes" poses a threat for personal immunity and human rights in the country, especially during the election process, referendums and struggle against dissenters and mass media.

The western countries have long proceeded into the system of real electronic government where ordinary people solve their problems without functionaries. In this Internet is a means to settle issues of citizens without functionaries, without walking along corridors. So Azerbaijan must urgently join the system electronic government and thus save its citizens from indifference of functionaries.

As a whole, there is a deficit in professional cadres which are driven into blind corners of the branch to the prejudice of "human capital". It is required to ensure transparency at all stages, including implementation phases, intermediate results, deviations from plans, efficiency, use of resources available, etc.

Hence, the way out of impasse lies in elaborating a long-term concept of the development of the sector with due regard for continuity of cadre policy. We need a scientifically grounded technological policy, transparent financing, creative management, commercial entrepreneurship and incessant training plus retraining of cadres.

Perhaps, social confrontation in Azerbaijan cannot resolve internal conflicts due to historical challenges of society. No social group or political party is to blame for the current situation. No party of the country has backed violence. Nowadays, the most destructive factor is our inability to define the national interest. It must be confessed that Azerbaijan differs not only by birth place but stereotypes of attitude to the authority which is normal for any immature democratic society. It was clannishness that deleted forces of Azerbaijan and turned it into an outcast in the eyes of Europe. Top positions in the state structures call for professionalism and continuity assessment, not nepotism and services to anybody. Both the unchallenged (since 1993) ruling elite and the actually weak and sluggish opposition are equally responsible for the current situation. Apparently, it is impossible to win the war but it is possible lose the independence. A vicious system of administration practiced by local authorities should be terminated. The ruling power is responsible for further developments in the country; it is also responsible for appropriate use of control levers in the interests of Azerbaijan, not too please a narrow group of clannishness and functionaries.

It is necessary to issue a new Presidential decree on "executive bodies" and improve the situation around controlling sectoral departments of the Ministry in loco. It is important to protect professionals and specialists of all branches against pressures of regional authorities.