Georgia Digital Development Country Profile
Analysis of the country’s digital development status
Description
The "Digital Development Country Profile - Georgia" is part of the ITU Office for Europe’s regional effort to provide a comparative analysis of the digital transformation of priority countries in the European region, namely Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine. The report analyses the nation’s digital transformation based on the various experiences of ITU, the UN specialized agency for ICTs and other UN system organizations, offering a broad overview of the activities and projects being implemented at the national level and in the wider region. It describes the status of the digital development of Georgia based on 5 building blocks: meaningful connectivity, as the foundation for digital development and transformation; the people-centric digital transformation; the government-centric digital transformation; the sector-centric digital transformation; and the digital-centric innovation ecosystem. The status of digital agriculture is analysed under the “Sector-centric digital transformation” section, providing a detailed overview of the digital agricultural sector in Georgia with particular focus on capacity building among farmers, tools that support advanced analytics, policy-making and reporting, and inter-agency coordination for the production of agriculture-related SDG indicators. The report also mentions the Strategy for Agriculture and Rural Development 2021–2027, which includes data also on the non-agricultural sectors, the sustainable use of natural resources, ecosystem conservation, adaptation to climate change, food product and animal feed safety, and the development of veterinary and plant protection systems.
Technology
The framework assessment describes technological solutions in relation to the five building blocks: Block 1 addresses, among other matters, Broadband and LTE/WiMax coverage, 5G deployment and cybersecurity measures; Block 2 addresses education learning platforms, the development of a portal offering support to IT students and personnel in both the public and private sectors, targeting improvements in skills, defence against cyber attacks, cyber sustainability, an upskilling coding programme, and web development and social media marketing. Block 3 details several platforms targeting the general public and businesses, such as “My.gov.ge”, the e-State Treasury Electronic Service System, the “e-Budget” electronic budget management system, the “e-HRMS” Electronic Human Resource Management System, data analytic system solutions that make use of blockchain technologies, AI tools supporting the tax and customs administrative operations, and online e-learning platforms such as the “iSchool” project. Block 4 addresses the Data Warehouse – a comprehensive repository of databases that facilitates the consolidation and analysis of data from different databases, supporting the creation of semi-automated reports, an online repository of materials produced by the Ministry and other partners (NGOs, donors), digital platforms that connect smallholder farmers to the broader value chain,providing them with information, and supporting the online sales of inputs and market match-making (e Kalo.ge, Traktor.ge, and Agronavti), as well as a digital platform for farmers through which they can take online training courses and access information. Finally, Block 5 AI details solutions in the private sector related to insurance and banking, including a neobank that exists only as a mobile app.
Target
The main target users of the ITU Digital Development Country Profile reports are the ITU priority countries, as well as public and private stakeholders and decision-makers at a national level and international stakeholders working in the field of digital development. Civil society organizations, academia and startups, on the other hand, can all benefit from the provided information in their implementation of digitization initiatives.
Impact
This document provides a framework for the clarification of the digital development across the five identified building blocks of the digital transformation. It provides information about Georgia for each domain based on the experiences and activities of ITU and other stakeholders operating in the country and the wider region. The report aids stakeholders in making informed decisions related to policies, investments and strategies related to ICTs, and can also serve as a reference source for discussions of digital development at a country level, as well for the stock-taking of the activities, initiatives, projects and experiences of UN agencies involved in the digital transformation of Georgia. It can further serve as a guide for future dialogue with country stakeholders and pave the way for increasingly fit-for-purpose engagements of the UN system in the country.
Partners
FAO; United Nations Georgia Country Team, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Four Betters
Better production
Better environment
Better life
