The startup project ‘iQRex’ that determines the originality of any product will soon be put at users’ disposal

As we previously reported, the winners of the Global Innovation Award for Small and Medium Enterprises (Global SME Award) were announced within the framework of the international exhibition and conference ITU Telecom World 2018, which was held in the Republic of South Africa.

For the first time, Azerbaijan’s startup project became one of the winners of this prestigious award.

The project “iQRex” developed by the Azerbaijani company, which is a resident of the High-Tech Park of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, was selected as the most innovative application.

In the interview below, one of the authors of the project, Jalal Rahimov, gives more detailed information about the project.

The Global Innovation Award for Small and Medium Enterprises (Global SME Award) is considered the most prestigious award in the IT industry. How many projects were competing for this award?

As you know, with the support of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, a delegation from Azerbaijan took part in the Global Innovation Award for Small and Medium Enterprises (Global SME Award), which was held in the Republic of South Africa.

I’d like to note that the ITU Telecom World is considered the largest telecommunications event in the international arena.

Within the event, forums, seminars and presentations on ICT were held. And within the exhibition part of the event, solutions from different companies from across the world   were demonstrated in national pavilions.

We also presented innovations at our country’s exhibition pavilion and they attracted the attention of exhibition participants.

A competition for the Global Innovation Award for Small and Medium Enterprises (Global SME Award) was held within the exhibition.

Representatives from Japan, South Africa, Korea, China, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique and other countries presented their innovative projects at the competition. About 130 projects were submitted to the competition.

Generally speaking, the goal of the competition is to encourage entrepreneurs to develop innovations that improve the lives of people.

The winners of the competition were determined by the jury consisting of social and technical experts.

As to the projects presented for the competition, I can say that they mainly covered such broad-spectrum areas as broadband optical cables; digital farming; mobile training, education and health care; virtual and augmented reality technologies; online ticket sale; online payment; informal savings platforms; employment; etc.

The goal of the competition is to encourage entrepreneurs to develop innovations that improve the lives of people.   What is the purpose of the startup project “iGRex”? Could you please give some information about the project?

After it had reached the final, the project “iGRex”, which is a resident of the High-Tech Park of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of the Republic of Azerbaijan, was selected as one of the most interesting startups of the year.

So, the Azerbaijani project won this international award for the first time.

What is the specificity of the project “iQRex”?

iQRex is a system that offers simple and effective protection against fake products. The main purpose of the intellectual system is to confirm the authenticity of any product with full certainty.

For this end, the manufacturer should register in the system and get special “iQRex” stickers for his products.

The system applies a unique and one-time code to each sticker. The stickers are covered with a protective layer and are attached on the product.

After purchasing the product, the consumer removes the protective layer from the sticker and using the free “iQRex” mobile application, he reads out the unique code with the phone’s camera to get information about the product and confirm its originality.

If the product proves to be original, the consumer receives accumulated bonuses, as well.

The project will soon be put at users’ disposal.

What does “iQRex” mean?

iQ means the human intellect factor (IQ) and REX means “king” in Latin language. In technical terms it means smart QR applications.

Or to put it more precisely, the project “iQRex” distinguishes the original products from the fake ones through QR code.

What impressions did you have about the international exhibition and conference ITU Telecom World 2018?

We were impressed by such a large number of IT startups participating in the ITU Telecom World 2018, as well as by a great number of innovations being displayed there.

The scale of this event once again proves that there are great opportunities in the sphere of high technologies and that it is necessary to continuously present projects to the world on behalf of Azerbaijan.

Thanks to the state’s care and support, we were able to successfully present our project at the international exhibition.