Bakcell, the First Mobile Operator and the Fastest Mobile Internet Provider of Azerbaijan signed a cooperation agreement with the INNOLAND Incubation and Acceleration Center of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of Azerbaijan.

At the official signing ceremony, held on December 20th at the INNOLAND Incubation and Acceleration Center, Bakcell CEO Nikolai Beckers has pointed out that application of innovations and supporting startups is one of the main priorities of Bakcell strategy: “It is a known fact that Bakcell is one of the first companies in the country to support various projects aimed at development of startups. Our “AppLab” incubation center is one of the rare environments where some of the country’s most interesting projects are accumulated. I’m confident that our cooperation with the newly opened INNOLAND center will contribute largely to development of the country’s entire startup ecosystem and will become one of the most successful partnerships in the area of innovations”.

Director of the "Innovation Center” Tagi Taghi-Zade spoke about the importance of this cooperation, being a public-private partnership. It was noted that the main goal of this partnership is to support entrepreneurship ecosystems for technology startups in our country and to implement high-level cooperation that serves the needs of emerging technology entrepreneurs. Cooperation between parties will have a great significance in terms of establishing a startup culture in Azerbaijan, developing a spirit of innovative entrepreneurship and startup ecosystems, supporting existing initiatives, creating conditions for the application of innovative initiatives in the current economic processes of the country, forming a motivating factor for the development and creation of various discoveries and other innovations.

It should be noted that INNOLAND is an incubation, acceleration and research center created to develop the private sector, promote innovation and expand the startup movement both in Azerbaijan and beyond its borders. INNOLAND consists of the Co-working, Incubation, Acceleration and IT Training and Education Center.

The AppLab program of Bakcell will from now on function as an Acceleration Center to continue supporting the startup project in a broader format. Since the year 2014, local startups and developers engaged in creation of various hardware and software receive support from Bakcell for implementation of their ideas.

Being a known leader in innovation, Bakcell constantly supports the local startups, as well as project implemented in the area of education, science and technology.

In partnership with the INNOLAND Incubation and Acceleration Center, the “Innovation and Creativity Forum” was held at the Heydar Aliyev Center in Ganja.

The forum was jointly organized by the 2nd Ganja Regional ASAN Service Center, the Ganja-Dashkasan Regional Office of the Youth Development and Career Center, the Heydar Aliyev Center of Ganja, and the Ganja STEAM Center. Its aim was to support the development of innovative thinking and technological knowledge among young people.

Within the framework of the forum, with the participation of about 200 young people, panel discussions were held on the topics: “Startup Ecosystem – Global and Local Approaches,” “Artificial Intelligence: A New Form of Thinking,” and “Robots on Stage – The Union of Creativity and Technology.”

The discussions featured contributions from the Director of the INNOLAND Incubation and Acceleration Center, Nijat Amiraslanov, and the Deputy Head of the Project Management Department, Ziniddin Babayev, who shared their knowledge and experience with the participants.

The event concluded with official speeches and an award ceremony.

A delegation led by Ahmet Aydın, Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Turkey, got acquainted with the activities of “ASAN Service.”

Welcoming the guests, Ceyhun Salmanov, Deputy Chairman of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, provided information about the “ASAN Service” centers established on the initiative of President Ilham Aliyev and the innovative solutions applied in public services. He also noted that Azerbaijan’s intellectual brand is currently exported to more than 30 countries.

The guests also visited the “INNOLAND” Incubation and Acceleration Center, Mobile ASAN Service, ABAD, and “Bilim Bakı” centers.