INSIGHTS

Smart Reconstruction of Karabakh

Güneş Atay

14.03.2023

Brief Introduction

The South Caucasus, consisting of three ex-Soviet states of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, is a region that has been wedging between the East and the West, following the end of the Cold War. The region has been the playground for the Western capitalist system and its sole dominant power, the US against Russia, has been seeking a strong revival. Experiencing the sovereignties of the Ottoman, Persian, and Russian empires in the course of history, the three Caucasus states have never had the opportunity to experiment democratic values of West Europe. Therefore, never letting go of the oppressive influence of Russia on their doors, the collapse of the Soviet Union presented them the chance to open up to the world and integrate with Western democracies.

However, even though decayed Russia seemed inefficient during the 1990s, the inauguration of Vladimir Putin as the president of the Russian Federation in 2000, led to the augmentation of Russian coercion in the South Caucasian states. Particularly Georgia, with limited economic resources and a fragile economy dependent on Türkiye, was the first to receive her share in 2008 when she had to let go of her two autonomous regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia through the political support of Russia.

Armenia, stuck between historical rivals of Türkiye and Azerbaijan, has always been pro-Russian even though during the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who represents the political groups declaring themselves as pro-Western and demanding that Armenia leave the pro-Russian integration structures for the post-Soviet region. In his recent speech in Vladivostok where he participated in Eastern Economic Forum, he underlined the fact that Armenia’s relations with Russia have always been strategic and allied, paving the way for stability and peace in the region.

Azerbaijan on the other hand, courtesy of the energy resources she has, has been able to prosper, develop and stiffen, hence consolidating a stronger position in the region in contrast with Georgia and Armenia. A cautious strategy on rich oil and gas resources helped attract huge amounts of international investments and thus increasing oil and gas revenues for the country.

Within this context, one of the frozen conflicts of the post-Soviet world, the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, which has been under the mediation of OSCE Minsk Group since 1994, has come to the forefront of Caucasian politics once again in September 2020. The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan to acquire the Nagorno Karabakh region ended with the victory of Azerbaijan in November 2020, forcing Armenia to return all occupied territories of Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijan, including Shusha, a culturally significant city for the Turkic World. Although Azerbaijan has enhanced its position in Nagorno Karabakh and international public opinion implicitly confirms the Azerbaijani control over the region, it is still a hot topic in world politics. Particularly, after the Russian aggression in Ukraine and the resultant energy crisis in Europe, distinguished Azerbaijan replaced Russia as an energy provider. The words of Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with President İlham Aliyev in Baku, should be counted as the confirmation of the new status of Karabakh by the West. She named Azerbaijan as one of the reliable and trustworthy energy partners of the EU, which has been supplying gas from “no more reliable” Russia.

In this regard, this short essay will argue that for Azerbaijan it is wiser to move further with the reconstruction of the Karabakh region through a well-planned strategy that would keep having the EU as a strategic ally and an energy partner. Within this framework, it is going to be discussed that turning Karabakh into a smart region will also help diversify the economy of Azerbaijan which is dependent on the oil and gas sector.

Reconstruction of Karabakh as a Response to Global Challenges

The reconstruction of Karabakh is of utmost importance, particularly for President İlham Aliyev, who managed to bring “occupied territories of Azerbaijan” back to their homeland after 20 years.

This is obvious in his speech during the opening of the second Restoration, Reconstruction, and Development of Karabakh Exhibition and the 27th Azerbaijani International Construction Exhibition in October 2022. In his speech he conceptualized the reconstruction of Karabakh as the “supreme goal”, where he foresees Karabakh, being integrated into local and foreign value chains, developing as an important transport and trade hub through Zengazur Corridor, and creating a new model of the business environment through innovative solutions and new technologies.

Günay Guliyeva, the Chief Analyst at CAERC argues that Karabakh will become an attraction center for technological investments and will inspire smart technologies based on information and communication technologies, which will respond to global challenges. According to Guliyeva, smart cities-villages to be established in Karabakh will attract technology-oriented investments, while providing solutions to public safety.

