GLOBALIZATION AND BEGINNING OF DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Sessions are not a rare event for the Chancellery of the Georgian Government. Moreover, they even become boring and monotonous.

Thus, political and economic establishments seldom await any novelties from them; in search of journalistic sensations, human consciousness is worried by expectations of changes in human resources and by exposure of state intrigues. Traditional visitors could barely understand what was going on in the State Chancellery where a forum on “the digital development of Georgia and construction of informational society in the country” was held in the form of government’s enlarged meeting. Yet, it was important for a country that intends to mark its statehood on the map.
For a Georgian society that is no more surprised at the existence of “magic box” computer and “almighty” Internet network, the situation they observed in foreign countries and on TV is most unusual: people obtain any commercial, political, educational and household information without living their offices or houses.
The “magic box” is a good typewriter and game device for a majority of Georgians. We can say that for the present a Georgian is busy with free of charge distribution of state property, political adventures and demagogue. Naturally enough, a Georgian does not participate in the world roundelay called informational revolution or informational expansion. Proceeding from the above-mentioned, this forum was boring for certain sensation-mongers. At the same time, the subject of the forum itself has recently been a big sensation. “The further development of Georgia and existence of our nation will depend on the extent of our reaction to this challenge, to solution of epochal tasks and “digital mechanisation” of Georgia (introduction of computer and other information technologies), – the President of Georgia said in the forum.
For the first time in Georgia, the problem of computerisation and information network has reached the governmental level. An establishment of state informational bank became a main objective. Computer would not be only a typewriter for a Georgian, but also a lifestyle and a necessary attribute. The President expressed his initiative: (p.11).
“I would like to speak about my new initiative – an All-State bank of public information”. Cultural transparency and accountability is main term for the development of any country. I would like to remind you that our General Administrative Code serves this very task: it obliges state structures to make this document public.
Establishment of All-State informational bank is one of the most effective ways of providing publicity and transparency. Any state structure would be able to place public documents in the bank that would become available to wide public.
Therefore, if state structures place public information and co-ordination in the mentioned bank, it would become document circulation system. At the same time, the bank would be available to the society via Internet, which makes it possible for all members of society to do correspondence via e-mail with the government as well as express their own ideas and suggestions to the government.
It is clear that as there is any information in the bank, it would thematically and structurally reflect situation in Georgia. In other words, we might view it as a bank of normative acts or bank of financial and economic data or data bank of any other sphere.
I think the public informational bank should be expanded in the Caucasian region as well as in the Black Sea region countries and Silky Road. We can even say that this issue represents a revolutionary resource for transparency, publicity and social opinion”.
At the same time, Shevarnadze informed public on the assignment of 550 thousand dollars to translate Windows programmes into the Georgian language.
There is certainly, a great gap between Georgia and developed countries in this sphere. It is impossible to speak about an increase of self-protective ability or economic development without filling up the gap. Yet there are both objective (external) and subjective reasons of the gap. One of the objective reasons is the global problem of unequal “digital development”. Disorder in educational system and industrial park belongs to subjective ones. Unfortunately, Georgia depends on foreign donors in both directions. Yet formation of state policy in this sphere is, certainly, a great achievement and sensation.