Opening the event, General Director of ICS Academician Ali Abbasov emphasized the essence of the event, organized on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of the war in a new format, and spoke about the upcoming goals in this direction.

Speaking about the historical course of the war, the scientist recalled that in response to another provocative military aggression by Armenia, which began on September 27, 2020, the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan, under the leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, launched a Patriotic War to liberate the occupied territories, and the historic lands of Azerbaijan were liberated. Noting that the 44-day Patriotic War was the most important victory in the life of our people in recent years, the academician emphasized that this historic victory was made possible by the visionary policy of the head of state, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, and the determination of the Azerbaijani army. Noting that as of October 21, 2022, 2,908 military personnel and 100 civilians had been killed, 6 were missing and 12 were prisoners of war, A. Abbasov said that the bright memory of the martyrs who gave their lives for their homeland will always live in the hearts of every Azerbaijani, and he paid his respects to the memory of our martyrs.

Speaking about the consequences of the thirty-year occupation, which continued during the war, A. Abbasov brought to the attention of the participants the main nuances mentioned by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Ilham Aliyev, during his speech at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 25, and spoke about the responsibilities of ICS employees in achieving the upcoming goals related to the great return.

He said that the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in academic battles, which went down in global military policy as doctrines, has been highly praised by local and foreign military experts, who also called the Second Karabakh War a war of advanced technologies. Explaining the importance of military development in the country's socio-economic development, A. Abbasov noted that ICS scientists have been conducting research for many years to solve science-intensive problems, and spoke about existing cooperation ties.

Then, Corresponding Member of the ANAS, Professor Gorkhmaz Imanov, spoke on “Economic resources in the liberated territories and restoration work carried out over the past five years.” He noted that the operation to liberate Azerbaijan's occupied historical lands, which began in September 2020, ended with the signing on November 10 of a statement by the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia, and President of the Russian Federation on November 10, which was regarded as a de facto act of surrender by Armenia and went down in world military history as a historic victory. 

Speaking about the reconstruction work carried out in the post-war period, the professor focused in detail on two main areas: the return of the population to the liberated territories and investment in various industries to promote economic activity in the regions. He noted that while in the pre-war period the Karabakh region accounted for 35-40% of Azerbaijan's gross domestic product, this figure increased significantly after the Great Return.

Speaking about the development strategy implemented over the past five years in the food industry in the Karabakh region, G. Imanov highlighted achievements in viticulture, tobacco growing, sericulture, cotton farming, melon cultivation, and animal husbandry. Speaking about water resources, which are currently one of the pressing issues in developed countries around the world, including our country, the professor noted that as a result of the victory in Karabakh, significant access to new resources of drinking water, land reclamation, and electricity production was gained. The scientist also spoke about the successes achieved over the past five years in the development of tourism and the mining industry.

Then, the head of the ICS laboratory, president of SINAM LLC, Professor Elchin Aliyev, DSc (Eng), spoke about innovative projects being implemented at ICS in line with the concept of returning to Karabakh. Emphasizing that restoration work in the liberated territories has accelerated and about 50,000 people have returned to their ancestral lands, the scientist spoke about the challenges facing the Azerbaijani scientific community in further increasing this figure, developing infrastructure in the region, and solving existing problems at the scientific level.

Speaking about the Smart Village project, aimed at improving the standard of living in the village of Agaly in Zangilan District, E. Aliyev spoke in detail about the successfully implemented technological innovations, including the village management system, software platform and IoT sensors, situation center, Smart Education software, Smart Education equipment, e-medicine, etc. He spoke about the established cooperation with various publc and private institutions in the areas of management and monitoring of the educational process, organization of a modern educational process, introduction of various methods of assessing the level of knowledge, etc. Expressing confidence that the cooperation established between ICS and Karabakh University in this area will yield effective results, E. Aliyev emphasized the upcoming goals of transforming the university into a leading innovation center in the region.