Mentioning global challenges is vital at this point to underline that Azerbaijan is committed to Western values. “Smart reconstruction” of Karabakh will go hand in hand with Sustainable Development Goals raised by the UN and will respond to the global challenges that are described by the EU as threats to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

Smart reconstruction of Karabakh will as well contribute to green energy solutions, where hydrocarbon energy-dependent Azerbaijan will turn her face to renewable energy resources, which is promoted by the EU. The renewable energy potential of Karabakh is enough to meet this demand. Karabakh is the main region where about 2 billion 560 cubic meters of water is annually generated, constituting 25% of Azerbaijan’s local water resources. Solar and wind energy potential is well calculated at sufficient levels to generate resources for the implementation of smart technologies in Karabakh. To achieve this goal, President İlham Aliyev issued a decree on the measures to establish a “green energy” zone in the liberated territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan on 3 May 2021. Furthermore, in October, Deputy Minister of Energy Elnur Soltanov announced that green energy to be produced in Karabakh will be supplied to Absheron Peninsula to set the ground for the export of renewable energy to other countries.
Exploiting renewable energy solutions in Karabakh, moreover, will help diversify the economy of Azerbaijan. As it was pointed out in the report of the Asia Development Bank, economic diversification should be part of Azerbaijan’s reform agenda but not its core, through prioritizing interventions on macroeconomic risks and high cost of finance in hydrocarbon revenues of Azerbaijan. Having EU Commission as a trustworthy strategic partner on the side, Azerbaijan will strengthen her global position utilizing the strategic reconstruction of Karabakh while opening up to other fields of the economy.

Karabakh and Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 is the fourth industrial revolution, which is designed to enhance the adoption of computers and automation, started in the third revolution, with smart systems supported by data and machine learning. Industry 4.0 manufacturing process will be carried out through the communication of computers among themselves, without human involvement.

Industry 4.0 is a purely European concept, as was the case in the first one, which was first introduced at the Hannover Messe Fair in Germany, in 2011, when Professor Wolfgang Wahlster, the Director and CEO of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, suggested that companies can be successful in a high wage region with global competition through the use of the Internet. As European Parliament put forward in 2015;
In short, everything in and around a manufacturing operation (suppliers, the plant, distributors, even the product itself) is digitally connected, providing a highly integrated value chain.
As indicated in the policy paper, the EU supports industrial change through its industrial policy and research and infrastructure funding. This means that Industry 4.0 is highly prioritized by the EU through plenty of funding and technical assistance opportunities. In line with the Industry 4.0 priorities of the EU, the EU adaptation strategy for smart cities is closely linked to the smart reconstruction of Karabakh, where the core of reconstruction is planned to be a “smart city”. The three key objectives of the strategy include promoting actions by member states, climate-proofing action at the EU level, and a better-informed decision-making process. Many EU funding mechanisms are employed to support the transition to a climate-resilient Europe.

Through a well-planned reconstruction of Karabakh, Azerbaijan will easily benefit from the budgets of the European Fund for Strategic Investments, European Structural, and Investment Funds, European Investment Project Portal, Urban Innovative Actions, and the LIFE Programme. The strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and the EU will intensify and secure the sustainability of the national economy of Azerbaijan. This will inevitably have some contribution to Türkiye as well.

President İlham Aliyev’s decree on the development of the concept of “Smart City” and “Smart Village” on 19 April 2021 is significant to indicate how seriously Azerbaijan takes the reconstruction of Karabakh. The main target of such a decree is to turn the country into a regional center for the Industry 4.0 Revolution, inspired and supported by the EU.

But there is still a long way to go with the EU introducing Industry 5.0. Being the leader of the industrial revolution, the EU has a limitless vision in terms of production. Defining the conceptualization of industrial development as her foremost mission, policy-makers of the EU believe in the digital and green transition of industry. Putting efficiency and productivity as the sole goals, Industry 5.0 places the well-being of the worker at the center of the production process and uses new technologies to provide prosperity beyond jobs and growth while respecting the production limits of the planet.

Conclusion

The transition period in post-conflict areas is a complicated task. In the case of Karabakh, political controversy is almost non-existing as international public opinion implicitly accepted Azerbaijani action in the region. However, development issues are vital both for the population of Karabakh and Azerbaijan itself. Rather than undertaking the burden of economic development expenditures of the region, it is wiser to benefit from the opportunities the region presents, for the sake of the whole country. That’s why the government of Azerbaijan is working hard to introduce emerging technologies in the region and to create new national funding and income opportunities in the overall value chain of the economy through renewable resources. In that sense, it can be concluded that turning the Karabakh economy into a technology and innovation-based economy is of particular importance for Azerbaijan, as is the case in post-conflict areas.

