Rusudan Seturidze

The introduction of modern technologies increases the competitiveness of firms and, consequently, the competitiveness and security of the country. Introduction of a “cloud” method in Georgia, one of the trends of the future of network economics becomes increasingly urgent in guaranteeing the successful performance of the Georgian companies. The work uses the methods of analysis, synthesis, and comparison. In terms of globalization, the use of a “cloud method” gives absolutely new opportunities to the enterprises and organizations in reaching their strategic goals. The paper had considered a new concept of the “cloud method” and had studied the strategic goals.Supažindinimas su moderniomis technologijomis didina įmonių konkurencingumą ir pačios šalies konkurencingumą ir saugumą. Supažindinimas su Gruzijoje taikomu ,,debesų” metodu, kaip viena iš svarbiausių ateities tinklo ekonomikos kryptimi, tampa ypač aktualiu siekiant užtikrinti Gruzijos kompanijų sėkmingą veiklą. Darbe pasitelkt...

Internet, virtual environments, and all the other modern forms of communication are a reality of modern man. Various forms of service with which we try to better the quality of daily life are becoming more sophisticated. Their consumption is often a process that requires a precise definition of all of the activities of which it is composed. IT support is just part of that process. The implementation of these activities requires a precise definition of the behavior of all participants. It is necessary to specify the legal rights and obligations of service providers and consumers of these services. Usually such services are agreed upon through the signing of contracts based on the level of services. Actors of such processes necessarily need knowledge, ability, and skills to use such services. Each and every service is a process that covers common behavior and can be automated or displayed as a computer program. The problems are the exceptions in such behavior that cannot be supported ...

Purpose Central to problems affecting effective university–business collaboration (UBC) is the lack of intensive communication in addition to some administrative issues. This paper aims to resolve this issue by use of a uniquely designed “UBC system.” It suggests establishing a unified business analytics portal as one of the most convenient ways of facilitating UBC. This research paper describes the development and functioning of the “UBC system,” which is capable of supporting universities and businesses in terms of the COVID-19 crisis and in enabling the implementation of innovations in their activities. Design/methodology/approach Several dozen organizations and students and graduates of different universities were selected to test the “UBC system.” This research was conducted in several phases. The “UBC system” was developed on the basis of Microsoft 365, which is a solution made on a single platform with the integrated operation of several applications (SharePoint [Easy-Quiz an...

The goal of the study is to analyze the role of the informational technologies in the improvement of the state sector on the example of the customs system of Georgia. One of the strategic branches for Georgia is the customs system, and the reform in this field was one of the most urgent topics within the scope of cooperation between Georgia-EU Union and US Agency of International Development (USAID). Since 2004, the customs system of Georgia has been subject to an overriding wave of reforms full of contradictions. As a result, the corruptive service, the lengthy procedure was converted into a swift transparent e-service and various non-compatible databases were substituted by unified automated systems (Asycuda World, PIRS, etc.). (Seturidze et al, 2012). The article analyzes the process of substituting the corruptive and subjective management of the customs system by a modern, impartial, efficient, transparent and fair public management. The article notes that the improvement of the...

