A meeting has been held at Baku Engineering University (BEU) to establish cooperation with the international “Holberton School” network.

The meeting was attended by Florian Bucher, CEO of the network, Vusala Gurbanova, Head of the Department at the Innovation and Digital Development Agency (IDDA), Shamsi Bayramzada, Director of “Holberton School Azerbaijan”, and Nigar Jamalova, Project Manager of IDDA.

BEU Rector Yagub Piriyev provided the guests with detailed information about the university’s activities and development strategy and drew attention to the work being done to transform information technology (IT) specialties into the main base direction of higher education. He noted that in 2024, the Faculty of Information and Computer Technologies was established at BEU and the training of highly qualified specialists who are able to work with innovative technologies and meet the challenges of the new industrial revolution was further strengthened. The faculty trains specialists with modern skills in important specialties such as information technologies, computer engineering, information security, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and from this year data analytics. Moreover, it was noted that a Cybersecurity laboratory has been established at BEU, and the material and technical base of other ICT laboratories has been updated. The rector emphasized that, based on the admission results of recent years, interest in specialties in the IT field at BEU is growing. Yagub Piriyev expressed his belief that expanding cooperation with international partners in the direction of training specialists who meet the requirements of the digital economy would also contribute to the goals set.  

IDDA Department Head Vusala Gurbanova mentioned that the agency supports projects aimed at developing digital skills, strengthening IT education and applying international educational models. She also noted that there are opportunities for the cooperation between BEU, which has a strong base in the IT field, and the prestigious "Holberton School" to be implemented on a larger scale in the future.

Later, Florian Bucher, CEO of "Holberton School", and Shamsi Bayramzada, Director of "Holberton School Azerbaijan", made speeches. The speeches provided information about the activities of the educational network, the programs implemented and the innovative educational models applied. It was noted that the main goal of "Holberton School", which is present in 35 countries, is to train specialists based on innovative and practical methodology with high-quality technological programs. It was also emphasized that the network's modern and practically-oriented educational model is consistent with BEU's educational strategy, and possible areas of cooperation were presented. Joint work in areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and data analytics was considered, as well as prospects for cooperation, organization of training programs, involvement of students in these projects, and opportunities for exchange of experience in the IT field were widely discussed. The parties stated that cooperation in this area would be beneficial for the university and the education network in the future. 

Public Relations Department