BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 19
By Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
Georgia has made tangible progress in creating innovative digital services for business development, said Asian Development Outlook Supplement for the next two years, Trend reports citing the report published by Asian Development Bank (ADB).
"However, it is constrained by limited mobile broadband coverage and internet connectivity, especially in rural areas. Georgia has improved its adoption of information and communication technology, the third pillar of the enabling environment component cited in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index 2019, where Georgia ranks 55 of 141 economies," ADB said.
As the bank noted, Georgia has made little progress in improving the technological sophistication of firms, ranking only 91 in innovation capability and 93 in entrepreneurial culture.
The report highlighted slow progress in university–industry collaboration in research and development and digital skills of workforce.
"To promote start-ups, the government has inaugurated two new agencies. The Georgian Innovation and Technology Agency supports competitiveness in small and medium-sized enterprises and promotes innovative start-ups. It also supports innovation laboratories, business incubators, and new technology firms," the report noted.
In turn, the Georgian Entrepreneurship Development Agency facilitates private sector development through a variety of financial and other facilities to support start-ups during their incubation, especially those oriented toward exports.
Advances in science and labor market analysis can help enable firms to innovate. Georgia is taking steps to integrate ICT into school curricula; it is a mandatory subject and part of computer-based instruction and learning. In addition, ICT modules are used to train teachers. The government has created an information system to collect and analyze labor market data to identify mismatches between labor skills and educational programs, the report said.
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