The “Demo Day” event of the IV “TUSI” incubation program, implemented by the “Innovation Center” of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, within the framework of the “Skills for the Future” project, has been held.

The objective is to strengthen human capital in the field of innovation and promote innovative activities in education. At the same time, creating conditions for the development of students’ innovative ideas and directing them toward invention and startup activities are among the key priorities.

The event was attended by Ulvi Mehdiyev, Chairman of the State Agency; Firudin Gurbanov, Deputy Minister of Science and Education; Orkhan Mammadov, Chairman of the Board of the Small and Medium Business Development Agency; Bakhtiyar Aslanbayli, Vice President for Communications and External Affairs for the Caspian Region at bp; as well as rectors of higher education institutions in the country.

Within the framework of the event, a Memorandum of Understanding on “Cooperation in the Formation and Development of an Innovation Environment in Universities” was signed between the State Agency and newly joined institutions — Azerbaijan Medical University, Azerbaijan State Pedagogical University, and the Academy of the State Customs Committee.

Afterwards, the guests ознакомились with the projects of the startup teams.

During the event, speeches by officials were delivered, and a video highlighting the work carried out within the project was presented.

Sixteen startup teams that successfully completed the IV “TUSI” incubation program presented their projects. Based on the jury’s evaluation, the top three projects were granted the opportunity to become residents of the INNOLAND Incubation and Acceleration Center. The first-place winner also earned the right to participate in the “Take Off Istanbul” startup summit.

Detailed information was provided about the upcoming V “TUSI” incubation program. Through intensive training covering 10 main topics and 34 sub-modules, the program offers participants extensive opportunities for building startups, systematically developing ideas, and integrating into the innovation ecosystem.

Since 2021, cooperation has been established with 15 higher education institutions within the framework of the project; more than 300 startup ideas have been submitted by over 3,000 students. With the support of more than 130 trained university mentors, 29 startup teams have been formed and have presented their projects at “Demo Day” events.

To date, four startups formed within the “Skills for the Future” project have attracted a total of 310,000 AZN in investment.

A meeting was held between the "Innovations Center" and Georgia's Innovation and Technology Agency

On April 7, a meeting took place between the "Innovations Center" of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Innovation and Technology Agency operating under the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development of the Republic of Georgia. During the meeting, Vusal Rustamov, Director of the "Innovations Center," provided detailed information regarding the center's core activities, the innovation ecosystem, startup support, as well as ongoing innovation-oriented initiatives and achievements.

Within the framework of the meeting, the parties familiarized themselves with each Other's fields of activity and discussed opportunities for cooperation in the field of social innovations. At the same time, the potential for implementing joint projects and strengthening collaboration within international programs was reviewed.

The guests also visited and learned about the activities of the ASAN Service center, "INNOLAND" Incubation and Acceleration Center, the "ABAD" public legal entity, and the "Bilim Baku" (Bilim Azerbaijan) center.

On March 10, 2019, the INNOLAND Incubation and Acceleration Center together with the Tech Academy will hold a meeting of the Hadoop user group in Azerbaijan.

Participation in the discussion of well-known foreign and local experts will focus on the application of Big Data Technologies, stages of Data Analytics and many other important issues.

Speakers of the event will be Abzetdin Adamov, Head of Data Analytics Center ADA University, Zekeriya Beşiroglu, Big Data Analyst at KOMTAŞ Information Management Center in Turkey, the Head of the Oracle Users Group and the winner of the “Oracle ACE Director” award.