The next stage of Azerbaijan's digital development is the speed and quality of implementation, Deputy Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Hasanov said during the panel session titled “Smart Economies: AI, Innovation and Digital Transformation” held as part of the Second Azerbaijan International Investment Forum, APA reports.
He said that risks related to artificial intelligence, including cyberattacks targeting national healthcare systems, have been increasingly discussed recently.
“Therefore, the application of artificial intelligence requires the creation of an environment in which it can be developed responsibly and securely and deployed on a large scale. This means a coordinated approach, infrastructure, human capital, cybersecurity, regulation and investment,” the deputy minister said.
Rashad Hasanov noted that while around 30 countries had artificial intelligence strategies in 2019, more than 100 countries have now adopted strategies in this field.
According to him, some countries have already developed second and third versions of their artificial intelligence strategies.
“Even the most advanced countries have sometimes struggled to implement their visions. Therefore, today the issue is not only about vision and strategy. The key issue is also the speed and quality of implementation. Thus, the era of exploration is giving way to the era of implementation,” Rashad Hasanov emphasized.
The deputy minister noted that Azerbaijan is entering a stage in which artificial intelligence, infrastructure and investment are being brought together under a single agenda.
He said that any strategy and transformation begins with a vision and a high-level strategy.
“Over the past few years, a number of important national strategy documents have been adopted in Azerbaijan,” Rashad Hasanov said.
According to him, the latest document related to digitalization was adopted in February this year. President Ilham Aliyev approved the digital development action plan for 2026–2028.
“This plan covers four main pillars of digital development and includes 56 initiatives. Our task now is to turn these commitments into actual implementation,” he added.
The deputy minister said that Azerbaijan is not starting from scratch in its digital transformation and that important foundations are already in place.
According to him, the digitalization of the public sector and public services in Azerbaijan is already well developed. The MyGov platform currently has more than 4 million users.
“For a country with a population of 10 million, MyGov reaching 4 million users is a very useful starting point for the digitalization of public services. By the end of this year, we plan to reach 5 million users,” Rashad Hasanov said.
He noted that many public services have already been digitalized or are currently undergoing digitalization. Government agencies, together with the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport, are developing their own digitalization roadmaps, which are being implemented.
Rashad Hasanov also said that government agencies are transitioning to the government cloud, “gCloud.” According to him, the process is expected to be completed by the end of 2027.
“We believe that this is an important step toward ensuring the resilience of government information systems,” the deputy minister emphasized.
He added that Azerbaijan is already moving from discussions on artificial intelligence to its practical application.
“We already have AI-based applications operating in government agencies. These include a student assistant in the education system, an AI-based cybersecurity center, the prediction of plant diseases in agriculture, and the MyGov AI system that answers citizens' questions,” Rashad Hasanov said.
The deputy minister noted that, in parallel, it is also important to create high-performance computing infrastructure.
“This brings me to the second issue — computing infrastructure. Computing infrastructure requires reliable energy, connectivity and physical space. We believe that Azerbaijan has all three of these advantages,” he said.
Rashad Hasanov highlighted Azerbaijan's strategic location between Europe and Asia and noted that a large-scale fiber-optic network operates across the country.
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