Smart reconstruction of Karabakh, on the other hand, is vital for Azerbaijan to achieve more profound economic integration with Europe. Consolidating her hydrocarbon revenues through the MoU signed with the EU, Azerbaijan is about to impress her main energy partner by offering emerging technologies in Karabakh and leading the diversification of the national economy. Setting the ground with inspirational investment plans for EU funding, Azerbaijan attracts the EU more to herself, whose founding principle is economic interdependence. Establishing economic interdependence between the EU and Azerbaijan is strategically accurate against the potential threat of the East with an aggressor Russia and the financial giant China. Azerbaijan keeps benefiting from the one-leader tradition of Soviet heritage while offering the carrot to the EU and enjoying a level of the Western alliance.

Consequently, if Azerbaijan accomplishes smart reconstruction of Karabakh through financial funds from the Western world, mainly that of the EU, she will consolidate her stance not only against Armenia but also against Russia. Exploring Industry 4.0 while comprehending Industry 5.0, Azerbaijan as an ex-Soviet state is fast approaching the EU. Having the EU as a strategic economic partner both in hydrocarbon trade and new technologies, Azerbaijan will experience sustainable economic growth soon.
But the question remains whether semi-authoritarian Azerbaijan will be able to achieve internalizing European values deeper while maintaining economic interests with the EU.

Górecki, Wojciech, “The success of the revolution in Armenia. Pashinyan elected prime minister,”, Center for Eastern Studies, https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/analyses/2018-05-09/success-revolution-armenia-pashinyan-elected-prime-minister, 09 May 2018

Dovich, Mark, “Pashinyan says no reason to fear sanctions on Armenia for Russia ties in Vladivostok”, Civilnet,
https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/673494/pashinyan-says-no-reason-to-fear-sanctions-on-armenia-for-russia-ties-in-vladivostok/, 07 September 2022

Azerbaijan 2021 Energy Policy Review, https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/49662c46-575f-4561-a541-5541f5342b07/Azerbaijan2021EnergyPolicyReview.pdf, p.38, June 2021, International Energy Agency

Statement by President von der Leyen with Azerbaijani President Aliyev, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/da/statement_22_4583, 18 July 2022.

President Ilham Aliyev appeals to participants in Restoration, Reconstruction & Development of Karabakh Exhibition [UPDATE], https://www.azernews.az/nation/201045.html, 19 October 2022

Guliyeva, Günay, Karabakh Will Turn to a “Smart Region”, https://ereforms.gov.az/en/ekspert-yazilari/qarabag-quot-smart-region-quot-a-cevrilecek-10, 01 February 2021.

“Energy potential of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions”, http://aera.gov.az/en/news/127/

https://president.az/az/articles/view/51355

“Green Energy from Karabakh to be supplied to Absheron”, Azerbaijan State Agency, https://azertag.az/en/xeber/Green_energy_from_Karabakh_to_be_supplied_to_Absheron-2322839, 06 October 2022.

Ed. by Aimee Hampel-Milagrosa, Aziz Haydarov, Kym Anderson, Jasmin Sibal, and Edimon Ginting, Azerbaijan Moving Toward More Diversified, Resilient, And Inclusive Development, Asian Development Bank, https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/624476/aze-diversified-resilient-inclusive-development.pdf, August 2020, p.170.

Marr, Bernard, “What is Industry 4.0? Here’s A Super Easy Explanation For Anyone”, Forbes,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/09/02/what-is-industry-4-0-heres-a-super-easy-explanation-for-anyone/?sh=74fda99f9788, 2 September 2018

Ibid.

Lydon, Bill, “The 4th Industrial Revolution, Industry 4.0, Unfolding at Hannover Messe 2014”, https://www.automation.com/en-us/articles/2014-1/the-4th-industrial-revolution-industry-40-unfoldin, 19 February 2014.

Davies, Ron, “Industry 4.0 Digitalisation for productivity and growth”, European Parliamentary Research Service, Briefing, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2015/568337/EPRS_BRI(2015)568337_EN.pdf, September 2015. P.2

Ibid, p.1

Allan, Imogen, “EU Adaptation Strategy for Smart Cities”, https://clustercollaboration.eu/content/eu-adaptation-strategy-smart-cities, 23 March 2021.

