ELCHIN ALIYEV President of Sinam

Digital networks can help reposition Azerbaijan globally. Innovating in the ICT sector is thus a priority for the government in Baku. Like in other emerging markets in the region, ICT represents a major segment of the non-oil economy. Annual growth in Azerbaijan, according to the Ministry of Communications and IT, has been about 35 percent.

“This is an ideal location for ICT firms that are interested in expanding their business in the Caspian,” says Ali Abbasov, Minister of Communications. The creation of a Caspian International University of IT will help consolidate the trend. Abbasov also plans to open high-tech parks and R&D centers. Most projects are implemented according to public-private partnerships, a model supported by the World Bank. But is Azerbaijan a profitable market for telecom investments?

The engineering team at Sinam Ltd. seems to think so. Founded in 1994, Azerbaijan’s leading ICT firm is a specialist in turnkey solutions. Sinam develops its own software, creates the architecture for corporate data networks and maintains databases. As part of its general consulting services, it also provides companies with broadband Internet. So far, clients in the public sector include the State Customs Committee, the National Bank, the State Pension Fund and the Ministry of ICT itself.

“We’re now preparing an electronic brokerage system that will allow companies to declare their goods without going through customs,” says company president Elchin Aliyev. In a country with a long legacy of Soviet bureaucracy, the developers at Sinam have managed to shake things up. “Once people see the first results, they will go for it,” he adds.

Not surprisingly, the corporate slogan is ‘IT is our business.’ Sinam uses local university labs and institutes to test its applications, illustrating an important cross-fertilization between business and science. “Our company has helped design an efficient model for high-tech parks and business incubators. We are hoping to go ahead with these projects together with the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Cybernetics,” comments Aliyev.