BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 12
By Sadraddin Aghjayev - Trend:
Aztelecom LLC under the Azerbaijani Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies is working to render stable and high-quality telecommunication services in the districts.
"In this regard, the measures are being taken to increase the existing capacity and create a linear network to provide telecommunication services to new houses and expanding territories in villages and towns where there is a communication network, as well as new settlements," the message said. "For this purpose, equipment of the ONU type (Optical Network Unit) was installed and put into operation in Bilasuvar, Zagatala, Gazakh districts and Shirvan town."
"Moreover, the existing copper cable lines are being replaced by fiber-optic lines, and to increase the range and volume of services provided as part of the ongoing network modernization project, the GPON technology (Gigabyte Passive Optical Network) is being introduced," the message said. "In the villages, old equipment is being replaced with modern equipment, the linear network is being repaired, and work is being carried out to expand the network."
Given the increased demand for Internet services, to build a flexible telecommunication network, the fourth generation wireless communication technology - LTE (Long Term Evolution - long-term development) is being introduced.
The UK’s analytical company has announced this week that Azerbaijan is among the countries with the lowest cost of 1 GB of mobile internet.
According to the company, the average cost of 1 GB of mobile internet in Azerbaijan is $1.82 (3.1 manat).
The UK’s company analyzed the data on 230 countries upon 6,148 tariff plans.
Cybersecurity specialists of the US Fortinet company annually publish forecasts of the future cyber threats.
"There are several major trends that await not only Fortinet but also other major analytical companies," the message said. "Today, many companies have switched to "remote work", as a result, employees of companies began to connect to the corporate networks from home. Connections are based on VPN encryption over the home internet."
"Another sphere of cyberattacks this year is social engineering," Fortinet analysts said. "Some 70-80 percent of all major cyberattacks fall on social engineering. Through these methods, hackers send relevant links to the target victim. Preparation for social engineering consists in spying on the victim, monitoring his/her social networks and studying a person's habits."
"The industrial networks can be called the third sphere of cybercriminals," Fortinet analysts said."In most cases, industrial networks are outside the protection from the cyber threat," the regional manager said. "Energy and railway companies, plants and factories with in-house production have their own local network - SCADA."
"The network manufacturers in the industrial sector do not care about its security," the analysts said. "Therefore, it is necessary to purchase additional solutions to protect its networks from external threats."
While speaking about insecure sectors of activity, it is worth noting that analysts also emphasize that "smart" devices are considered unsafe by default, consumers or structures, implementing these solutions, must protect them.
Digital Trade Hub of Azerbaijan (DTH) uses a platform built on the X-Road architecture for secure data exchange.
This platform allows not only to create a transparent, reliable, and inclusive digital environment, but also to join a confederation of countries using a similar architecture, and to carry out pilot projects for cross-border data exchange between countries such as Estonia, Finland, Canada, Iceland, Japan, Ukraine, India, Mexico, Norway, Denmark, and African countries.
Foreign citizens (non-residents), without visiting Azerbaijan, can become residents of the country thanks to DTH.
Azerbaijan is the first country in the world to provide non-residents with mobile residency and the second one providing e-residency.
The services rendered by DTH meet global requirements, taking into account the relevance of online activities during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Currently, citizens of countries such as Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Japan, Germany, Sweden, the UK, Estonia, Italy, Belarus, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan are mobile residents of the platform.
In the area of expanding the services of the portal, priority is no longer given to individuals, but to legal entities, including foreign companies.
Another important sphere in the development of the Azerbaijani ICT sector is the introduction of artificial intelligence, as well as robotics.
The ‘Face Detection’ project of users, using the state services of Azerbaijan, is based on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, the Electronic Government Development Center of Azerbaijan said.
According to the E-Gov Development Center, the ‘Face Detection’ is used to solve a number of possible problems during authorization on the websites of state agencies.
According to the Center, Face Detection recognizes facial features upon 68 coordinates.
Face Recognition is based on artificial intelligence software that helps determine if both images belong to the same person.
However, the experts of the Center think that the development of new technologies does not exclude the growth of the threat of cyber attacks. To ensure the full protection against external threats, operators make the final decision on user identification by voice and face.
In the context of the reforms of the Azerbaijani State Tax Service, it is worth emphasizing the project "On Digital Transformation", aimed at expanding the digital approach to the tax administration.
For this purpose, the digital projects in various spheres of tax administration are being implemented on the initiative and under the direct control of the leadership of the Ministry of Economy and the State Tax Service.
Moreover, within such digitalization, it is planned to optimize interaction for the exchange of information and the transform the activity of the structures of the State Tax Service in e-form.
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