The INMerge Innovation Summit, organized by PASHA Holding, ended in Baku.
As Day.Az reported on Friday with reference to Trend, the annual summit is aimed at developing the region’s innovation ecosystem, promoting cooperation between startups and investors, as well as providing a platform for the exchange of ideas and experiences between all interested parties.
Today, the “INMerge Innovation Summit” was attended by Vice President of Amazon Werner Vogels, co-founder of YouTube Steve Chen, CEO of PASHA Holding Jalal Gasimov, Chairman of the Agency for Innovation and Digital Development Inara Velieva, founder of Paradox Strategies and InnovationForce Linda Hill, former CEO Avito Vladimir Pravdivy, Stanford University professor Ilya Strebulaev and others.
General Director of PASHA Holding Jalal Gasimov said that the greatest risk for companies is the lack of innovation and the desire to maintain the status quo.
Gasimov noted the importance of risk management and adaptation to rapid changes in modern conditions.
“The greatest risk for companies is a lack of innovation and a desire to maintain the status quo. When it comes to risky decisions, one of the first things we discuss is that the greatest risk occurs when no action is taken. If you you don’t take risks, you don’t introduce innovations, this is the biggest risk,” Gasimov said.
According to him, with rapidly changing technologies, channels and customer needs, companies need to constantly adapt and update their approaches to work.
“If you look at marketing budgets 5-10 years ago, the proportion of digital marketing was significantly lower. Now the proportion is growing, and if you don’t change your approaches, you will inevitably fail,” he said.
Gasimov also pointed out that innovation must be controlled and disciplined.
“In the future, leaders must have the ability to manage the chaos that results from rapid change, which requires the specific skills and abilities needed to successfully adapt to new conditions,” the CEO added.
And the Chairman of the Board of the Agency for Innovation and Digital Development under the Ministry of Transport and Digital Development of Azerbaijan, Inara Veliyeva, noted that work is currently underway in Azerbaijan to join non-governmental organizations to the Digital Document Management (RSD) system.
Veliyeva noted that Azerbaijan is confidently moving towards paperless management thanks to the introduction of a digital document management system.
“Thanks to the Digital Document Management system, more than 500 thousand sheets of paper are saved monthly, which allows saving about 2 thousand trees per year. More than 1,700 government agencies are already connected to this system, which has significantly reduced the use of paper and increased the efficiency of document exchange. Currently, work is underway to join the Digital Document Management (RSD) system for non-governmental organizations,” she said.
As Ansar Kassim, head of analytics and insights at Verizon, said, artificial intelligence is enabling the emergence of new industries and professions of the future.
“In the future, there will be many more new industries that will arise based on artificial intelligence, just as new industries based on electricity once appeared. This will lead to the creation of many new jobs. Many of the same professions that you will be doing in 10 years , do not exist today. My current job in the field of artificial intelligence also did not exist 10 years ago. Then there were only small laboratories where they experimented with AI, but not on the same scale as now. Now it takes about eight years for new professions to appear. and over time this period is likely to be reduced,” he said.
According to him, labor productivity increased significantly thanks to two key inventions – electricity and information technology.
“Today, artificial intelligence is also helping to increase productivity, and the results of this will be visible in the near future,” he said.
It should be noted that the “INMerge Innovation Summit” was organized by PASHA Holding for the fourth time. The event brings together innovators, investors and influential industry leaders from sectors such as fintech, telecommunications, e-commerce and others. INMerge is also a strategic networking hub that allows members to enter into key partnerships, develop collaborations and form international connections with the region’s leaders and innovators.