By Azernews

By Ayya Lmahamad

Azerbaijan's candidacy for leading positions in the study groups of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau has been approved during the World Telecommunication Development Conference, Azernews reports.

Azerbaijan’s Digital Development and Transport Ministry’s International Cooperation Department employee Khayala Pashazade has been appointed vice-chairman of the ITU-D Study Group 1 of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau. At the same time, the ministry’s Technological Development Department employee Mushfig Guliyev has been appointed vice-chairman of the ITU-D Study Group 2.

The World Telecommunication Development Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) kicked off in Kigali, Rwanda on June 6. Azerbaijan was represented at the conference by a delegation headed by the country’s Digital Development and Transport Deputy Minister Rovshan Rustamov.

As part of the conference, the Partner2Connect Digital Development Roundtable was held. Azerbaijan announced two commitments to the said platform, including the Digital Transformation Concept and the smart city and smart village concepts.

Speaking at the meeting, Rovshan Rustamov stressed the importance of digital transformation as a driving force for the development of innovations and spoke about digital development in the country. He emphasized that the implementation of the smart city and smart village projects in the liberated territories is aimed at integrating remote areas into the digital economy and reducing the digital divide in the country.

As part of the event, the delegation held meetings with relevant ministers and other top industry officials from East Timor, Cuba, Angola, Samoa, Tanzania, Nepal, Gambia, Somalia, Burkina Faso, and Senegal, as well as the ITU Secretary-General and the Bureau directors. The sides discussed prospects for cooperation within the ITU and Azerbaijan’s candidacy for membership in the ITU Council and the Radio Regulations Board in the elections that will be held within the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference. There was also an official reception hosted by Azerbaijan.

The theme of this year’s conference, attended by some 2,000 delegates from 193 ITU member countries, is “Connecting the Unconnected to Achieve Sustainable Development.”