First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva addressed the meeting.

Speech by First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva

Today we are holding the first meeting of the Digital Development Council of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In February of this year, a meeting chaired by President Ilham Aliyev was held on the new digital development strategy of our country, and based on these instructions, the Action Plan for Digital Development was approved. A specific Roadmap for the next three years has been defined, ensuring the development of digitalization, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and the innovation ecosystem. The main task of the Council is to coordinate the activities of various state structures, form a unified approach, and ensure timely and effective implementation of decisions made. Our goal is not only to introduce new technologies but also to give a powerful impetus to the country's economy, form a new modern innovation ecosystem, attract local and foreign investments to the country, support local startups, and create a more efficient public administration system.

Artificial intelligence is no longer a matter of the future but a key factor in today's development. At the same time, the role of artificial intelligence in ensuring the security of states is increasing, and it already occupies a central place in this area. It is no secret that the development of artificial intelligence in leading countries of the world is proceeding faster than expected, which, in turn, creates both new opportunities and new threats. We must be prepared for new challenges, especially the risks arising in the field of cybersecurity and information security.

Our activities require joint active and effective work of all state structures. Our goal is to turn Azerbaijan into one of the leading states in the region in the field of digital development and artificial intelligence. We must study foreign and international experience and use successful models. However, all decisions must be made taking into account factors that meet the national interests and needs of Azerbaijan.

At today's meeting, Rashad Nabiyev will report on the work done over the month since the last meeting and the results achieved.

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Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev informed the First Vice-President about the work done to implement the "Action Plan for Accelerating Digital Development for 2026-2028" and upcoming tasks. He noted that the action plan includes 58 initiatives in the areas of digitalization, artificial intelligence, innovation ecosystem, and cybersecurity. Touching upon the work done in the direction of digitalization, the minister reported that roadmaps have been prepared with 40 state structures, 13 of which have already been approved or are at the approval stage.

Rashad Nabiyev informed about the creation of the National Data Pool, emphasizing that work on migrating state information systems to the government cloud and building a new data center continues. Noting the expansion of the range of services of the Mygov platform, an increase in the number of users from 2.7 million to 3.5 million over the past three months, the minister reported that several applications have already been integrated into the platform, and by the end of the year, services of seven more state applications will be provided to citizens.

The Minister of Digital Development and Transport emphasized that one of the main priorities of the action plan is artificial intelligence. He reported on the expansion of the use of AI-based solutions in Mygov and other state structures, and the launch of a virtual assistant for citizens. Rashad Nabiyev touched upon the development of the innovation ecosystem, emphasizing that the creation of the Azerbaijan Resilience Cluster has begun to unite companies operating in areas that strengthen technological sovereignty, and spoke about the work done in the field of cybersecurity. He noted that work is underway to create the National Security Operations Center, the National Cyber Incident Response Center, and the Digital Research Center, as well as the formation of a unified national cybersecurity platform that will ensure rapid information exchange between the public and private sectors.

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Assistant to the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan – Head of the Department for Economic Affairs and Innovation Development Policy of the Presidential Administration Shahmar Movsumov informed the First Vice-President about legislative reforms in the digital sphere. Shahmar Movsumov noted that under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev, digital transformation is consistently pursued as one of the priority areas of state policy. Shahmar Movsumov recalled that by the Decree signed by the head of state in February this year, the Digital Development Council was established and the "Action Plan for Accelerating Digital Development of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2026-2028" was approved. He noted that in accordance with the strategic priorities and instructions defined by the Council under the leadership of First Vice-President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, comprehensive reforms are being prepared aimed at forming a modern legislative framework in the field of digital development. The Assistant to the President emphasized that this is the largest and most fundamental reform initiative for the development and regulation of the digital ecosystem in the post-Soviet space.

Touching upon the areas affected by the reform, Shahmar Movsumov said that these include ensuring legal certainty, forming a competitive tax environment, financing innovation, encouraging scientific research and innovation, attracting talent, expanding market access opportunities, and improving regulation in the field of cybersecurity.

The Assistant to the President noted that one of the important aspects of these reforms is that they are based on world experience. He emphasized that when preparing the transformations, successful models applied in various countries were studied.

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Minister of Science and Education Emin Amrullayev informed the First Vice-President about the work done on the digitalization of education in the country and future plans. The minister touched upon issues of providing educational institutions with a unified internet network, the "Digital School" project, digitalization of data by education levels, electronization of documents in the education sector, and noted that at the next stage, digitalization of learning is envisaged.

Emin Amrullayev also noted the "Digital Skills" and "STEAM Azerbaijan" projects implemented in schools to develop digital skills among students. He emphasized that ensuring the development of human capital in this direction is also one of the main priorities.

The meeting continued with discussions.