A national conference entitled “Scientific and Practical Problems of Ensuring the State’s Cyber Sovereignty” was held at the Institute of Information Technology under the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The event was supported by the AzScienceNet NOC and jointly organised by the Institute of Information Technology, the Heydar Aliyev Academy of the State Security Service, Azerbaijan Technical University, and the Association of Cybersecurity Organizations of Azerbaijan.
The conference brought together representatives of state institutions, academia, and the cybersecurity community to exchange views on scientific, theoretical, and practical approaches to strengthening Azerbaijan’s cyber sovereignty and national cybersecurity framework. It served as an interactive platform for presenting research findings, sharing experience, and discussing forward-looking approaches to enhancing cybersecurity resilience and protecting the country’s digital sovereignty.
In his opening remarks, Director General of the Institute of Information Technology, Academician Rasim Alguliyev, noted that cybersecurity and cyber sovereignty have become key priorities of state policy amid the country’s ongoing digital transformation.
He highlighted that recent strategic initiatives, including the Digital Development Concept of the Republic of Azerbaijan, the Artificial Intelligence Strategy for 2025–2028, and the unified action plan for the New Digital Architecture, have underscored the importance of scientifically grounded approaches and strong institutional cooperation in this field.
In his keynote address, “Sustainable and Secure Digital Architecture as a Guarantee of the State’s Cyber Sovereignty,” he emphasised the need to develop a new national digital architecture, supported by solid scientific and technological foundations, in response to emerging global challenges.
The conference continued with two thematic panel sessions: “A stable and secure digital architecture as a guarantee of the state’s cyber sovereignty” and “Scientific and technological aspects of ensuring the state’s cyber sovereignty.” Discussions covered a wide range of topics, including the development of a cyber-sovereign state in the context of global challenges and the strengthening of cybersecurity in critical state information systems.
Representatives of AzScienceNet provided both organisational and technical support, and delivered a series of presentations on key topics such as ensuring cyber sovereignty within the digital state environment, developing a conceptual model for national cybersecurity, risks associated with darknet infrastructures, and approaches to cyber defence strategy.
These contributions outlined integrated approaches combining technological, legal, and organisational measures. In addition, they addressed risks arising from global digital dependencies and evolving cyber threats, while proposing measurable frameworks for enhancing and assessing the resilience of the national cyberspace.
