INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT: DIFFUSION AND APPLICATION OF ICT
Chapter 2
2.5.Information Technologies, Modern Technologies and MDGs
Access to information at reasonable rates will support technologically equipped production processes. This, in turn, will have a positive influence on the job market by increasing the number of jobs and income.
This will be of great importance for the scientific and technological market, because of an increase in demand for these services, with a subsequent positive influence on the development of research and incomes of intellectuals. Studies have shown the expanded involvement of citizens in the field of intellectual labor reflects on the qualitative indices of education. Civil society's efforts in such strategic steps, which should be backed by the government, will promote various aspects of the MDGs. The government's ability to support these processes with State funds will increase, as poverty is reduced. Information technologies that are involved in these processes will ensure wide participation of the population's awareness of achievements of the MDGs, aimed at the improvement of the wealth of citizens of Azerbaijan.
Availability of information resources will promote the achievement of MDGs on such issues as the struggle against poverty, gender and regional disparities. The social factor, which is inclusive of a wide spectrum of problems, is, to the same extent, important for the focus of quality of access to information and communication services. Today Internet, like cable telephone, should be made available to the widest possible circle of users, distributed across the entire range of social and age groups.
Regional differences can be also considered one of the key factors affecting the quality of access to ICT services, as it is apparent that the distribution of computers, as well as the development of ISP in Azerbaijan's regions, is occurring at a much slower pace than in Baku. Gender imbalance is also among the factors that influence the level of accessibility to ICT services. Various surveys show that women in Azerbaijan are much less engaged in policy, economic life and decision-making than men. In addition, despite the fact that there are more women in the population, the number of females studying at secondary and higher educational institutes which specialize in ICT Science is less than that of men, and this creates a gender imbalance.
Increasing the level of education is one of the key issues of the Millennium Goals. Distance Learning, which expands opportunities for getting an education for various sectors of the population, is of particular importance. The development of telecommunication systems, which ensures access to remote catalogues, files and e-libraries, user files, databases and knowledge bases, can also be used to conduct virtual lectures, workshops and conferences. These systems facilitate the coordination and cooperation of works on scientific topics and the establishment of global corporate working groups. Distance Learning can be one of the measures employed to expand access to education and scientific achievements.
Important elements of the MDGs, such as the reduction of infant and maternity mortality rate, stopping the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis could be facilitated through the provision of medical assistance via Internet. One of the main benefits would be to provide more access to the high quality and specialized research of leading medical centers in more remote regions and to substantially reduce the amount of time and related costs in treatment. The continued training of physicians in remote areas through regular consultation would be another critical advantage.
Achieving social justice by providing equal access to information is an inseparable component of Human Development and of the Millennium Goals for reducing poverty. Therefore, it is one of the priorities of State Policy.
Usage of ICT in Public Health obviously requires serious attention. The majority of hospitals and clinics document the progression of a disease by traditional methods. Computer databases have not been developed in all of these clinics, medical personnel in many hospitals are not aware of computer technologies for diagnosis and treatment of patients. The absence of inter-hospital networks diminishes the number of consultations between physicians of various clinics, which have no opportunity to use this means of communication as do their colleagues in Baku and other centers.
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