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.
It was reported that the project will be implemented over a total area of 20 hectares. The first phase covers an area of more than 5 hectares and a total built-up area of 20,000 square meters. Construction work began in October of 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 courts and two padel courts—alongside open-air recreation zones, pedestrian and bicycle lanes, and parking areas.
The campus is designed to engage more than 1,500 students from Baku State University, Azerbaijan Technical University, and Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University—studying in fields such as engineering, information technology, and applied sciences—in both academic and practical activities. Once the campus is fully operational, the daily number of visitors is expected to reach approximately 3,000. The ASAN Artificial Intelligence Hub (ASAN AI Hub) has also been established here. Ulvi Mehdiyev, Chairman of the State Agency for Public Service and Social Innovations under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, briefed President Ilham Aliyev on the ASAN AI Hub, the "INNOLAND" Incubation and Acceleration Center, and the "ASAN Service" Artificial Intelligence Assistant project.
The ASAN AI Hub was established to support innovative initiatives in the field of artificial intelligence in Azerbaijan, to bring together researchers, government agencies, the private sector, and individual users on a unified digital platform (www.asanhub.ai), and to 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 introduced. The ASAN AI Hub has established partnerships with eight universities operating in the country, the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, several prestigious foreign universities (Tsinghua University (China), Oxford University (UK), and Boğaziçi University (Turkey)), as well as other prominent international 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 "Artificial Intelligence Assistant" platform enables users to obtain information about the various operational areas of "ASAN Service" quickly and simply through a conversational format, while also facilitating analysis and forecasting.
The "SABAH.city" innovation campus houses a total of 13 teaching and research laboratories established by Baku State University, Azerbaijan Technical University, and Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University. These laboratories are designed to conduct research and applied activities in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, computer science, cybersecurity, biotechnology, nanobiology, nanophysics, chemistry, telecommunications, and other priority scientific and technological areas.
The facility also features a co-working zone hosting 12 startups, as well as 22 office spaces for local and international technology companies, corporate research and development centers, and other participants in the innovation ecosystem. A total of 23 key ecosystem participants—comprising three higher education institutions, eight technology and innovation-oriented companies, and 12 startups—have been involved in the first phase of the project.
The primary objective of the project is to foster an innovation environment that strengthens collaboration among the key players in the country's innovation, science, education, and high-tech ecosystems by bringing them together in a single location. Serving as a comprehensive innovation platform that supports the transformation of knowledge and technology into economic and social value, "SABAH.city" will contribute to the long-term strengthening of human capital, applied science, technology transfer, and the competitiveness of Azerbaijan's innovation ecosystem.
