Council of Europe Recognizes Azerbaijan’s e-Governance Achievements

The Council of Europe’s Director of Political Affairs Alexander Gessel paid a visit to the Azerbaijan Service and Assessment Network (ASAN) on Thursday, noting the achievements of what is an e-governance model that strives to bring transparency and efficiency to government.

Inam Karimov, Chairman of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations, welcomed the delegation and briefed the participants on the organization’s objectives and current activities.

ASAN is a state agency whose goal is to streamline public service delivery and make services more easily accessible to citizens using modern technology. Its centers act as one-stop shops for Azerbaijanis, where 10 government entities and nearly three dozen private companies provide more than 200 services in what is a public-private partnership.

The word “asan” in the Azerbaijani language means “easy,” and ASAN strives to make citizen services just that.  Services provided include birth, death and marriage registration, identity cards, passports, driver licenses real estate records, immigrant status, banking, insurance, legal, medical, tourism and air travel. 

According to a 2016 case study conducted by Boston Consulting Group’s Centre for Public Impact more than four million people have received ASAN services since its inception in July 2012.  The agency won first place in the western Asian region for “Improving the Delivery of Public Services” in the 2015 United Nations Public Service Awards.