BAKU, Azerbaijan, Jan. 4
Trend:
Azerbaijan’s Internet provider CONNECT LTD has launched Ultra HD-4K TV broadcast for the first time in the country, Head of the company's subscription department Amina Safikhanova told Trend.
According to Safikhanova, the Ultra HD-4K format allows viewers to see the smallest details while watching TV, since the resolution is 3840x2160 pixels.
Ramil Mansurov, the head of iONLINE, Azerbaijani IT service provider company, speaking in blitz interview with Trend about the Swedish Hospitality project implemented in Azerbaijan’s hotel complexes and about the company’s plans for 2020 and subsequent years, noted that at the moment, iONLINE company is represented only in the local market within Azerbaijan.
He also said that as part of the Hospitality project, the company provides a full range of services by Hoist Group Ltd., and for the successful operation of the project, we provide the complexes with stable internet connection, all the necessary software services, as well as their support.
In another interview with Trend, Chief Executive Officer of Romania’s IT GRUP in Azerbaijan Kamran Allahverdiyev spoke about the company's plans and resources, the automation of filling station infrastructure, including secure payment technology.
According to him, automation of gas stations will help the company to manage all business processes, which are conducted inside of gas petrol station, sale, refilling and other operations. He pointed out that along with gas filling sector, other industries also need for processes’ automation. For example, ASAN Service, most of governmental services have been automated and combined in one place. The automation is very important for each industry.
Allahverdiyev added that in its solutions the company uses state of art security technologies, both in payment systems and in software. IT GRUP don’t keep standard security technologies in its solutions because the technologies are changing day by day, which makes the company take into account this aspect in its solutions.
In turn, the CEO of the Azerbaijani Cable Operators Association (ACOA) Ali Aliyev talking about the prospects for the development of the internet, cable television and Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), as well as of fiber optic data transfer providers in Azerbaijan said that all participants of the domestic telecommunications market have to prepare for the coming fifth internet generation.
According to him, the broadband Internet access market is one of the most promising in terms of business development. Besides, local operators are waiting for the adoption of standards to obtain permission from the regulator to conduct tests on the deployment of LTE / 5G networks.
The CEO noted cable operators and internet providers have begun to transform into digital service providers where investment are actively made in cloud solutions, content technologies, building data centers, e-sports, technologies using big data and other types of services.
CEO of Azerbaijan’s AzerTelecom Fuad Allahverdiyev informed last year that digital technologies are fully used in Azerbaijan and the country is already on the path of digital transformation.
He pointed out that the digitalization of the economy in Azerbaijan and the introduction of innovations is a priority. The favorable geographical position of the country, natural resources, human potential, as well as state programs, decrees and orders adopted by the president in recent years, have created all the conditions for the implementation of these projects.
The main goal here is to introduce digital technologies in all spheres of public life, beginning from various sectors of the economy and ending with the urban infrastructure, with an emphasis on five main spheres, namely, education, infrastructure, information security, scientific and technological development, and regulation, the CEO added.
In 2020, as he the official representative of Kaspersky Lab company in Azerbaijan Mushvig Mammadov said, unlike other countries, the cases of hacker attacks that would harm the organizations or individuals have not yet been detected in Azerbaijan.
He stressed that Kaspersky Lab presently cooperates and ensures the security of many legal entities both in Azerbaijan and is ready to ensure security at any level by providing appropriate technical solutions and conducting training.
Mammadov added that the company can offer personalized solutions that ensure security is almost one hundred percent.
In one of interviews with CEO of ASHBURN International Zhorzas Sarafanovicius he spoke about innovative solutions for acquiring organizations.
Sarafanovicius noted that ASHBURN International is an official partner of the world's biggest manufacturer of EFTPOS terminals Ingenico Group in Azerbaijan.
“We not only introduce our own software solution TransLink.iQ, but also use it in our work,” the CEO added. “Our own experience in using the platform allows setting goals for its development, namely, to develop and add new functions for terminals, based on the needs of our customers."
EFTPOS-terminals are supplied in cooperation with BSKOM, a BS / 2 subsidiary offering specialized solutions to the financial and trade organizations in Azerbaijan.
Towards the end of 2020, Director General of PAYSIS company, the legal owner of the E-PUL payment system Samir Nasibov told Trend that the business suffered big problems related to the sale of its products during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to him, the entrepreneurs attempted to create websites, applications, and alternative sales channels, requiring big investments in the development and promotion of one channel or another.
The notable event of the late 2020 was the signing of a memorandum of cooperation and an agreement on startups development in Azerbaijan was signed between the Innovation Agency under the Azerbaijani Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies (ASAN Service) and the US 500 Startups venture fund and startup accelerator.
The National Action Plan of the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and High Technologies for 2020-2022, within which it’s planned to conduct studies on the application of the ‘smart city’ concept, was approved by the Azerbaijani presidential decree dated February 27, 2020, in accordance with the subparagraph 4.11, the ministry told Trend.
"Within this project, a RACI matrix was developed reflecting an implementation plan and commitments for the implementation of the Smart City project, and the implementation stages were identified,” said the ministry. “At the second stage, there was prepared an assessment report was prepared for the first phase and a comparative report on smart cities selected for the Smart City practice. Moreover, work is underway to develop a Smart City strategy for the final, third phase of the project."
According to the ministry, given that the main indicators of the Smart City's efficiency relate to many industries, the relevant state structures were involved in the project in the format of a working group.
Along with the above, in accordance with the national strategy for the development of information and communication technologies in Azerbaijan, mostly state structures were digitized, from 2014-2020, expert-analyst at The Prime Consulting & Management, Ilgar Aliyev said.
He noted that the main areas of development in accordance with he mentioned strategy are the non-oil sectors, development of innovative technologies and the expansion of the areas of ICT implementation.
“Within this strategy, special ICT and e-government systems were developed, it was decided to expand the spheres of government for further digitalization,” he added.
In another interview with Trend Executive Director of the Association of Cable Operators of Azerbaijan Ali Aliyev noted that one of the most important activities of the association is the development of cable TV services in the liberated (from Armenian occupation in 44-day war from late Sept. through early Nov.2020) Azerbaijani territories.
"The members of the association - cable television operators are ready for the full deployment of networks in the liberated territories as soon as possible,” he said. “However, almost 30 years of the occupation led to the complete destruction of the entire infrastructure of these districts and first it is necessary to create conditions for the normal living of people there, to build roads, houses, socially important facilities, as well as to provide people with communications and utilities."
Besides, according to him, at the initial stage, only mobile internet, as well as internet through modems will be rendered in these territories.
"It’s much easier to deploy a mobile data transmission network," Aliyev said. "Mobile internet and, of course, mobile communication will be in great demand among various structures that will be involved in the restoration of the region. One must understand that builders, power engineers, various state structures will be actively working in this region and they will really need communication. At the initial stage, the mobile network will be able to meet their demand in communications."
Sadraddin Aghjayev
Trend’s Economic Department