October 3, 2022 | Stockholm, Sweden
Members of the Board of Directors of the Modern Information Society and Innovations Public Union, the winner of a special grant competition announced by the State Support Agency for Non-Governmental Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan within the framework of the Year of Shusha, were dispatched to the Kingdom of Sweden in accordance with the project plan to conduct research on the Scandinavian model for implementing the Smart City and Smart Village concepts.
As part of the visit, the delegation held an initial meeting at the Stockholm headquarters of Ericsson, one of the world’s leading telecommunications companies. The meeting was conducted with Jörgen Gustafsson, Director of Ericsson’s Artificial Intelligence Research Center.
During the meeting, the Ericsson representative was briefed on recent developments in Smart City/Smart Village construction in Azerbaijan, with particular emphasis on Ağalı village as an example of best practice. Mr. Gustafsson, in turn, presented Ericsson’s ongoing research on modern technologies applied in smart urban and rural development, as well as the research methodologies successfully used in this field.
Discussions also focused on the potential application of Smart City and digital twin models in the city of Shusha. These models—virtual representations of real urban infrastructure—enable different infrastructure components to operate in an integrated manner through the Internet of Things (IoT). The role of private enterprises in building smart cities and villages, ensuring accessibility and ease of use of modern technologies for citizens, and international best practices in public–private partnerships were among the key topics addressed.
It should be noted that meetings with relevant companies and institutions in the Kingdom of Sweden are ongoing as part of the research visit.