Aliyev, Alovsat G., “Problems of application of digital technologies in the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from the Armenian occupation”, Problems of Information Society, 2022, vo.13, no.1, 27-34, p.31

https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/research-area/industrial-research-and-innovation/industry-50_en


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INSIGHTS

Smart Reconstruction of Karabakh

Güneş Atay

14.03.2023

Brief Introduction

The South Caucasus, consisting of three ex-Soviet states of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, is a region that has been wedging between the East and the West, following the end of the Cold War. The region has been the playground for the Western capitalist system and its sole dominant power, the US against Russia, has been seeking a strong revival. Experiencing the sovereignties of the Ottoman, Persian, and Russian empires in the course of history, the three Caucasus states have never had the opportunity to experiment democratic values of West Europe. Therefore, never letting go of the oppressive influence of Russia on their doors, the collapse of the Soviet Union presented them the chance to open up to the world and integrate with Western democracies.

However, even though decayed Russia seemed inefficient during the 1990s, the inauguration of Vladimir Putin as the president of the Russian Federation in 2000, led to the augmentation of Russian coercion in the South Caucasian states. Particularly Georgia, with limited economic resources and a fragile economy dependent on Türkiye, was the first to receive her share in 2008 when she had to let go of her two autonomous regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia through the political support of Russia.

Armenia, stuck between historical rivals of Türkiye and Azerbaijan, has always been pro-Russian even though during the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who represents the political groups declaring themselves as pro-Western and demanding that Armenia leave the pro-Russian integration structures for the post-Soviet region. In his recent speech in Vladivostok where he participated in Eastern Economic Forum, he underlined the fact that Armenia’s relations with Russia have always been strategic and allied, paving the way for stability and peace in the region.

Azerbaijan on the other hand, courtesy of the energy resources she has, has been able to prosper, develop and stiffen, hence consolidating a stronger position in the region in contrast with Georgia and Armenia. A cautious strategy on rich oil and gas resources helped attract huge amounts of international investments and thus increasing oil and gas revenues for the country.

Within this context, one of the frozen conflicts of the post-Soviet world, the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, which has been under the mediation of OSCE Minsk Group since 1994, has come to the forefront of Caucasian politics once again in September 2020. The war between Armenia and Azerbaijan to acquire the Nagorno Karabakh region ended with the victory of Azerbaijan in November 2020, forcing Armenia to return all occupied territories of Nagorno Karabakh to Azerbaijan, including Shusha, a culturally significant city for the Turkic World. Although Azerbaijan has enhanced its position in Nagorno Karabakh and international public opinion implicitly confirms the Azerbaijani control over the region, it is still a hot topic in world politics. Particularly, after the Russian aggression in Ukraine and the resultant energy crisis in Europe, distinguished Azerbaijan replaced Russia as an energy provider. The words of Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, during the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with President İlham Aliyev in Baku, should be counted as the confirmation of the new status of Karabakh by the West. She named Azerbaijan as one of the reliable and trustworthy energy partners of the EU, which has been supplying gas from “no more reliable” Russia.

In this regard, this short essay will argue that for Azerbaijan it is wiser to move further with the reconstruction of the Karabakh region through a well-planned strategy that would keep having the EU as a strategic ally and an energy partner. Within this framework, it is going to be discussed that turning Karabakh into a smart region will also help diversify the economy of Azerbaijan which is dependent on the oil and gas sector.

Reconstruction of Karabakh as a Response to Global Challenges

The reconstruction of Karabakh is of utmost importance, particularly for President İlham Aliyev, who managed to bring “occupied territories of Azerbaijan” back to their homeland after 20 years.

This is obvious in his speech during the opening of the second Restoration, Reconstruction, and Development of Karabakh Exhibition and the 27th Azerbaijani International Construction Exhibition in October 2022. In his speech he conceptualized the reconstruction of Karabakh as the “supreme goal”, where he foresees Karabakh, being integrated into local and foreign value chains, developing as an important transport and trade hub through Zengazur Corridor, and creating a new model of the business environment through innovative solutions and new technologies.

Günay Guliyeva, the Chief Analyst at CAERC argues that Karabakh will become an attraction center for technological investments and will inspire smart technologies based on information and communication technologies, which will respond to global challenges. According to Guliyeva, smart cities-villages to be established in Karabakh will attract technology-oriented investments, while providing solutions to public safety.

Mentioning global challenges is vital at this point to underline that Azerbaijan is committed to Western values. “Smart reconstruction” of Karabakh will go hand in hand with Sustainable Development Goals raised by the UN and will respond to the global challenges that are described by the EU as threats to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.