High developmental rate of the modern world has put the society before the new challenges, which can be solved by using new technological achievements. A very important role among them is played by the introduction and operation of the information systems. Georgia, as an important transit country, has faced a number of problematic issues to solve, as the human, technical, material and non-material resources available in Georgia prior to the customs system reform failed to meet the contemporary demands. Before the reform, in the course of the customs registration of the imported or exported goods in Georgia, an inspector could either inspect, or not inspect the import/export goods, argue with a tax-payer about any detail, ask for some unreal documents, etc. at his wish. The customs procedure was prolonged for 2 to 10 or more days and the process of registration of any goods was accompanied by corrupted deals. An inspector had all reins to do such things. In the period of the reform implementation, the following information systems were introduced in the customs system step by step: • ASYCUDA (Automated SYstem for CUstoms DAta) Information System; • PIRS – Entity Identification and Registration Information System; • Government Finance Management Information System – Oracle Information System, etc. Introduction of ASYCUDA in 2007 made it possible to make steps to introduce the risk- based customs control mechanisms relevant to the EU customs legislation. Here, the risk was considered as the probability to violate the customs legislation of Georgia. Different risk profiles of the system are the combination of pre-determined risk indicators with its content gained through the analysis and classification of the obtained information and whose coincidence with the declared commodity data allows making a decision about the relevant measures of customs control (Seturidze, 2016, p.450). ASYCUDA system determines the degree of examination for the different types and categories of cargos. By using this software, during the registration of the commodity declaration, the system compares the data of the risk profiles under the declaration and the software, and in case they coincide, it takes the declaration to the corridor of the relevant color. The color of the corridor is determined by the essence of the risk profile and by a random selection principle. At present there are corridors of four different colors operating. Green – means the release of goods without the office check of the declaration and enclosed documents or visual examination of the goods. Yellow – means the release of goods without the office check of the declaration and enclosed documents, but with visual examination of the goods Red – means the release of goods with the office check of the declaration and enclosed documents and with visual examination of the goods. Blue – means the release of goods without the office check of the declaration and enclosed documents or visual examination of the goods on condition of examining the validity of the documents and correctness of the charged tax amounts in the future. After the system puts the declaration into the corridor of the relevant color, a customs officer receives an electronic notification about the measure to take, and the declaration is registered in a due manner. In parallel to ASYCUDA Information System in the customs system, from 2010, they started to introduce Oracle Information System. This system is used to control the people crossing the border, identify the risks when a vehicle or traveler crosses the border, issue phyto- sanitary and veterinary-sanitary permits on the border, register crimes, confiscate the deprived property, search for the goods declared in advance, etc. Oracle Information System was made more elaborate with time to become one of the powerful information systems of customs control. At present, Oracle Information System and PIRS, which is used by the patrolling police when crossing the border are linked to each other thus simplifying the identification of the criminals at crossing the border. One of the most important modules of Oracle Information System is the risk management module. Based on the data stored on the system, it identifies the risk profile for travelers and vehicles. The method used to identify the risks is the random selection principle, and the system, based on the old data, identifies the measure to take with the traveler or vehicle. The risk management module is made up of two major parts: risk identification and examination and risk card. It also has a simple search engine. Oracle Information System has three risk corridors: green, yellow and red. With the green corridor, no measure for an entity and he crosses the border freely. A yellow corridor means that a person had some problem when crossing the border (crime, sealed cargo, etc.) and it is necessary to examine him. In case of a red risk corridor, a person must be examined thoroughly. In 2014, a…

Free access for Georgian goods to the EU markets is one of the important factors for Georgia’s economic development, attraction of investments and raising the standard of living. The European Union is the most important trade partner for Georgia. Great experience has been accumulated with respect to removing trade barriers between Georgia and the European Union. Despite it, certain problems still persist. In the present article, we have reviewed the systems of preferences with the European Union, the EU’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and the essence of ongoing reform; we have assessed weak and strong sides of relations established between the European Union and Georgia in this regard; analyzed Georgia’s export and import over the past years; also reviewed the prospect of a unified database; established existing and anticipated positive and negative factors. Based on the analysis, we have provided the relevant recommendations. Keywords—EU-Georgia trade, EU’s GSP reform, Ge...

The article considers the role of the automated risk control system in improving the customs system. Different risk profiles of the system are the combination of pre-determined risk indicators with its content gained through the analysis and classification of the obtained information and whose coincidence with the declared commodity data allows making a decision about the relevant measures of customs control. Introduction of the automated risk control system has led to the reduction of the customs registration time, efficient distribution of resources and most importantly, minimization of the subjectivism in the process of registration. In addition, permanent works to monitor, analyze, update and improve the risk control are needed. In addition, various meetings between the European Union and its member states on the one hand and Georgia on the other hand will help to share the experience of foreign countries in improving the risk control systems what is the guarantee for the improv...

Free access for Georgian goods to the EU markets is one of the important factors for Georgia's economic development, attraction of investments and raising the standard of living. The European Union is the most important trade partner for Georgia. Great experience has been accumulated with respect to removing trade barriers between Georgia and the European Union. Despite it, certain problems still persist. In the present article, we have reviewed the systems of preferences with the European Union, the EU's Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) and the essence of ongoing reform; we have assessed weak and strong sides of relations established between the European Union and Georgia in this regard; analyzed Georgia's export and import over the past years; also reviewed the prospect of a unified database; established existing and anticipated positive and negative factors. Based on the analysis, we have provided the relevant recommendations.

