As a first crucial step, the Azerbaijani government has been persistently focusing on the development of a safe and secure environment and living conditions for returnee populations in newly liberated territories from Armenian occupation by implementing advanced technologies and enhancing connectivity. Consequently, Baku is demonstrating growing concern over the stability in the region and proactively pursuing science, technology and innovation policies in war-torn cities within the framework of an enormous revival initiative. In that regard, Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev leads the way in establishing innovative and intelligent settlements in the region of Karabakh to attain technological competence and sustainable socioeconomic growth as a part of the rehabilitation efforts.
Being one of the world's leading suppliers of integrated communications and information technologies, the Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei was among the first foreign multinational technology corporations to be invited to participate in the rebuilding process of Karabakh. As it is known, Huawei develops a variety of sophisticated solutions, including renewable energy technologies, smart vision, perceptual computing, cloud technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) processing, to help cities monitor operations in real-time, boost efficiency and optimize management processes. Indeed, the company’s Intelligent Operation Center (IOC) currently ranks as one of the largest and most advanced providers of innovative and intelligent home solutions worldwide, and it has rapidly grown into a leading smart home brand in China over the last decade. So far, it has launched more than 100 smart home projects globally.
For nearly two decades, Huawei has been playing a pivotal role in Azerbaijan's information and communications technology (ICT) sector. The Chinese company has previously provided extensive technical assistance to several national initiatives and positively contributed to developing the high-tech industry and improving the existing technologies in Azerbaijan.
Therefore, most recently, on Dec. 8, Baku’s elite ADA University, the Ministry of Digital Development and Transport of Azerbaijan and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding to establish a joint research and development center for enhancing the partnership within the government-led project of "Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities for Socio-Economic Development," where the digitalization of the entire nation is prioritized as a national strategy.
In the construction of a smart city, Huawei’s IOC, which serves as a central command and decision-making division, promises to offer a broad range of universal solutions, ranging from city management databases to analyzed real-world data support and cross-agency applications, resource services and facilitating and planning for building city operation centers through the most effective use of existing resources. Generally, the IOC introduces greater convenience and access to a more livable future by systematically improving multiple aspects of the quality of life and living standards of both urban and rural communities.
Accordingly, in the first phase, Huawei’s digital technologies will be employed to track and diagnose agriculture, health and education issues in various districts of the Karabakh region under the safe living environment policy. The facilities will include an intelligent operation center, integrating and interconnecting information and processes, and providing a platform for cutting-edge technology, operations and management for constructing comprehensive security and traffic systems, rural broadband internet infrastructure, precision agriculture technology, as well as powering efficient transportation and diversifying renewable energy sources. Typically, the cloud computing ecosystem, in collaboration with sophisticated AI assistance and 5G technologies, automatically generates and visualizes key indicators of complex operations that enable remote control or immediate intervention in an emergency through secure communication channels.
Moreover, Huawei delivers a premium smart home experience by increasing comfort while reducing energy consumption and tightening the link between personal preferences and the home environment. Subsequently, the interconnected system seamlessly automates tasks and, in the meantime, allows consumers to enjoy comprehensive communication services such as voice, data, multimedia and wireless broadband. Furthermore, the complex network enables automation of the entire smart home ecosystem, including sensors, intelligent controllers, software apps and central server data services, to gradually improve cost-efficiency and security. Crucially, from a security point of view, through the intelligent collaboration of various smart hardware devices, Huawei’s smart home solution could predict and detect potential security risks and provide warnings in advance to prevent major threats and reduce fatalities. Such technology has already been applied in the Aghali village of the Zangilan district in Karabakh in the wake of massive digitalization efforts (currently, another smart village is being built in the Fuzuli district of Karabakh as well).
In addition, the digital transformation of Karabakh principally enables Huawei to seize groundbreaking opportunities to employ its products and services. Notably, Huawei's newly developed gigabit optical networks – the AirPON E2E solution – presents sustainable and solid network support by effectively utilizing high-speed fiber-based internet services and resolving broadband coverage problems, in particular, in highlands and mountainous districts of the Karabakh region.
Modern governments are increasingly implementing digital technologies as vital tools and actively embrace digitalization to simplify administrative tasks, enhance economic growth, energy security, job creation, precision agriculture and infrastructural upgrades. Similarly, in addition to physical repair and rehabilitation of essential infrastructures, the Azerbaijani government devotes significant attention to ensuring the quality of life of returnee populations by enhancing digital services in both urban and rural areas. In the near future, data pooling and AI technologies can also support practically responsive and accurate policies and programs, as digital advances will lead public services to become more accessible and accountable through the use of smart algorithms. Nonetheless, in the long run, powerful data analysis platforms, solid internet networks and AI-enabled frontier technologies will firmly stimulate the region's socioeconomic development and digital-transformation efforts.
