The opening ceremony of the II International Conference on "Digital Economy: Current Challenges and Real Opportunities" kicks off

On April 28 the Second International Conference on "Digital Economy: current challenges and real opportunities" was kicked off.

The conference is co-organized by the Ministries of Economy, Education, Digital Development and Transport, the Azerbaijan State Economic University (UNEC) and other leading institutions.

At the opening of the conference, a video clip was shown about UNEC's inventions and patents based on innovative technologies in the digital economy.

Rector of UNEC Adalat Muradov, who gave an opening speech at the event, stressing the relevance of the topic of the conference, noted that the conference was organized to discuss various aspects of digital transformation, which is the most serious tool to ensure sustainable, innovative and competitive economic development of the country, and to keep this issue on the agenda.

Rector noted that the international conference accepted about 200 articles from 15 countries, including the United Kingdom, Portugal, Serbia, Israel, Lithuania, Turkey, Slovakia, Hungary, Colombia, Georgia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Russia, and Uzbekistan.

The Minister of Education Emin Amrullayev spoke about the main challenges that digitalization poses to the education system. The minister noted that most classical subjects in the modern education system have lost their relevance, and subjects requiring digital knowledge and skills have come to the fore, and said that the subject of computer science will be introduced in the admission exams. Noting the importance of measuring digital literacy and skills, the Minister stressed that Azerbaijan will join the ICILS evaluation project of the International Assessment Association in May 2023.

Tahir Mirkishili, Chairman of the Milli Mejlis (National Assembly) Committee, spoke about the fundamental changes caused by digitalization in the economy. Noting that digitalization creates new tools in the economy, increases transparency and accelerates economic development, the chairman of the committee assessed the creation of business platforms as one of the main benefits of digitalization.

Rovshan Rustamov, Deputy Minister of Digital Development and Transport, spoke about the role of digitalization in ensuring a sustainable economy. Noting that Azerbaijan will have a strong economy due to the opportunities created by digitalization, the deputy minister noted that it is such strong digital development that is more resilient to risks. 

Speaking at the conference, Tamerlan Taghiyev, Executive Director of the Center for Analysis and Coordination of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, revealed the areas important for the development of the digital economy. Tamerlan Taghiyev noted the importance of creating an appropriate infrastructure, ensuring a high-speed, sustainable Internet in the country, and developing digital knowledge and skills at all levels of education.

After the speeches, the speakers of the conference were presented with posters.

The international conference continued with plenary lectures. 

It should be noted that the conference discusses the main problems facing global economic growth, the production ecosystem, focused on high technology, the digital transformation of the economy, “green” economy and sustainable development, the economic challenges of the post-pandemic period, business transformation after the pandemic and a look at the past and future of the Azerbaijani economy, the possibilities and priorities of using digital technologies in the process of restoring and developing the economy of Karabakh.