Dominique Piotet on how IDDA is fostering Azerbaijan’s tech revolution

Q. This year marks Azerbaijan’s largest-ever participation at GITEX. Could you share more about your presence at the event and what visitors can expect from your showcase?

 The first thing we are showcasing is Azerbaijan as an innovative country. As the Innovation and Digital Development Agency of Azerbaijan (IDDA), our mission is to foster innovation and serve as a platform for new ideas within the country.

We are spotlighting our startup ecosystem by connecting it with the global market. For this reason, IDDA brought six carefully selected startups from diverse fields. For example, one platform, Smart Solutions Group, facilitates tenders for government and private companies alongside several others in different industries. Our goal is to help these startups engage with the global ecosystem.

IDDA also seeks to build connections with UAE, which is a rapidly growing tech hub, and establishing the right partnerships here is essential for us. GITEX offers a fantastic opportunity to collaborate and explore synergies with the local and regional tech communities.

 Q. Ahead of GITEX, IDDA launched the Azerbaijan Innovation Centre (AIM). Could you tell us about the vision behind this facility and the goals it aims to achieve?

We’ve studied best practices from around the world, and one key takeaway is that innovation centres are essential for driving explosive growth in innovation ecosystems. The centres serve as platforms where innovation can truly flourish.

The concept is to bring together startups, corporates, investors, venture capital (VC) funds, and educational institutions – such as coding schools – under one roof. That’s why we launched AIM, the Azerbaijan Innovation Center. The goal is to unite all these stakeholders, foster collaboration, and strengthen our ecosystem to accelerate the creation of more startups.

The initiative reflects our vision to make our innovation ecosystem stronger, faster, and more dynamic.

 Q. How is IDDA supporting the growth of startups and collaborating with other key players to nurture a thriving ecosystem?

The government plays a key role in any emerging ecosystem, starting with enabling sound regulation. For example, we aim to ensure that VC funds can invest freely and that startups can thrive under favourable regulatory frameworks.

Another critical role is government investment, particularly in education. Building a strong tech ecosystem requires talent, and that’s one of our primary focuses at IDDA. We invest heavily in education through initiatives like incubation and acceleration programs, coding schools, and even a cyber school.

Beyond that, we strive to bring everyone together and move in the same direction. Creating a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship is essential to us. One of IDDA’s core missions is to foster and celebrate local talent—our heroes—and nurture that spirit of innovation.

For this reason, we host the annual IDDA Awards to honour the best innovations and events in the country. It’s all part of our ongoing effort to push even further to make innovation a reality.

Q. How is IDDA collaborating with organisations, especially in the tech sector, to cultivate a thriving startup ecosystem?

Partnerships are central to our strategy because we recognise that we don’t have all the answers. As a government agency, our goal is to collaborate with the best partners to develop top-tier programs.

For instance, our coding school was created in partnership with Holberton School, a computer science school founded in Silicon Valley that now operates in 12 countries, including Azerbaijan. Similarly, for our cybersecurity initiatives, we have partnered with Technion – Israel Institute of Technology to develop a world-class cybersecurity program.

We actively seek the best potential partners wherever they are. This is one of the reasons we are present at GITEX 2024 in Dubai – to find the right collaborators. Given that we are only two hours away from Dubai, it is essential for us to strengthen these partnerships.

Q. What will be your primary areas of focus in 2025, and are there any specific projects or initiatives you are currently working on?

IDDA plans to establish an even larger innovation centre that will host more startups and provide greater support. We are building a comprehensive platform for innovation, which involves multiple components.

We are actively working on improving regulations and enhancing our international connections and regional presence in tech, which is very important to us. Next year, we will focus significantly on these areas.

Furthermore, we aim to create a more conducive and innovative environment for startups to thrive. Coming from Silicon Valley, I understand that launching a startup is a challenging endeavour with many opportunities for failure. Given that access to funding is crucial, we want to make the funding process more seamless for entrepreneurs.

We aim for Azerbaijan to become a leading tech innovation hub in the region. As a regional player, we have strong neighbours who are equally committed to advancing technology, and we believe that we can achieve greater success by working together.

Our geographical location is advantageous; we are just two hours away from other major hubs, making us a natural destination for collaboration. We have an emerging and promising talent pool, as well as a growing startup scene.

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