On September 14, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the opening of the first phase of the “SABAH.city” innovation campus, established at the High Technologies Park of the Ministry of Science and Education in Baku.

Minister of Science and Education Emin Amrullayev briefed the head of state on the “SABAH.city” innovation campus.

The project will cover a total area of 20 hectares. The first phase encompasses more than 5 hectares, with a total built-up area of 20,000 square meters. Construction began in October last year, resulting in a complex comprising four interconnected buildings. The campus features five restaurants, a market, and an event hall, as well as outdoor sports facilities, including basketball and football fields and two padel courts, along with outdoor recreation areas, pedestrian and bicycle lanes, and parking lots.

The campus is intended to engage more than 1,500 students from Baku State University, Azerbaijan Technical University, and Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University, who are studying engineering, information technology, and applied sciences, in educational and practical activities. Once fully operational, the campus is expected to welcome approximately 3,000 visitors daily.

The ASAN AI Hub has also been established within the campus. Ulvi Mehdiyev, Chairman of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, informed President Ilham Aliyev about the ASAN AI Hub, the “INNOLAND” Incubation and Acceleration Center, and the “AI Assistant” project of “ASAN service.”

The ASAN AI Hub was established to support innovative initiatives in artificial intelligence in Azerbaijan, bring together researchers, government institutions, the private sector, and individual users on a single digital platform (www.asanhub.ai), and strengthen cooperation among 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 AI Hub has established cooperation with eight universities in the country, the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, several prestigious foreign universities, including Tsinghua University (China), the University of Oxford (United Kingdom), and Boğaziçi University (Türkiye), as well as other internationally renowned partners.

To date, 150 startups have benefited from the “INNOLAND” Incubation and Acceleration Center of “ASAN service,” and four startups have been acquired by foreign investors.

The “AI Assistant” platform enables users to quickly and easily receive, analyze, and forecast information on various operational areas of “ASAN service” in a conversational format.

A total of 13 training and research laboratories have been established by Baku State University, Azerbaijan Technical University, and Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University at the “SABAH.city” innovation campus.

The laboratories are intended to conduct research and applied activities in priority scientific and technological fields, such as artificial intelligence, robotics, computer science, cybersecurity, biotechnology, nanobiology, nanophysics, chemistry, telecommunications, and others.

The campus also features a coworking zone, a shared workspace for individuals and companies, which houses 12 startups, along with 22 office spaces for local and international technology companies, corporate research and development centers, and other participants in the innovation ecosystem.

In addition to the three higher education institutions, a total of 23 key ecosystem participants, including eight technology- and innovation-oriented companies and 12 startups, have been involved in the first phase of the project.

The main goal of the project is to create an innovation environment that strengthens interaction among the key participants of Azerbaijan’s innovation, science, education, and high-technology ecosystem by bringing them together in a single venue. Serving as a comprehensive innovation platform that supports the transformation of knowledge and technology into economic and social value, “SABAH.city” will contribute in the long term to strengthening human capital, applied science, technology transfer, and the competitiveness of Azerbaijan’s innovation ecosystem.