Within the framework of the project “Development of Scientific and Methodological Teaching Materials for the Information Security Specialization”, implemented by the Association of Cybersecurity Organizations of Azerbaijan (ACOA) with the support of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the final reporting event – the “Cyber Education Conference” – was held.
The conference, hosted at Baku Higher Oil School, featured the presentation of teaching materials developed under the project to both the academic and business communities. The primary goal of the conference was to discuss pressing issues in the field of cybersecurity education and to exchange views on future perspectives. Alongside university representatives, officials from public and private institutions also shared valuable insights during the discussions.
The conference opened with welcoming remarks from Rauf Jabarov, Executive Director of ACOA. This was followed by a speech from Anar Eminov, Rector of Mingachevir State University, who shared his views on cybersecurity education. Tabriz Jafarov, ACOA expert and project manager, delivered a report on the work carried out within the scope of the project.
Panel discussions at the conference covered two major themes. In the first panel, Elvin Balacanov, a representative of the National Cybersecurity Center, Vagif Gasimov, Dean at the Azerbaijan University of Engineers, and Yadigar Imamverdiyev, Head of Department at the Azerbaijan Technical University, delivered presentations on the future prospects of information security specialization and addressed questions from the audience. The second panel focused on the timely topic of artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. Panelists included Arzu Rahimli, representative of Megasec, ACOA expert and founder of Alas Academy Elshad Yusifli, and AI specialist and ProximaTech engineer Gasim Valiyev, who explored the preparation of a future workforce based on artificial intelligence and its overall impact on technological development.
It should be noted that the “Cyber Education Conference” was organized as part of the project “Development of Scientific and Methodological Teaching Materials for the Information Security Specialization”, which was selected as a winner of the “Organization of Voluntary Activities in Education” grant competition announced by the Ministry of Science and Education in 2024. The project aims to enhance the teaching content of the “Information Security” specialization at universities. Thanks to the series of projects implemented by ACOA in recent years, six teaching materials for this specialization have already been developed and introduced to the academic community.
