On the opening ceremony of the Incubation and acceleration center under UWED, which will be held in collaboration with IT Park

The event was held on May 17, 2022 at 10:00.

Venue – University of world economy and diplomacy.

On 17.05.2022, for the development of IT projects among students the opening ceremony of the Incubation and acceleration center took place. The ceremony attendees were the Rector of the University S. Safoev, Minister for the Development of information technologies and communications of the Republic of Uzbekistan Sh. Shermatov, Director of the IT Park F. Ibragimov, official representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education, rectors of higher educational institutions, heads of leading private companies, media representatives, teachers and students of UWED.

In his speech, Rector S. Safoev noted that “the active development of digital technologies today is a prevailing tendency all over the world”. More and more countries are realizing the importance of these changes and are paying special attention to the sphere: they are adopting national digital development strategies aimed at integrated digital transformation of state, public, educational and other processes. Rapid development is also taking place in the field of international relations, where the term "digital diplomacy" is firmly entrenched. The “Digital Uzbekistan – 2030 Strategy” was adopted by the Decree of the President of the country in Uzbekistan. This large-scale document includes “roadmaps” for the digital transformation of key economic sectors and regions of the country.

The University of world economy and diplomacy, together with Huawei Technologies, has given a start to the implementation of the concept of creating a unified IT ecosystem - Smart University, an integral part of which is the Incubation and acceleration center that is being opened today. It is intended that the most favorable conditions for the disclosure of the ideas of talented students will be created and those will serve as an incentive for the initiation of startup projects. The long-term goals and objectives of the center are: the development of highly innovative technologies; development of small business oriented at innovation, provision of favorable conditions for the conduction of project activities for students; establishment of communication between students and experienced specialists; creation of new jobs.

Equipped classrooms have been allocated for the center on the territory of the university, among them an auditorium for 60 people for interactive classes, a meeting room, which can also be used for brainstorming ideas. There is a separate coworking office with all the necessary equipment, a specialized auditorium for presentation of the stages of a project. Within the framework of the center's activities, consultations for students, various competitions, hackathons and workshops will be held. Students will also be involved in incubation programs, which include 8 modules:

• Introduction – students learn to set goals, create a team and work with them;
• Project opportunities – students will study a methodology that helps to use a scientific approach to build a growing business and avoid unnecessary costs;
• Market – in this module, students will work with marketing research, determine their target audience, and analyze competitors;
• Product – at this stage of training, residents will have a product that has minimal, but sufficient functions to satisfy the first consumers;
• Business modeling – this training module will give students the skills to write a business plan and work with investments;
• Opening a company – legal support and taxation of a future business project;
• Marketing – PR and product promotion;
• Demo Day, on which students will demonstrate their public speaking skills and present their projects.

These modules will be conducted with the participation of speakers from different business sectors, which will allow students to develop their project productively and in detail. During the incubation program, the teaching staff of UWED will help students gain knowledge in marketing, project management, law, drafting marketing research and business plans, and so on. By the end of the incubation program, the student will have fully developed presentations ready for further cooperation with investment funds. Along with the training in each module, residents will also be able to attend an expert session with a coordinator to work on bugs and product development.

On the course of the event, the guests were also introduced to the presentations of startup ideas of University students Ruzimuratov R., Khasanov D., Mamadyunusov D. and Ismoilov F. in the field of education and construction. In addition to that, a graduate of UWED Akhmedov A., head of the legal consulting firm Black Swan Consulting, conducted an interactive session on the topic "Prospects for the development of startups and venture investments: regulatory framework, gaps in legislation, current and foreign practice".