The goal of the study is to analyze the role of the informational technologies in the improvement of the state sector on the example of the customs system of Georgia.
One of the strategic branches for Georgia is the customs system, and the reform in this field was one of the most urgent topics within the scope of cooperation between Georgia-EU Union and US Agency of International Development (USAID). Since 2004, the customs system of Georgia has been subject to an overriding wave of reforms full of contradictions. As a result, the corruptive service, the lengthy procedure was converted into a swift transparent e-service and various non- compatible databases were substituted by unified automated systems (Asycuda World, PIRS, etc.). (Seturidze et al, 2012).
The article analyzes the process of substituting the corruptive and subjective management of the customs system by a modern, impartial, efficient, transparent and fair public management.
The article notes that the improvement of the management in the state sector depends on various factors, with the introduction and operation of the single modern informational technologies as one of the most important of them.
Prior  to  the  reform,  the  Customs  and  Tax  Departments  and  financial  police  had  different databases almost without any synchronization. The data put of the database were treated by the employees of the tax system manually, and the consolidated reports were submitted to the higher tiers as hand-written documents. The information traveling upwards through the hierarchy got distorted, and the management often received incorrect data.
The article substantiates that without modern informational technologies it is impossible to avoid complexity and errors in the management of the customs system.
Simultaneously with the ongoing reform in the customs system, thorough single modern information systems were introduced in the country, such as ASYCUDA, an automated data
management system. By using ASYCUDA, a risk management system was put to operation and a maximally efficient and flexible mechanism of it was established.  At present, the risk control systems for food safety, sanitary, phyto-sanitary, quarantine, veterinary sanitary, etc. are in operation.
PIRS: The Personal Identification and Registration System is used in the portals of Georgia’s economic border where the economic border of the country is crossed.  The system reflects information about passengers crossing the border and vehicles that cross the border empty. The
Government Finance Management Information System: Due to the system  operating at all levels of the Ministry, all the officers working for the Finance Ministry of Georgia have access to the certain modules of the common base according to their functions and responsibilities. A module for tax violations of resident and non-resident persons and a module for simplified declaration  registration  of  packages  (procedures  for  simplified  declaration  registration  of packages  are  carried  out  by  means  of  the  web  site  www.mof.ge)  mainly  function  for  the economic border. (Seturidze, 2011)
eDocument: The document circulation e-system, a simple and efficient e-product ensuring the circulation of the paperless proprietary information through the Ministry of Finance and all of its structural units, including customs department. This system is time-saving, provides efficient task management, etc.
HRMS: A human resource management system, which also covers the Ministry of Finance and all its structural units including the Customs Department. The major priorities of the system are simplicity and flexibility significantly economizing customers’ time and resources.
In addition, the result of the joint efforts of the Ministry of Finance and World Bank was the establishment of a corporate web-portal of the Ministry of Finance (www.mof.ge) and single integrated base. Owing to this project, the e-resources with the central staff of the Ministry of Finance and its structural units (Customs and Tax Departments, Financial Police, Treasury) were integrated in the single information database all over Georgia. Data Warehouse, a central data storage and unique structure of data storage were established. The information gaining and processing system was centralized allowing the real-time control of the operations with the customs-and-border and registration points. At present, the Ministry of Finance of Georgia has the most advance informational system of the governmental bodies.
Based upon the above-mentioned, we conclude as follows:
(1) The article concludes that the expedient management of the state sector is a complex process depending on a number of factors, with the introduction and expedient operation of the modern informational technologies as one of the most important of them.
(2) Expedient management is very important, as it is the precondition for the realization of the efficient customs policy being of a great assistance in solving the major economic problems of the country.
(3) In terms of the customs system equipped with modern informational technologies the expedient management policy is easy to develop based on the real data allowing identifying the right developmental trend of the country.
(4)  The  introduction  of  the  modern  information  system  with  the  customs  system  has promoted the successful operation of the customs service. For instance, at present, e- declaration, e-payments, e-submission of the documents and applications and online supervision  of  their  status,  as  well  as  other  e-deals  with  importers  and  exporters  is possible without leaving one’s office. These operations are provided through www.rs.ge portal.
(5) The article describes the gaps of the customs system and recommends the ways to fill them.
(6) The article may be useful for the developing countries where the issues of improving the management of the state sector, namely of the customs system are topical.
Following the above-mentioned, we can conclude that introduction and expedient operation of the modern information systems play one of the most important roles in the improvement of the state sector management of the country.