Smart reconstruction of Karabakh will as well contribute to green energy solutions, where hydrocarbon energy-dependent Azerbaijan will turn her face to renewable energy resources, which is promoted by the EU. The renewable energy potential of Karabakh is enough to meet this demand. Karabakh is the main region where about 2 billion 560 cubic meters of water is annually generated, constituting 25% of Azerbaijan’s local water resources. Solar and wind energy potential is well calculated at sufficient levels to generate resources for the implementation of smart technologies in Karabakh. To achieve this goal, President İlham Aliyev issued a decree on the measures to establish a “green energy” zone in the liberated territories of the Republic of Azerbaijan on 3 May 2021. Furthermore, in October, Deputy Minister of Energy Elnur Soltanov announced that green energy to be produced in Karabakh will be supplied to Absheron Peninsula to set the ground for the export of renewable energy to other countries.
Exploiting renewable energy solutions in Karabakh, moreover, will help diversify the economy of Azerbaijan. As it was pointed out in the report of the Asia Development Bank, economic diversification should be part of Azerbaijan’s reform agenda but not its core, through prioritizing interventions on macroeconomic risks and high cost of finance in hydrocarbon revenues of Azerbaijan. Having EU Commission as a trustworthy strategic partner on the side, Azerbaijan will strengthen her global position utilizing the strategic reconstruction of Karabakh while opening up to other fields of the economy.

Karabakh and Industry 4.0

Industry 4.0 is the fourth industrial revolution, which is designed to enhance the adoption of computers and automation, started in the third revolution, with smart systems supported by data and machine learning. Industry 4.0 manufacturing process will be carried out through the communication of computers among themselves, without human involvement.

Industry 4.0 is a purely European concept, as was the case in the first one, which was first introduced at the Hannover Messe Fair in Germany, in 2011, when Professor Wolfgang Wahlster, the Director and CEO of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, suggested that companies can be successful in a high wage region with global competition through the use of the Internet. As European Parliament put forward in 2015;
In short, everything in and around a manufacturing operation (suppliers, the plant, distributors, even the product itself) is digitally connected, providing a highly integrated value chain.
As indicated in the policy paper, the EU supports industrial change through its industrial policy and research and infrastructure funding. This means that Industry 4.0 is highly prioritized by the EU through plenty of funding and technical assistance opportunities. In line with the Industry 4.0 priorities of the EU, the EU adaptation strategy for smart cities is closely linked to the smart reconstruction of Karabakh, where the core of reconstruction is planned to be a “smart city”. The three key objectives of the strategy include promoting actions by member states, climate-proofing action at the EU level, and a better-informed decision-making process. Many EU funding mechanisms are employed to support the transition to a climate-resilient Europe.

Through a well-planned reconstruction of Karabakh, Azerbaijan will easily benefit from the budgets of the European Fund for Strategic Investments, European Structural, and Investment Funds, European Investment Project Portal, Urban Innovative Actions, and the LIFE Programme. The strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and the EU will intensify and secure the sustainability of the national economy of Azerbaijan. This will inevitably have some contribution to Türkiye as well.

President İlham Aliyev’s decree on the development of the concept of “Smart City” and “Smart Village” on 19 April 2021 is significant to indicate how seriously Azerbaijan takes the reconstruction of Karabakh. The main target of such a decree is to turn the country into a regional center for the Industry 4.0 Revolution, inspired and supported by the EU.

But there is still a long way to go with the EU introducing Industry 5.0. Being the leader of the industrial revolution, the EU has a limitless vision in terms of production. Defining the conceptualization of industrial development as her foremost mission, policy-makers of the EU believe in the digital and green transition of industry. Putting efficiency and productivity as the sole goals, Industry 5.0 places the well-being of the worker at the center of the production process and uses new technologies to provide prosperity beyond jobs and growth while respecting the production limits of the planet.

Conclusion

The transition period in post-conflict areas is a complicated task. In the case of Karabakh, political controversy is almost non-existing as international public opinion implicitly accepted Azerbaijani action in the region. However, development issues are vital both for the population of Karabakh and Azerbaijan itself. Rather than undertaking the burden of economic development expenditures of the region, it is wiser to benefit from the opportunities the region presents, for the sake of the whole country. That’s why the government of Azerbaijan is working hard to introduce emerging technologies in the region and to create new national funding and income opportunities in the overall value chain of the economy through renewable resources. In that sense, it can be concluded that turning the Karabakh economy into a technology and innovation-based economy is of particular importance for Azerbaijan, as is the case in post-conflict areas.

