"Smart city and smart village" startup festival was held in Nakhchivan

In the framework of the "Year of Urban Planning and Architecture", the "Smart City and Smart Village" startup festival was organized in Nakhchivan with the joint organization of Nakhchivan State University and the NMR Digital Development and Transport Ministry. Azer Mammadrahimov, acting Minister of Digital Development and Transport of the NMR, said that President Ilham Aliyev's declaration of 2026 as the "Year of Urban Planning and Architecture" is an indication of the importance given to the development of this field. Talking about the importance of the "WUF13" forum, Azer Mammadrahimov emphasized that the "Smart City and Smart Village" festival is an important platform in terms of the development of innovative ideas of young people and the promotion of technology-based projects. spoke about its importance and emphasized that the "Smart City and Smart Village" festival is of great importance for Nakhchivan.

The rector talked about NSU's participation in ENACTUS projects, as well as the organization of the "Robotex" festival for the first time by the university in 3 different countries and the positive results it brought.

 In addition, it was noted that the celebration of the 900th anniversary of the world-famous architect Ajami Nakhchivani at the UNESCO level once again confirms that the traditions of urban planning and architecture in Nakhchivan have a centuries-old history. Seymur Seyidov, Deputy Chairman of the NMR State Urban Planning and Architecture Committee, emphasized in his speech that the "Smart City and Smart Village" festival plays an important role in the development of innovative thinking and technological skills of young people. It was stated that such projects contribute to the application of modern urban planning approaches, the expansion of digital solutions and the development of future technologies.

 Then, for the first time, a demonstration of postage stamps made by the Nakhchivan Postal and Telecommunication Center was held. Then there was a review of startup projects.

 A total of 60 startup teams participated in the festival. 24 of them were from NSU, one from NSU Gymnasium, 6 from Nakhchivan Technical College, and one from Nakhchivan STEAM Center. Other teams represented different schools of NMR.

The event continued with panel discussions on the topics of "Smart city management, digital education, innovation and technologies of the future", "Smart village, water resources and green energy solutions", "Innovative urban infrastructure and the future of public management".

           The winners were determined after the evaluation of startup projects covering the fields of smart city and smart village solutions, artificial intelligence projects, green technologies, robotics, IoT and automation. Thus, the "Sigma" team of NSU was awarded the 1st place, the "Loghman" team was awarded the 2nd place, the Nakhchivan STEAM Center team was awarded the 3rd place, and the Erezin village school team of the Julfa district was awarded the 4th place. Certificates were also presented to all the participants. department src="https://ndu.edu.az/storage/news-blogs/May2026/34.JPG" alt="" width="450" height="300">