Internet Program

     The OSI-Azerbaijan Internet Program is in the forefront of web technologies for Azerbaijan and has been the creator of Internet related projects in several large universities throughout Baku and the regions. It has provided over 37,000 hours of training to over 4,000 users countrywide and since it opened in April 1998, it has continued to strive for and be a leader in the advancement of Internet technologies throughout Azerbaijan.
     The history of OSI's Internet program stems back to 1996, when the OSI Internet Program (OSI-IP) and Chevron collaborated to provide connectivity to the Academy of Sciences in Azerbaijan. While Chevron provided the connectivity, the OSI-IP provided a number of terminals for a public access center. After repeated failed attempts to develop an Internet project with the Academy of Sciences, OSI-Azerbaijan moved forward to create its own Internet access facility. Once it was decided to move ahead with the facility, the efforts and planning of the OSI-Azerbaijan Internet Program began. After an evaluation study, a decision was made to set up an independent Internet access and training site with open access for the general public. The OSI-Azerbaijan Internet Center opened on April 15, 1998 and quickly developed into a premier training and Internet information center.
     Currently Baku has two projects acting independently but sharing connectivity to provide Internet and e-mail access to the general public: the OSI-Azerbaijan Internet Program and the Internet Access & Training Project (IATP), implemented by IREX with USIA funding. OSI and IATP are cooperating to establish a data network comprising of academic and research institutions.
     The OSI Center has 10 terminals and provides free access to e-mail and the World Wide Web. After eighteen months of operation, the center has over 4000 registered accounts with the center's own www.aznet.org domain, each of which has a private e-mail account and full access to the web. Another important factor in the Center's activity is that it provides comprehensive training on Internet technologies and web content creation from basic through developer-class levels:

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