High developmental rate of the modern world has put the society before the new challenges, which can be solved by using new technological achievements. A very important role among them is played by the introduction and operation of the information systems.
Georgia, as an important transit country, has faced a number of problematic issues to solve, as the human, technical, material and non-material resources available in Georgia prior to the customs system reform failed to meet the contemporary demands. Before the reform, in the course of the customs registration of the imported or exported goods in Georgia, an inspector could either inspect, or not inspect the import/export goods, argue with a tax-payer about any detail, ask for some unreal documents, etc. at his wish. The customs procedure was prolonged for
2 to 10 or more days and the process of registration of any goods was accompanied by corrupted deals. An inspector had all reins to do such things.
In the period of the reform implementation, the following information systems were introduced in the customs system step by step:
• ASYCUDA (Automated SYstem for CUstoms DAta) Information System;
• PIRS – Entity Identification and Registration Information System;
• Government Finance Management Information System – Oracle Information System, etc.
Introduction of ASYCUDA in 2007 made it possible to make steps to introduce the risk- based customs control mechanisms relevant to the EU customs legislation. Here, the risk was considered as the probability to violate the customs legislation of Georgia. Different risk profiles of the system are the combination of pre-determined risk indicators with its content gained through the analysis and classification of the obtained information and whose coincidence with the declared commodity data allows making a decision about the relevant measures of customs control (Seturidze, 2016, p.450). ASYCUDA system determines the degree of examination for the different types and categories of cargos. By using this software, during the registration of the commodity declaration, the system compares the data of the risk profiles under the declaration and the software, and in case they coincide, it takes the declaration to the corridor of the relevant color. The color of the corridor is determined by the essence of the risk profile and by a random selection principle. At present there are corridors of four different colors operating.
Green – means the release of goods without the office check of the declaration and enclosed documents or visual examination of the goods. Yellow – means the release of goods without the office check of the declaration and enclosed documents, but with visual examination of the goods Red – means the release of goods with the office check of the declaration and enclosed documents and with visual examination of the goods. Blue – means the release of goods without the office check of the declaration and enclosed documents or visual examination of the goods on condition of examining the validity of the documents and correctness of the charged tax amounts in the future.
After the system puts the declaration into the corridor of the relevant color, a customs officer receives an electronic notification about the measure to take, and the declaration is registered in a due manner.
In parallel to ASYCUDA Information System in the customs system, from 2010, they started to introduce Oracle Information System. This system is used to control the people crossing the border, identify the risks when a vehicle or traveler crosses the border, issue phyto- sanitary and veterinary-sanitary permits on the border, register crimes, confiscate the deprived property, search for the goods declared in advance, etc.
Oracle Information System was made more elaborate with time to become one of the powerful information systems of customs control. At present, Oracle Information System and PIRS, which is used by the patrolling police when crossing the border are linked to each other thus simplifying the identification of the criminals at crossing the border.
One of the most important modules of Oracle Information System is the risk management module. Based on the data stored on the system, it identifies the risk profile for travelers and vehicles. The method used to identify the risks is the random selection principle, and the system, based on the old data, identifies the measure to take with the traveler or vehicle. The risk management module is made up of two major parts: risk identification and examination and risk card. It also has a simple search engine. Oracle Information System has three risk corridors: green, yellow and red. With the green corridor, no measure for an entity and he crosses the border freely. A yellow corridor means that a person had some problem when crossing the border (crime, sealed cargo, etc.) and it is necessary to examine him. In case of a red risk corridor, a person must be examined thoroughly.
In 2014, a member of the World Bank, the International financial Corporation (IFC), together with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the works to update the customs information integrated system started/ The modernization and improvement of the system will lead to further improvement and simplification of the customs procedure (Seturidze, 2016, p.452).
At present, different meetings were held on the one hand, with the European Union and their member states and with the Georgia on the other hand, where the issues of improving the risk management remains one of the important questions among different issues (strategic frame format of cooperation in the field of customs; the process of harmonization with the customs legislations of EU and Georgia; protection of intellectual property on the border; administrative mutual assistance in the administration field; standards of origination).
In the risk management model, the new profiles are created, old profiles are improved or annulled permanently based on the data processing of the information systems, materials about
the violation of the customs law, international conventions, information provided by different state bodies and different international organizations and international experience in the field of risk management.
Thus, the risk management model developed in the customs system, an important role was played by the introduction and efficient operation of the information system.