IATP News

Turkmenistan’s Small Businesses Modernize, Increasing Profits and Salaries

When the CEO of Melhem, a firm specializing in the shipment of building materials, decided to send his employees to ICT training, he had no idea how quickly it could improve their overall efficiency or that it would quadruple company sales.

In June of this year, Melhem employees attended ICT training at the IATP center in Turkmenabat, Turkmenistan. The employees learned basic computer and internet skills and achieved proficiency in various MS Office applications. Throughout the process, participants focused on how to apply their ICT skills in their jobs and realized how much it could improve business operations. Not long after the training, the company invested in three computers and connected them all to the internet.

Now the company keeps track of their clients through e-databases and finds and maintains new contacts online. Thanks to the modernized system, the company estimates it has improved its efficiency by almost 70 percent. The majority of employees’ time is now spent developing the company, which suits workers well, as their salaries are based on a percentage of the company’s profits. Melhem accountant Margarita Hemraeva explains, “Before learning IT skills, we spent most of our time doing paperwork and did not have as much time to seek out new clients. Our new IT skills are allowing us to spend our efforts in achieving our real goals—to expand our customer base and increase profits.”

Physicians Report More Time for Patients with Digitized System

Maral Annaorazova is one of only four primary doctors at the Tuberculosis (TB) Prevention Center in Balkanabat, Turkmenistan. The demand on her time is great. The hospital regularly houses 90 in-patients (an average of 23 in her care) and doctors see an additional 60 patients (about 15 each) by appointment daily. In a modernized hospital, these conditions would be challenging but until last year, Annaorazova still worked in a medical facility where all the paperwork was completed by hand. Thanks to USAID-donated computers and IATP training last winter, a year later her workload has become more manageable and she is more satisfied with the patient care she now has the time to deliver.

Last September, the TB center in Balkanabat was the recipient of two computers from the USAID-funded Project Hope. Last winter, Annaorazova along with eight of her colleagues from the TB Center attended IATP training and studied the full range of equipment and software used in a modern hospital. Less than a year after Annaorazova and her colleagues completed IATP training, the Center now works with electronic patient registration templates, a digital patient database, electronic archives, and electronically composed documents and reports.

Annaorazova explains that before the digitization of the hospital’s routine paperwork and procedures, it was not uncommon for her to spend half of her day seeing appointments and filling out medical charts by hand. She reports that the paperwork alone consumed 10-15 percent of her day. “I could have used the precious time I spent filling reports out by hand, to see my patients and attend to their needs,” reports the doctor.

Thanks to an updated system, one of the health care administrators, Amanbagt Rahymova, has cut her workload by 80 percent. One of the two computers went to Rahymova’s office as she is primarily responsible for maintaining all hospital records, for maintaining the patient database, and for filing routine reports to central authorities. She was one of the IATP graduates of the computer basics and MS Office applications training. What used to take Rahymova an hour to do by hand, she reports, now takes her only ten minutes by computer. “Using MS Word and Excel has made my work so much more efficient. Now I have more time to fulfill other duties,” she reports.

Part of this saved time she spends assisting Pediatrician Annaorazova. Annaorazova notes that Rahymova assists her in her own paperwork which gives the physician almost twice as much time to spend caring for patients. “If I spent 25 minutes with a patient before, now I have more than 50 minutes to spend with them. For this, I am so grateful.”

But Annaorazova is the only doctor Rahymova has time to assist. The workloads of the three other physicians remain heavy. Rahymova suggests there is much more to be done and notes that once the facility can acquire more computers, at least one for each doctor, the impact will be four times as great for the hospital and its patients.

Rahymova goes on to envision computers at all eight of their village branches in the Balkan region with staff working themselves with a digitized system after being trained in ICT skills. Head of the TB hospital Kurban Tachliev says “IT training has had such a great impact on the hospital’s day-to-day functioning as well as our staff’s performance….I am waiting for the day we can equip our branches in the villages with computers and provide the doctors there with IT training. We would then be able to network our facilities and communicate so much more easily when exchanging information and reports.”

Over 40 medical professionals in Turkmenistan have participated in IATP training over the last year mastering computer basics and MS Office applications. Countrywide, 1,000 people in Turkmenistan have participated in over 3,300 IATP training courses since last September.

IATP Empowers Students in Turkmenistan to Become Community Leaders in Technology

University students Andrey Leskin, Kristina Puzarina and Madina Aliyeva are using their IATP training to help make a difference in their communities and in the lives of other young people in Turkmenistan. The three scholars are all studying abroad at the American University in Central Asia (AUCA) in Bishek, Kyrgyzstan, but haven chosen to spend their summer breaks and spare time sharing their knowledge and experience with their peers back home.

Leskin had some ICT skills before being introduced to IATP in 2007. He was soon to start his university career abroad, however, and knew he could benefit from more advanced computer training. Leskin completed courses in internet research and graphic design at the IATP center in Turkmenabat. During the course of the training, he also discovered online forums and became a regular participant in various international online discussions.

