Azerbaijan aims to create modern innovation space - deputy minister

By Trend

The establishment of a modern innovation space is one of the priority areas in Azerbaijan, Deputy Minister of Digital Development and Transport of the Republic of Azerbaijan Rovshan Rustamov said in an interview with Russian media, Trend reports.

According to him, this is reflected in the strategic document "Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development", approved by the order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in February 2021.

"The main task of the ministry is to create a favorable innovation environment in the country. We believe that digital transformation is a key factor on the way to an innovative society," said Rustamov.

He noted that digital transformation is comprised of three parts. The first one is digital government, which provides better services and better governance through technologies. The second is the digital economy, which allows automating processes, creating digital products and making more accurate forecasts. And the final part of digital transformation is the path to a society in which people have digital skills, entrepreneurs have access to open data, and value is created through innovation based on open data.

The Deputy Minister also added that there are various conditions ensuring the successful implementation of digital transformation, for instance, the existence of a guiding concept, the necessary modern IT infrastructure, qualified human resources to carry out the transformation process, and promoting cyber security of digital infrastructure and management, coordination and regulation of all these processes.

"In order to properly execute digital transformation, we have developed an optimal concept based on global trends and suitable for the country. Currently, the document is at the stage of coordination with various government agencies," Rustamov stated.

Meanwhile, the concept provides for the total digitalization of society increasing the digital skills of citizens, promoting the digitalization of business, and the comprehensive development of regulatory mechanisms in the field of ICT. It includes reducing costs in public administration, increasing efficiency, ensuring the sustainability of government mechanisms, cyber and information security.