President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the opening of the first phase of SABAH.city innovation campus, established at the High Technologies Park of the Ministry of Science and Education in Baku, on September 14.
Minister of Science and Education Emin Amrullayev briefed the head of state on the SABAH.city innovation campus, Caliber.Az reports, citing state media.
It was reported that the project will be implemented across a total area of 20 hectares. The first phase covers more than five hectares and includes a total of 20,000 square metres of built-up space. Construction began in October last year, and a complex comprising four interconnected buildings has been completed. The campus features five restaurants, a market and an event hall, as well as outdoor sports facilities, including basketball and football courts and two padel courts. Outdoor recreation areas, pedestrian and cycling
More than 1,500 students studying engineering, information technology and applied sciences at Baku State University, Azerbaijan Technical University and Azerbaijan State University of Oil and Industry are expected to participate in educational and practical activities at the campus. Once the campus becomes fully operational, the number of daily visitors is expected to reach approximately 3,000.
The campus also houses the ASAN Artificial Intelligence Centre (ASAN AI Hub). Ulvi Mehdiyev, Chairman of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, briefed President Ilham Aliyev on the ASAN Artificial Intelligence Centre, the INNOLAND Incubation and Acceleration Centre, as well as the ASAN service's Artificial Intelligence Assistant project.
The ASAN Artificial Intelligence Centre was established to support innovative initiatives in the field of artificial intelligence in Azerbaijan, bring researchers, government agencies, the private sector and individual users together on a single digital platform (www.asanhub.ai), and strengthen cooperation between government, business and educational institutions by promoting an open innovation model. To date, a total of 50 artificial intelligence solutions have been presented. The ASAN Artificial Intelligence Centre has established partnerships with eight universities operating in Azerbaijan, the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, several prominent foreign universities, including Tsinghua University in China, the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and Boğaziçi University in Türkiye, as well as other leading international partners.
To date, 150 startups have benefited from the INNOLAND Incubation and Acceleration Centre, while four startups have been acquired by foreign investors.
The ASAN service's Artificial Intelligence Assistant platform enables users to obtain information about various areas of ASAN service activity quickly and simply in a conversational format, as well as to analyse information and make forecasts.
The SABAH.city innovation campus houses a total of 13 teaching and research laboratories established by Baku State University, Azerbaijan Technical University and Azerbaijan State University of Oil and Industry. The laboratories are intended to conduct research and applied activities in artificial intelligence, robotics, computer science, cybersecurity, biotechnology, nanobiology, nanophysics, chemistry, telecommunications and other priority scientific and technological fields.
The campus also includes a coworking zone hosting 12 startups, as well as 22 office spaces for local and international technology companies, corporate research and development centres and other participants in the innovation ecosystem.
A total of 23 key ecosystem participants have been involved in the first phase of the project, including three higher education institutions, eight technology- and innovation-oriented companies and 12 startups.
The main objective of the project is to bring together the key participants of Azerbaijan's innovation, science, education and high-technology ecosystem in a single location and create an innovation environment that strengthens interaction among them. SABAH.city is expected to play an important role as an integrated innovation platform supporting the transformation of knowledge and technology into economic and social value, while contributing in the long term to the development of human capital, applied science and technology transfer, and further strengthening the competitiveness of Azerbaijan's innovation ecosystem.