With a passionate interest in nanotechnology, Leskin decided to create his own online forum on the subject. Despite the niche topic, the forum attracted a strong interest both in Turkmenistan and abroad. In fact, many users at local IATP centers in Turkmenistan use the forum regularly to practice their ICT skills and learn something about the emerging field of nanotechnology. Leskin admits, “I’m a social person by nature, and I really enjoy communicating with people and discussing ideas even if it is done virtually. I really want other young people to have access to the latest global information such as nanotechnology, and I appreciate IATP centers providing us with the resources to do this.”

Kristina Puzarina and Madina Aliyeva first discovered IATP in their hometown of Turkmenabat while they were still in high school in 2005. They completed a series of training sessions on internet search skills, Web design, and graphics editing. Drawing on their ICT training, they applied online to universities abroad and explored options to fund their education using scholarship information they found through their research. Thanks to their efforts, Puzarina and Aliyeva were accepted into AUCA and both awarded academic scholarships.

Student Lands Job Thanks to ICT Skills Gained at IATP Center in Turkmenabat, Turkmenistan

Twenty-one-year-old business student Timur Saparov received a job as an advertising designer at the private company Shohle – Express, which specializes in outdoor banner advertisements in Turkmenabat, Turkmenistan.

Saparov completed advanced training in graphic design for twelve students at IATP’s partner organization and local training firm Hemayat Economic Association in March. Over the course of four weeks, Saparov and his peers acquired graphics editing and internet research skills and developed slogans, trademarks, and presentations as part of their business projects at the Turkmenabat IATP Center.

Hemayat offers ten-month courses on management, marketing, and accounting, promoting business education and teaching entrepreneurship to local youth. Thanks to the partnership with Hemayat, IATP has been able to provide ICT courses to large numbers of aspiring entrepreneurs. This group used their improved ICT skills to complete their projects and pass their first final exam on April 11.

Timur Saparov remarked, “Having completed IATP training, I realized that I would like to make my career in computer graphics and design. Now, I am confident in my skills in designing advertisements [for billboards], logos, and banners. After all, my supervisors and clients are satisfied with the results of my creative work.” Saparov received his job offer soon after he completed the IATP training course.

Each year, more than 100 youth complete business courses at Hemayat and launch their own businesses. Since 2008, IATP staff in Turkmenabat has been contributing to Hemayet’s business education by providing technical assistance and information support to 75 students.

IATP Trainees Lead Conference on ICT in Education in Turkmenistan

On March 26, 2009, eight IATP-trained educators led a conference in Ashgabat on incorporating ICT into the teaching of music history. From November 2008 to February 2009, these National Conservatory teachers attended IATP courses on computer and internet basics, MS Office applications, and advanced Web 2.0 technologies at Ashgabat’s Internet Center for Interactive Multimedia Learning (ICIML).

The Turkmenistan National Conservatory organized the March conference, which 30 faculty and students attended. The eight educators discussed the potential value of ICT to music history education through interactive lesson plans, classroom ICT resources, and multimedia assignments for students. The presenters demonstrated educational software and shared practical, experience-based tips with colleagues.

National television channel TV4 broadcast footage of the conference on its Watan news program, which was aired that night throughout Turkmenistan. Music history department chair Elena Osipova commented, “Newly developed ICT-based lectures, interactive resources, and tests for teaching music became possible here, thanks to four months of IATP technical support and training, as well as the hard work of our teachers.

Inspired by their colleagues in the music history department, eight more instructors of other subjects attended computer courses at ICIML in April. Launched on October 15, 2008, ICIML – a joint project of IATP and the President’s Supreme Council on Science and Technology – has helped enhance the computer literacy of more than 120 government officials, educators, medical professionals, and representatives of USAID-funded partner organizations.

Medical Professionals in Turkmenistan Use Computer Skills to Manage New Healthcare Information System

After completing computer training at their respective local IATP centers, medical professionals from Turkmenistan’s Sanitation Epidemiological Offices (SEO) are benefiting from a new health information system.

The International Public Health Organization and the Turkmenistan Ministry of Health installed the new disease prevention information system at SEO regional offices. To use this tool, however, SEO employees needed computer skills. Twenty-two medical professionals thus developed skills in basic computer use, internet navigation, word processing, database management, and spreadsheet generation at IATP centers in Mary, Balkanabat, Dashoguz, and Turkmenabat.

Epidemiologist Nurbibi Rejepova from Dashoguz remarked, “I always need to gather information from my colleagues and share statistics and reports on epidemiology. It is routine work but had been taking up more of my work time. Now, I realize that information technologies are indispensable tools that facilitate my information management activities. I can dedicate more time to helping the public instead of documentation.”

From February 2008 to March 2009, IATP equipped more than 70 of Turkmenistan’s medical professionals with computer skills through its regional centers.

Online Forum on Civic Education links US, Eurasian Educators

More than 20 educators from Turkmenistan, Moldova, Georgia and Azerbaijan, learned about civic education in the United States during an IATP-sponsored online discussion. Turkmenistan university professors taking part in the online forum mentioned it was their first chance to discuss education curricula with international colleagues online. These professors later reported they are continuing to explore teaching materials on civic education provided by the forum expert and discuss civic engagement education issues via e-mail (materials available).

