Azernews.Az

By Akbar Mammadov

Azerbaijan's Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies and US-based "Cisco" IT company have discussed joint activities to determine future plans of cooperation, the ministry reported on May 13.

Speaking at the meeting held via video conferencing, Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Ramin Guluzade said that the use of high technologies is a priority at a time when the coronavirus pandemic is spreading rapidly around the world and has a serious impact on global economic and trade processes.

The minister thanked the management of "Cisco" for their close cooperation and support in building relevant infrastructure for the video conference for the President and the government agencies.

He also said that the company's regional director for Azerbaijan Vladimir Orlov was awarded with Decree of Honor on April 21, 2020 for his support.

"It is important to further expand our cooperation in the application of high technologies in our country. We are currently working with your company on eight digital priorities. The implementation of these projects plays an important role in the development of innovative technologies in the country," Ramin Guluzade added.

Speaking about the implementation of the Connected Government project for video conferencing, which is an important tool during the COVID-19 pandemic, the minister noted that a number of important meetings have been organized using "Cisco" network technologies and the "Azcloud" platform.

"AzInTelecom, which operates under the ministry, has launched a video conferencing service known as "VCaaS" in the context of "Cisco Meeting Server" solutions for private companies and government agencies", the minister said.

Touching upon the important elements and priorities of cooperation, Ramin Guluzade said that work has actively been done together to effectively implement the issues of connectivity, as well as decriminalization, "smart" agriculture and cyber security.

"As for the "Smart City" project, the pilot project concept of the Coordinated Central Bus Stop has been successfully completed."

"It was presented to the Azerbaijani president and the first vice-president in December 2019. It is important to fully define the digitalization priorities of Azerbaijan and expand the application of innovative technologies in the development of the country's economy", the minister added.

Guluzade also spoke about the successful results achieved in the field of education.

"The Ministry's ICT Application and Training Center is certified by the "Cisco" Networking Academy Program. The Training Center also built the "Cisco" Training Lab with equipment provided free of charge by the "Cisco" office in Azerbaijan."

"The implementation of the Connected schools project is also developing in a positive direction", said the minister.

It should be noted that the video conference was attended by Cisco Vice President Guy Diedrich, Vice President for Russia and CIS Jonathan Sparow and Regional Director for Azerbaijan Vladimir Orlov, Head of the Digitization Program for Azerbaijan Ramil Eyyubov.

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Akbar Mammadov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @AkbarMammadov97

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