The II Startup and Innovation Festival was held at Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University (ASOIU) on June 16. The event was attended by Minister of Education Mr. Mikail Jabbarov, Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Mr. Ramin Guluzade, members of Parliament, university rectors, embassy representatives of foreign countries in the Republic of Azerbaijan and company executives.
The II Startup and Innovation Festival was declared open by the Rector of ASOIU Professor Mustafa Babanli. Speaking about the activities that had been carried out by ASOIU’s “eazi START” Startup and Innovation Center over the past two years, Rector M. Babanli expressed confidence in the future success of the projects presented by young people. According to him, some of these projects even have the capacity of reaching world markets: “One of our core purposes is to create conditions for students to present their graduate theses with startup ideas in the future. We are planning to surpass the university borders in the following years and hold this type of graduate festivals in a much broader format” – noted the Rector. He thanked the Minister of Education Mr. Mikayil Jabbarov, Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Mr. Ramin Guluzade and other people on behalf of the university for their constant support to ASOIU in the implementation of such works.
After the speech of Rector M. Babanli, the projects “Smart Keyboard”, “Cam Touch”, “General Reporting Platform”, “Multivizor” and “KubiRub” developed by “eazi START” startup school, were presented to festival participants.
Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies Ramin Guluzade noted that the Ministry attaches great importance to the development of Information Technologies in the country. The Minister said that one of the principal directions in this area is to promote the ideas which are based on modern scientific achievements: “Concrete works have been carried out by the Ministry’s ICT Fund, High-Tech Park and Business Incubation Center in this area. We allocate grants for many startup projects to develop the innovation spheres. So far, ICT Fund has held four grant competitions in innovation areas. 100 out of more than 600 projects have been financed. Over 300 startup founders have by far submitted their projects to High-Tech Park of the Ministry. 29 of them currently works in the park. At least 150 startup founders are in regular cooperation with us” – he stressed.
Minister of Education Mikail Jabbarov said that the realization of startup ideas in educational institutions creates new opportunities for both students and universities. According to him, implementation of these projects allows young people to strengthen their entrepreneurial spirit and increase their business potential: “We must work together to develop such projects. Along with strengthening students’ entrepreneurial spirit, startup projects may at certain level help universities to earn additional income. We must act from a unified national platform in this area. Discussions with businessmen, public and private companies can make this field much more productive” – noted the Minister of Education.
Chairman of the Copyrights Agency Kamran Imanov wished success to festival participants and presented to Rector of ASOIU, Prof. Mustafa Babanli a document confirming ASOIU’s ownership of exclusive copyright on “eazi START” startup school’s project “Smart Keyboard”.
After the speeches, another six projects of ASOIU’s startup school were presented to festival participants. Then, the participants of the event received answers to their questions.
At the end of the II Startup and Innovation Festival, Rector of ASOIU Professor Mustafa Babanli held a round table with participation of the university’s academic staff and the representatives of various public and private companies. Rector of ASOIU Prof M. Babanli expressed his gratitude to company officials for their support and noted that the cooperation between the university and enterprises will bring a significant contribution to both sides. The roundtable featured discussions with investors on the development of startup projects, forthcoming works, mutual cooperation and other subjects.
