Lukashenko urges development of national IT center

The Presidential Administration, the government and the Operational and Analytical Center of the President of the Republic of Belarus need to team up for the development of proposals on the organization that would specialize in IT penetration in Belarus. The Belarusian leader made the relevant statement at his annual State of the Nation Address to the Belarusian people and the National Assembly on 19 April.

According to the President, global practices show that successful IT penetration is only possible by one center and following one plan.

The head of state stressed: “IT penetration should become a large-scale nationwide project. It should cover every area of our life.”

Alexander Lukashenko underlined that IT is able to secure the achievement of several strategic targets: eliminate red tape through the implementation of e-government project; create a brand new accounting and control system: from monitoring financial flows up to the control over the movement of goods; implement a technological breakthrough in trade, education, medicine and security.

Besides, according to the President, Belarus has found itself in the situation of ‘a wheelbarrow without a wheel’. “Belarusian programming specialists are working for the West, while Belarus is lagging behind in the IT sector,” he noted.

The President stressed that a small state cannot take everything under control at once. Belarus needs its niche in the global knowledge economy. “High quality of our education in IT is justly praised worldwide,” the head of state noted.