BAKU, Azerbaijan, June 10. Azerbaijan is working to attract international hyperscalers and develop data center infrastructure, including within the Alat Free Economic Zone, Executive Director of the Center for Analysis and Coordination of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), Fariz Jafarov said, Trend’s correspondent at the event reports.
He made the statement at the event “Technovation – Science and Innovation for Sustainable Economic Transformation,” organized by the American Chamber of Commerce in Azerbaijan (AmCham Azerbaijan) in Baku.
Jafarov noted that digital solutions create spillover effects for various sectors of the economy.
“When we talk about delivery services, we often perceive them only as food delivery. However, such platforms create additional demand for transportation, batteries, financial services, and logistics infrastructure,” he said.
F. Jafarov added that digitalization helps improve business efficiency.
“Digital solutions make it possible to reduce costs and increase company productivity – up to a 50% increase in efficiency and a more than 20% reduction in costs,” he noted.
According to him, one of the key areas of the digital strategy is the development of human capital and staff retraining programs.
He cited data from the World Economic Forum, which suggests that the introduction of artificial intelligence could lead to changes in a significant number of jobs while simultaneously creating new professions.
Moreover, Jafarov highlighted the implementation of educational programs in partnership with the Coursera platform, through which tens of thousands of Azerbaijani citizens have gained access to online training in various fields, including artificial intelligence and engineering disciplines.
“More than 110,000 people have already received certificates, and thousands of courses have been translated into Azerbaijani,” he said.
He also noted that citizens of all ages, from young people to seniors, are participating in the programs.
F. Jafarov announced an agreement with OpenAI under which more than 100,000 students in Azerbaijan will gain access to educational programs in the field of artificial intelligence.
He added that the government is collaborating with Microsoft and LinkedIn to expand educational and workforce development initiatives.
According to him, the government also plans to support citizens who obtain international professional certifications, subject to certain conditions.
Furthermore, Jafarov pointed out that in terms of infrastructure, work is underway to attract international hyperscalers and develop data centers, including within the Alat Free Economic Zone.
The official added that Azerbaijan is considering the possibility of using the infrastructure being developed not only for the domestic market but also to provide services to countries in the region.
