Knowledge Transfer and Lively Discussions: Azerbaijan NOADs and Technical University Representatives Visit Finland for DIRNA Project

Khayala Hajiyeva, Director of the Library Information Center at Azerbaijan Technical University, and Iltifat Ibrahimov, Senior Consultant on Digitization and Library Systems, recently traveled to Finland to attend training sessions for the "Developing Research Capacity through Institutional Repository Network in Azerbaijan" (DIRNA) project. 

Funded by the Erasmus+ KA2 program, the DIRNA project aims to sustainably enhance the practices of research output management in the Azerbaijani higher education institutions. Both Khayala and Iltifat are OpenAIRE NOADs for Azerbaijan. The training sessions, hosted by the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, covered several key topics:

• The digital repository concept at the University of Jyväskylä
• Open Access and Open Science developments in Finland
• Applications of artificial intelligence in education
• Author profiling systems and research data management
• Collections of scientific and cultural heritage
• Copyright regulations
• Metadata processing
• Submission of digital resources to the Digital Repository

Following the training, discussions were held to refine project work packages, identify capacity requirements for future training sessions, and define key topics for those sessions.

Prior to the visit to Finland, project stakeholders had already participated in training sessions at Izmir Institute of Technology in Turkey and L'Aquila University in Italy. The ultimate goal of the DIRNA project is to build a shared digital repository for seven partner universities in Azerbaijan, to digitize, archive and preserve the universities' cultural and scientific heritage for the long term. Achieving this goal will support and strengthen the development of "Open Access" and "Open Science" initiatives in Azerbaijan.