Digital trust: How Azerbaijan is rebuilding conscription through technology PHOTO

As in many countries, Azerbaijan is steadily embracing the “digital” trend. In this context, one can even speak of a kind of “digital revolution” in the country, which is reflected, among other things, in the growing provision of services to citizens by both the state and the private sector through AI technologies. Further development of this direction was discussed at the first meeting of the Council for Digital Development held on June 29 under the chairmanship of First Vice-President of Azerbaijan, Mehriban Aliyeva.

As First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva emphasised at the meeting, “Our goal is to transform Azerbaijan into one of the leading countries in the region in the fields of digital development and artificial intelligence. We must study international experience and adopt successful models. At the same time, all decisions must be based on Azerbaijan’s national interests and address the country’s specific needs.”

This ambitious goal, of course, implies the digitalisation of all state structures, including the State Service for Mobilisation and Conscription for Military Service, which bears enormous responsibility for the full staffing of the country’s Armed Forces with conscripts.

It should also be noted that since the appointment of Major General Mursal Ibrahimov as head of the Service, positive shifts have taken place within the structure aimed at bringing its activities in line with modern requirements.

In particular, among the positive trends, one can note the significant work done to ensure transparency and strengthen control over official activities, which has contributed to minimising direct contact between Service employees and citizens and directly helps eliminate factors that create conditions for corruption.

In this regard, it is important to highlight the successful implementation of the State Service on the MyGov platform, thanks to which citizens can now access six types of essential services online — including summonses, notifications, referrals, and certificates.

To illustrate this with concrete examples: under current legislation, there is a requirement that if a conscripted citizen leaves the country for more than three months, they must inform the relevant local divisions of the State Service. Otherwise, they may be subject to an administrative fine. Today, in such cases, there is no longer a need to visit government offices — such notification can be submitted via MyGov directly from home.

Further, since February of this year, initial military (pre-conscription) registration of boys who will turn 15 in 2026 has also been carried out through this platform.

To complete the process, the parent or legal representative of a conscription-age citizen must log into the “Services” section, proceed to the “Military Service” subsection, and then select “Initial Military Registration”. In the new window that opens, they must enter a “New Application” and indicate the child’s first name, last name, and patronymic, who has turned 15 in the current year, in the corresponding field.

In the next step, a brief biography of the child must be written or uploaded as a file (in PDF or image format). For those who have received secondary education abroad, the relevant certificate must also be uploaded, along with the registration of a mobile phone number. At the same time, the parent’s MyGov account receives a notification regarding the child’s medical examination. To ensure transparency of the process, parents can track the status of their submitted application in their personal accounts and simultaneously receive notifications upon completion of the initial military registration procedure.

Thus, it can be said that this platform has become, for potential conscripts and their parents, a kind of “glass bridge” connecting them with the State Service for Mobilisation and Conscription.

Importantly, as noted above, each such electronic service represents a further step in the fight against corruption, as it effectively eliminates the conditions that enable it. The State Service for Mobilisation and Conscription does not intend to stop at the progress achieved and has included in its near-term plans the digitalisation of conscript notifications for medical examinations by relevant medical commissions, as well as the processing of all necessary documentation. This will make the entire procedure fully transparent and help reduce public dissatisfaction.

At the same time, one important nuance should be highlighted. Since July 1, 2024, medical examinations of individuals who have been assigned categories by local conscription commissions such as “temporarily unfit for active military service”, “unfit for active military service in peacetime, limited fit in wartime”, “unfit for military service both in peacetime and wartime”, and “fit for non-combat active military service” have been carried out by the State Agency for Medical-Social Expertise and Rehabilitation under the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Population. Only on the basis of the medical conclusion issued by this agency are decisions made within the Service itself. The entire process, including doctors’ conclusions for each conscript, diagnoses, and other related data, is conducted in electronic format, and the announced changes imply that digitalisation will soon cover the entire process.

For the State Service for Mobilisation and Conscription, the implementation of electronic service delivery to citizens is one of its key priorities, and work in this direction will continue in order to improve the efficiency of the mobilisation system.

In this way, the State Service for Mobilisation and Conscription is keeping pace with the times, actively introducing innovative technologies into its operations, thereby contributing to the achievement of the overarching goal: transforming Azerbaijan into a regional digital hub.