From March 9 to 19, 2009, University of Minnesota’s Center for Democracy and Citizenship Professor Dennis Donovan accessed the IATP online forum, sharing his extensive professional experience with interested educators across Eurasia. Professor Donovan introduced participants to the Center’s mission and activities, discussing his student mentoring methods, and addressed the participants’ many questions.

The interactive discussion revealed interest in the strategies used by American schools to engage youth in liberal arts education. Professor Donovan explained that the best US teachers develop relationships with their students and encourage the expression of different opinions, which he called a “strategy for modeling democracy.” Later in the discussion, the Eurasian educators learned about the Center’s international partnership network and received information on Hubert Humphrey Fellowship opportunities in their home countries. This online forum is one of ten international online networking events organized by IATP this year.

ICT Key to Turkmenistan Woman’s New Job

Turkmenabat, Turkmenistan, resident Yulia Rashitova was, until recently, unemployed. Now, however, she has started her professional career with an international resources surveying company thanks to the ICT training she received at IATP.

After graduating high school, Rashitova briefly earned a living as a waitress but hoped for a more skilled position. She left the restaurant in pursuit of educational opportunity, and in May 2008, began intensive training at the IATP Center in Turkmenabat. Her coursework included computing, internet searching, and graphic editing. She attended the IATP-sponsored seminar on job searching and resume writing, and continually visited the center to practice her new skills.

By November, Rashitova was applying for positions that required computer competency. After a series of interviews she was offered an administrative assistant position, beginning work in February 2009. After settling into her new job, Yulia remarked, “It was not easy to achieve my career goals without a degree or professional experience, but IATP helped me with essential ICT skills valuable for any office work. My trump cards during the interview were strong computer and internet usage skills, as the lion’s share of my future work would consist of online research and networking. So I was hired thanks to the advanced ICT skills I gained with IATP assistance. This is a new stage of my life and my career development.”

Yulia Rashitova is one of 36 unemployed citizens trained at the IATP center in Turkmenabat since 2008.

Turkmenistan Ministry of Energy Officials Learn to Work More Efficiently Online

Officials from the Turkmenistan Ministry of Energy learned how to use computers and the internet at the IATP center in Ashgabat to conduct low-cost but effective online marketing research.

After the Turkmen Ministry of Energy was computerized and all its departments were connected to the internet in 2008, it requested IATP to train its employees in ICT skills since most of them had neither experience nor skills in using ICT in their work.  In January and February, 15 employees from the Ministry’s departments, including mechanical engineering, power-supervision, petroleum-based fuels and transport, and instrument construction became familiarized with the internet for the first time.

Since the training, the officials have begun using the internet to learn more about the electric power industry in the other countries, established contact with international suppliers, and began using the internet as the primary means of communication with international partners, saving money for their departments.

For example, engineer Shageldy Karajayev got in touch with a number of suppliers in Russia through online communication.  Karajaeyev remarked, “Conducting market research online and receiving business offers via the internet is very fast and convenient, as compared to making expensive international calls and using postal services.  Beginning in February, I stopped making international calls and using postal services for marketing purposes, which has saved a lot of my work time and money for the Ministry.”

As a result of the Ministry’s employees’ ability to conduct marketing research online and follow up with international suppliers, the Ministry is now acquiring better quality electricity supply meters from a factory in Nizhgorod, Russia.  IATP has expanded its cooperation with the Ministry – more staff members are awaiting training this spring.

Doctors Find ICT a Valuable Tool in Fight against Tuberculosis

Doctors of the Tuberculosis (TB) Prevention Center in Balkanabat, Turkmenistan, are using ICT skills they acquired during IATP training to increase the efficiency of their work and devote more attention to patient care.

In November 2008, the IATP center in Balkanabat partnered with the USAID-funded Project HOPE to organize the training series for doctors at the TB Prevention Center.  The Center recently received computers and other office equipment through USAID funding and requested ICT training for its staff.  Throughout November and December, a group of eight doctors and health care administrators learned to use the full range of equipment and software used in a modern hospital and practiced using the internet.  After the trainees completed the training course, they began using their newly acquired skills to modernize and improve the Center’s patient care services, and digitizing routine paperwork and procedures.  Now the Center is working faster and more professionally, with electronic patient registration templates, a digital patient database, electronic archives, and electronically-composed documents and reports for submission to central authorities.

In February, the group will continue learning to use the internet to communicate with colleagues in other cities, research TB treatment options, and learn about interventions initiated by Project HOPE in other countries.  Lead Center Physician Kurban Tashliyev explained how IATP provided a more practical ICT training option for his staff by saving his employees money and time.  “With the new computers, I thought that our staff should go to paid computer courses to gain ICT knowledge, but IATP trained us free of charge, providing essential and intensive computer courses in a short time.  I found out that the IATP center is the only place in Balkanabat where people can receive knowledge and use resources free of charge, which is very important.  Programs like IATP are making a big social impact on our society.”  Last year, IATP centers across Turkmenistan trained over 50 health care providers.