On June 14, the inaugural meeting of the "Solutions, Technology, and Innovations Committee" of the Association of Cybersecurity Organisations of Azerbaijan (ACOA) took place. The meeting was held at the office of "Azercell," a member of ACOA.

The first meeting of the expert committee, established to study local solutions, technology, innovations, and startups in the fields of cybersecurity, information security, and information technology (hereinafter referred to as the relevant field), as well as to ensure their promotion, exchange of experience, and support, was attended by the administrative staff of ACOA, representatives of ACOA member companies, including "Azercell," and individual experts who are members of ACOA.

After Fuad Safarov, Head of the Security Department at Azercell, greeted the meeting participants, Elvin Balajanov, Chairman of the ACOA Board, opened the meeting with an introductory speech. He provided an overview of the expert committees established by ACOA, considering the current state of the cybersecurity ecosystem. Rauf Jabarov, Deputy Head of the ACOA Board, then explained the factors that necessitated the creation of the expert committee and elaborated on its purpose.

Subsequently, the Committee members engaged in discussions about the existing problems in the relevant field and their possible solutions, as well as the directions for the expert committee's activities. As a result, the Committee deemed it appropriate to focus on the following areas of activity in the relevant field:

·         Supporting the creation of local solutions and technologies;

·         Assisting local products in entering the global market;

·         Conducting analyses and preparing proposals to enhance competitiveness;

·         Facilitating the exchange of experiences and ideas among members, as well as fostering potential synergies;

·         Establishing connections and conducting discussions with relevant government bodies and entities in the field;

·         Investigating and proposing opportunities for utilizing innovative projects, including startups;

·         Supporting the analysis and promotion of startups;

·         Creating communication channels among stakeholders in innovative sectors of the field (such as cloud technologies, artificial intelligence, robotics, IoT, etc.);

·         Organizing public hearings, meetings, and roundtable discussions;

·         Contributing to the development of the ACOA "White Paper."

During the meeting, a vote was also held among the committee members to appoint the chairperson and secretary of the expert committee. Based on the vote, Ulduz Khalilova, founder and CEO of "Digital Umbrella," was elected as the chairperson, and Berna Baysal, general manager of "Karmasis Azerbaijan," was elected as the secretary of the Committee.

It should be noted that the expert committees, established by the decision of the ACOA Board, are composed of experts representing ACOA member legal entities and independent ACOA experts. These committees are formed across various topics, sectors, and technological domains to facilitate the sharing of information, discussion of issues and problems, and preparation and submission of proposals, recommendations, and documents to relevant authorities. The decisions and proposals of the committees are taken into account in ACOA's activities and form the basis of the submitted suggestions and recommendations.

For more detail: https://akta.az/az/committees