Azernews.Az

By Leman Mammadova

Azerbaijan Innovation Strategy project is of great importance for the consistent and comprehensive development of innovations in the country, Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Elmir Valizade has said.

He emphasized the role of the president's January 10 order “On ensuring coordination in the field of innovative development in Azerbaijan” in developing this sector.

“Innovative development in Azerbaijan is in the spotlight. Modern industrial parks, innovation projects, e-government, funds are being created in the country,” Valizade said during the Euroasia Innovation Day organized jointly with Huawei within the Innovation Week, on October 23.

“Today we live in the age of technology. Digital technology covers all areas, creating new business models based on internet and mobile technologies. The organization of production, promotion, sale of goods is carried out based on modern technologies,” he said. Valizade noted that all this improves the competitiveness of enterprises, creates new innovative products and services on the market and opens new jobs.

Ziyad Samadzade, Chairman of the Committee on Economic Policy, Industry and Entrepreneurship of Azerbaijani Parliament, spoke about the rapid digitization of the Azerbaijani economy, the application of innovations in key areas and the positive results.

“Azerbaijan is one of the few countries with the most modern oil technologies. Today, Azerbaijan is expanding use of information and technology innovations in the country through its satellites,” he noted.

Samadzade added that trade relations with China, Japan and other countries have accelerated due to the modern transport and logistics system.

In his speech, Huawei’s Vice President for Eurasia Sai Wu briefed on the company's activities and projects in Azerbaijan.

“The company remains a leader in the technological development of 5G technology. As the sole supplier in this area, Huawei has signed more than 60 commercial contracts and manufactured more than 400,000 modular units. 5G network will be launched in Baku soon,” he stressed.

“Huawei regularly provides excellent student internships in an official office in China each year. One of these projects is the ‘Seeds of the Future in the field of ICT’, a joint project of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies and Huawei. Such projects will continue in the future,” he added.

The Innovation Day was attended by over 200 guests, including employees of world-famous think tanks, experts, scientists, media representatives and partners from the ICT industry in the region.

On the same day, the Innovation Awards Gala was held, where winners were announced in the categories Startup of the Year, Influencer of the Year, Innovation Event of the Year, Innovation Project of the Year and Representative of the Innovation Ecosystem of the Year. The winners have been awarded the Azerbaijan Innovation Award.

In particular, Keepface platform was announced as the winner in the Startup of the Year nomination. In addition, Farid Askarzade won award in the nomination Influencer of the Year. The winner in nomination Innovation Event of the Year was the rebranding of Azercell. At the same time, "STEM in Azerbaijan" was awarded in the nomination Innovation Project of the Year and Innoland’s Incubation and Acceleration Center in the nomination Representative of the Innovation Ecosystem of the Year.

The InnoWeek – Innovation Week has been organized jointly by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, the Regional Development Public Union of Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Azerbaijan Youth Foundation, Azerbaijan Innovation Agency, the UNDP, Microsoft and Azercell.

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Leman Mammadova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @leman_888

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