Artificial Intelligence for Digital Transformations (AIDT 2026) Conference Kicks off at UFAZ

On June 22, the international scientific conference Artificial Intelligence for Digital Transformations (AIDT 2026) commenced at the French-Azerbaijani University (UFAZ), operating under the Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University (ASOIU). Held from June 22 to 24, the event aims to discuss contemporary challenges of artificial intelligence and digital transformation, strengthen scientific knowledge exchange, and foster academia-industry collaboration.

Organized in partnership with ASOIU, the University of Strasbourg (Unistra), INSA Rouen Normandie, the ICube and LITIS laboratories, with the support of the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan and sponsorship from the International Bank of Azerbaijan (ABB), the conference has brought together local and international researchers, professors, and industry representatives.

At the opening ceremony, Associate Professor Rufat Azizov, Rector of ASOIU, Vusal Khanlarov, Head of the Bureau on ICT for Education at the Ministry of Science and Education, and Maya Dursunova, Data and Artificial Intelligence Director at ABB, the conference sponsor, delivered speeches highlighting the role of artificial intelligence in advancing education, science, innovation, and digital transformation. At the end of the opening ceremony, Professor Cecilia Zanni-Merk of INSA Rouen Normandie and Scientific Coordinator of AIDT 2026 officially declared the conference open.

On the first day of the conference, Professor Rossi Setchi of Cardiff University, United Kingdom, delivered a keynote titled “From Understanding to Trust: The Power of Neuro-Symbolic Intelligence,” while Samir Rustamov, lecturer at the SITE School of ADA University and Head of the MegaSec AI Laboratory, presented “Large Language Models: Architecture, Capabilities, and the Road to Domain-Specific AI.” In addition, nine papers were presented.

On the third day of the conference, Professor Gabriel Wainer of Carleton University, Canada, and Director of the Advanced Real-Time Simulation Laboratory (V-Sim), together with Deepak Dhungana, Acting Head of the Institute of Digitalization and Informatics at the Faculty of Applied Sciences of IMC Krems University, Austria, will deliver keynote speeches. In addition, 13 papers are expected to be presented.

On the final day of the conference, Professor Gregory Zacharewicz of IMT Mines Alès, Director of the SyCoIA Laboratory, Dr. Florence Somer, researcher at the Time-Space Laboratory of the Paris Observatory, and Somkeo Norindr, Digital Projects Manager of the same laboratory, will deliver presentations. Additionally, six papers will be presented.

It should be noted that UFAZ hosts international conferences dedicated to various scientific fields every year. These events strengthen the university’s integration into the global scientific network while also contributing significantly to the development of cooperation between academia and industry.