Tajik authorities are seriously concerned over the country’s backwardness in development of digital economy.
The digital economy concept that was adopted by the government in late 2019, in particular, provides for detailed analysis of reasons for the ongoing lag on the given key ratings and development of a number of measures to remedy the situation.
The concept, in particular, notes that one of the main reasons for the country’s backwardness in development of digital economy is a serious gap in creation of digital infrastructure and provision of ubiquitous broadband internet access.
Besides, the document notes weaknesses in digital skills and culture of innovations, lack of demand for new technologies from state-owned enterprises, insufficient public awareness of digital technologies and lack of financing of development of digital infrastructure.
The concept also emphasizes weakness of private and ICT sectors, inadequate environment for entrepreneurship and innovations, and as a result, low level of use of digital technologies by entrepreneurs.
There are also deficiencies in the legislative and regulatory basis related to digital economy. According to the concept.
Tajikistan’s digital economy concept provides for gradual phased transition to implementation of digital transformation in the country.
The concept, which is designed for the period to 2040, is planned to be implemented in three stages: the first stage from 2020 to 2025; the second stage from 2025 to 2030; and the third stage from 2030 to 2040.
All the three stages will be implemented in the framework of the Digital CASA project. Все этапы по реализации цифровой трансформации будут также осуществляться в рамках проекта Digital CASA.
The Digital CASA Project was presented in Tajikistan in summer 2017 and it reportedly builds on an idea of connecting Central Asia and South Asia by a single fiber optic line.
Digital CASA Program is expected to increase access to more affordable internet services, improve government's capacity to deliver digital public services and facilitate opportunities for digitally‐enabled income generation.
Digital Economy refers to an economy that is based on digital technologies. The digital economy is also sometimes called the Internet Economy, the New Economy, or Web Economy. Increasingly, the “digital economy” is intertwined with the traditional economy making a clear delineation harder.