Baku, Azerbaijan- The Minister of Communications and Information Technologies, Dr. Ali Abbasov, delivered a lecture about the ICT developments of Azerbaijan and global tendencies in the IT sector, noting that in the past five years approximately 1 billion dollars were invested in the IT industry in Azerbaijan, of which the private sector raised around 80 percent. In the same period, the use of the internet and other communication technology, including mobile telephony, witnessed a 5-fold increase.

The next step for Azerbaijan, the minister explained, is to expand its role as a regional information hub. In recent years, Azerbaijan's ICT Development and the World Economic Forum Network Readiness indices improved significantly, and the country is now preparing to launch its first satellite and open free economic zones for local and international IT companies, which should significantly contribute to the goal of becoming the regional information hub. 

The lecture was followed by a very lively Q&A session with ADA staff and students.