2nd Caspian Innovation Conference on “The Internet of Things: Cornerstone of Modern Society” held

The 2nd Caspian Innovation Conference was held today within the framework of Azerbaijan International Telecommunications, Innovations and High Technologies Exhibition and Conference Bakutel 2019. This year’s conference was dedicated to the theme: “The Internet of Things: Cornerstone of Modern Society”.

The conference was organized at the initiative of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), Cambridge Central Asian Forum (CCAF), Aztelecom, Baktelecom and Data Processing Center. Azercell was a sponsor of the event.

The opening speech at the event was made by Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Elmir Velizade, who noted that the Internet of Things, along with technologies such as 5G, cloud technologies, big data and artificial intelligence, have rapidly changed all areas. Stressing that new technologies, in particular, the Internet of Things is currently in the focus of attention of governments and international organizations, the Deputy Minister said that the International Telecommunication Union and the World Economic Forum have made recommendations to that end.

Elmir Velizade noted that the Internet of Things Laboratory was created in the ICT Applying and Training Center under the ministry with the support of Microsoft Azerbaijan. All conditions have been created in the laboratory for creating the “Internet of Things” solutions. Several solutions created here have already been presented at the stand “Internet of Things” at Bakutel,” he added.

Then, Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union Houlin Zhao delivered a speech. He noted that by 2025 the market of the Internet of Things is predicted to be $1 trillion, and the number of things connected to the network will reach 75 billion.

The conference discussed the Internet of Things (IoT) development models, as well as the legal and regulatory framework for the deployment and usage of IoT solutions in various sectors such as infrastructure, industry and agriculture.

The conference brought together officials, heads of regulatory bodies of the countries of the region, senior representatives of international organizations, mobile operators, global vendors and integrator companies.

In the following years, the Caspian Innovation Conference will cover such topics as “Artificial Intelligence”, “Digital Startups and Innovative Entrepreneurship”, “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, “Knowledge-based Industry”, “Cyber​training” etc.

The theme of last year’s Caspian Innovation Conference was “Digital Connectivity for Sustainable Development”. The organization of such an international event on this topic was of great importance in terms of the fact that most Eurasian countries do not have access to open seas and existing broadband Internet highways.

It should be noted that the initiator of the Caspian Innovation Conference, which plays the role of a regional platform for discussing opportunities for effective cooperation between all participants in the innovation and high technology sector, is the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies.