On July 17 of this year, a meeting was held, initiated by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), between ICT and cybersecurity associations, universities, and IT clusters from Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.

The meeting was conducted within the framework of GIZ's "Digital Transformation of Small and Medium Enterprises in the Eastern Partnership Countries" program. The aim of the meeting was to facilitate mutual introduction among partners and to promote future collaboration based on shared interests. It was noted that establishing strong cooperation among the partners could make significant contributions to the digitalization of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the enhancement of cybersecurity.

The meeting, moderated by the GIZ Azerbaijan office, was represented by the Board of Directors, administrative staff, and members of the Association of Cybersecurity Organizations of Azerbaijan (ACOA). During the meeting, Elvin Balajanov, Chairman of the ACOA Board of Directors, gave a presentation on the association's activities, goals, and objectives, as well as the work undertaken. Rauf Jabarov, Deputy Chairman of the ACOA Board of Directors, presented a project proposal titled "Support for the Digital and Secure Transformation of SMEs" to the participants.

At the end of the meeting, it was decided to hold additional meetings and exchange information to expand collaboration and implement potential projects. It is noteworthy that the meeting included representatives from the GIZ offices in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine, as well as the ICT and Internet Associations of Moldova, Ukraine's National Technical University, the Kharkiv IT cluster, and Scientific Cybersecurity and IT Associations.