Fariz Jafarov, Director of E-GOV Development Center (EGDC) subordinate to the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan participated in the e-panel session on “Digital Practices and Solutions to Respond to the COVID-19 Induced Challenges In Governance” within the framework of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS) e-Conference 2020. The conference, intended to be held in Brussels was organized online due to coincidence with the pandemic.

Experts in the field of e-government development, representatives of professional associations, and international organizations attended the e-conference, organized by the Astana Civil Service Hub of the United Nations Development Program. Alikhan Baymenov, Chairman of the Board of the Astana Civil Service Hub and Sofiane Sahraoui, Director of the Belgian International Institute of Administrative Sciences by welcoming participants expressed special gratitude to the representatives of Azerbaijan, Estonia, and Israel for accepting the invitation of the Astana HUB, which unites 42 countries.

Innovative preventive measures to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, social innovations to reduce the spread of the virus and impact issues of e-solutions were discussed in the online session. The e-panel provided participants with an opportunity to learn about the innovative practices of Azerbaijan, Estonia, Kazakhstan, and other member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) during the pandemic.

The Director of the EGDC in his speech, spoke about the stages of development of e-government, e-services provided to citizens in digital form, and existing challenges related to digitalization in Azerbaijan. Fariz Jafarov made an extensive presentation to the participants of the event "ASAN service", work done in the field of digitalization in Azerbaijan, preventive measures taken in our country during the COVID-19 pandemic, information portal created in connection with the coronavirus, state support mechanisms for entrepreneurs, “E-Tabib” mobile application helps reduce the spread of coronavirus and “System of Obtaining and Monitoring Permissions” developed by the E-Gov Development Center to manage the current situation.

The international conference was designed to assist the decision-makers to come together, explore faced challenges, learn from one another, and find innovative solutions for overcoming the COVID-19 related issues.