The Information Systems Agency of Armenia (“ISAA of Agency”) is responsible for ensuring the technological foundations and development of the digital society in RA. This new institutional setup has been launched to ensure Armenia’s digitization conforms to a unified national architecture, with the Agency providing the technical resources, organizational capabilities, legal/regulatory framework, and platform for collaboration needed for different state departments, as well as the private sector, to effectively implement this vision.
To execute the society-level transformation, the Government and the Central Bank of Armenia have agreed that, under the leadership of the Government, the Central Bank will serve as the implementing agency and co-finance the endeavor for the next 2-3 years (with the overall reform taking up to 5 years), working in close collaboration with the Ministry of High-Tech Industry.
The Government leadership role will be provided by the new Information Systems Management Board, which has been established by the Prime Minister Decree chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, who also serves as the Chief Information Officer (“CIO”) of Armenia. The CIO is responsible for developing the digitalization policy, launching development initiatives (locally and with international cooperation), managing the digital services portfolio and strategy, managing the public service delivery policy and reforms, ensuring a common approach among all stakeholders, and coordinating the processes of international funding and cooperation.
The Central Bank provides the secretary function to the Board and, as an interim solution, the ISSA has been established under the auspices of the Central Bank. The Agency will also house the Civilian Cybersecurity Operating Center and Cybersecurity Emergency Response Team, and will over time develop into a full-fledged regulatory and supervisory body of the digital infrastructure.
BACKGROUND
The world is currently undergoing a fundamental digital transformation, whereby all aspects of our lives are currently data points. Therefore, the main challenge for governments globally is capitalizing on the opportunities created by this vast amount of data, for example in personalized finance or medicine, without jeopardizing personal or national security.
The Government of Armenia is firmly committed to embracing the digital agenda by creating the necessary institutional architecture to catalyze building a secure and thriving digital society and economy. Doing so requires the private, especially financial, sector to play a leading role in this process, and the current over-emphasis on e-government alone needs to change. Therefore, our mission is to build the necessary infrastructure and enablers for this digital society and economy, intended for shared use both by the private sector and the Government, with the explicit goal of improving the day-to-day life of Armenian people and businesses.
It is the Government’s perspective that taking on this digitalization endeavor is not a luxury, but a necessity. Recent diagnostics by various international institutions and independent experts have found that further ad-hoc digitalization in Armenia, if taking place without the mentioned enablers and institutional architecture (e.g. digital identity, cybersecurity, data interoperability and governing standards), represents a serious threat to national security.
VISION
Open and quality data is a critical asset, translating into national wealth! Developing an advanced and secure environment, enablers, and infrastructure is a necessary precondition for transforming Armenia into the e-Society and e-Economy. The key mission of the digital society and economy would be to empower the population to continuously improve their lives and wellbeing, provide opportunities for the private sector to enhance competitiveness, and ensure greater efficiency and good governance of public institutions through the development and widespread use of ICT solutions built around citizen experience and lifecycle. These imply Seamless, Proactive, Convenient and Personalized services.