Smart reconstruction of Karabakh, on the other hand, is vital for Azerbaijan to achieve more profound economic integration with Europe. Consolidating her hydrocarbon revenues through the MoU signed with the EU, Azerbaijan is about to impress her main energy partner by offering emerging technologies in Karabakh and leading the diversification of the national economy. Setting the ground with inspirational investment plans for EU funding, Azerbaijan attracts the EU more to herself, whose founding principle is economic interdependence. Establishing economic interdependence between the EU and Azerbaijan is strategically accurate against the potential threat of the East with an aggressor Russia and the financial giant China. Azerbaijan keeps benefiting from the one-leader tradition of Soviet heritage while offering the carrot to the EU and enjoying a level of the Western alliance.

Consequently, if Azerbaijan accomplishes smart reconstruction of Karabakh through financial funds from the Western world, mainly that of the EU, she will consolidate her stance not only against Armenia but also against Russia. Exploring Industry 4.0 while comprehending Industry 5.0, Azerbaijan as an ex-Soviet state is fast approaching the EU. Having the EU as a strategic economic partner both in hydrocarbon trade and new technologies, Azerbaijan will experience sustainable economic growth soon.
But the question remains whether semi-authoritarian Azerbaijan will be able to achieve internalizing European values deeper while maintaining economic interests with the EU.

Górecki, Wojciech, “The success of the revolution in Armenia. Pashinyan elected prime minister,”, Center for Eastern Studies, https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/analyses/2018-05-09/success-revolution-armenia-pashinyan-elected-prime-minister, 09 May 2018

Dovich, Mark, “Pashinyan says no reason to fear sanctions on Armenia for Russia ties in Vladivostok”, Civilnet,
https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/673494/pashinyan-says-no-reason-to-fear-sanctions-on-armenia-for-russia-ties-in-vladivostok/, 07 September 2022

Azerbaijan 2021 Energy Policy Review, https://iea.blob.core.windows.net/assets/49662c46-575f-4561-a541-5541f5342b07/Azerbaijan2021EnergyPolicyReview.pdf, p.38, June 2021, International Energy Agency

Statement by President von der Leyen with Azerbaijani President Aliyev, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/da/statement_22_4583, 18 July 2022.

President Ilham Aliyev appeals to participants in Restoration, Reconstruction & Development of Karabakh Exhibition [UPDATE], https://www.azernews.az/nation/201045.html, 19 October 2022

Guliyeva, Günay, Karabakh Will Turn to a “Smart Region”, https://ereforms.gov.az/en/ekspert-yazilari/qarabag-quot-smart-region-quot-a-cevrilecek-10, 01 February 2021.

“Energy potential of Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding regions”, http://aera.gov.az/en/news/127/

https://president.az/az/articles/view/51355

“Green Energy from Karabakh to be supplied to Absheron”, Azerbaijan State Agency, https://azertag.az/en/xeber/Green_energy_from_Karabakh_to_be_supplied_to_Absheron-2322839, 06 October 2022.

Ed. by Aimee Hampel-Milagrosa, Aziz Haydarov, Kym Anderson, Jasmin Sibal, and Edimon Ginting, Azerbaijan Moving Toward More Diversified, Resilient, And Inclusive Development, Asian Development Bank, https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/624476/aze-diversified-resilient-inclusive-development.pdf, August 2020, p.170.

Marr, Bernard, “What is Industry 4.0? Here’s A Super Easy Explanation For Anyone”, Forbes,
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2018/09/02/what-is-industry-4-0-heres-a-super-easy-explanation-for-anyone/?sh=74fda99f9788, 2 September 2018

Ibid.

Lydon, Bill, “The 4th Industrial Revolution, Industry 4.0, Unfolding at Hannover Messe 2014”, https://www.automation.com/en-us/articles/2014-1/the-4th-industrial-revolution-industry-40-unfoldin, 19 February 2014.

Davies, Ron, “Industry 4.0 Digitalisation for productivity and growth”, European Parliamentary Research Service, Briefing, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2015/568337/EPRS_BRI(2015)568337_EN.pdf, September 2015. P.2

Ibid, p.1

Allan, Imogen, “EU Adaptation Strategy for Smart Cities”, https://clustercollaboration.eu/content/eu-adaptation-strategy-smart-cities, 23 March 2021.

Aliyev, Alovsat G., “Problems of application of digital technologies in the territories of Azerbaijan liberated from the Armenian occupation”, Problems of Information Society, 2022, vo.13, no.1, 27-34, p.31

https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/research-area/industrial-research-and-innovation/industry-50_en