On September 22, the Caucasus and Central Asia Awards (CCA Awards) took place in Tbilisi. One of the leading organizations in the tech field, the Women In Tech®️ Global Movement, has been active since 2018, with representatives across six continents and over 200,000 members. Since 2022, the Women in Tech organization has had a presence in Azerbaijan.

This year, for the first time, the Women In Tech®️ Global Movement, representing both Azerbaijan and Georgia, participated in the Caucasus and Central Asia Awards (CCA Awards). The competition saw more than 80 girls and women from six countries applying in nine different categories. Azerbaijan was proudly represented by numerous talented young women. Among the 43 finalists, one winner was selected for each category by a panel of judges.

To ensure complete transparency, an exclusive panel of judges, consisting of world-renowned experts in technology and STEAM fields, was invited for the first CCA Awards competition.

Here are the winners in each category: Aspiring Teen Award: Laman Aliyeva (Azerbaijan) Most Disruptive Award (powered by AWS): Tamar Bosikashvili (Georgia) Best Ally Award: Marina Dushenova (Kyrgyzstan) Most Impactful Initiative Award: Technovation Girls+ (Uzbekistan) Woman in Web3 Award: Marie Giorgobiani (Georgia) Arts Award (powered by Amazon Music): Ana Tkebuchava (Georgia) Start-Up Award: Leyla Orucova (Azerbaijan) Global Leadership Award: Ana Nakashidze (Azerbaijan) Lifetime Achievement Award: Nargis Dustmatova (Uzbekistan)

It's worth noting that the winners from Azerbaijan are remarkable individuals:

Laman Aliyeva is a student at ADA University, majoring in Information Technology and Engineering. She is a scholarship recipient at Technest and has won numerous local and international competitions. Laman has established the first Artificial Intelligence Club in Azerbaijan, supported by Google.

Leyla Orucova, a graduate of Azerbaijan Medical University, works in business analytics at PASHA Insurance. Alongside her main job, she provides business analytics solutions for various international startups. In 2022, she co-founded iCheck Medical App with the support of PASHA Insurance.

Ana Nakashidze is the CEO of AzerTelecom MMC. She has over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry and led the company through challenging times during the pandemic and post-pandemic transformation.

The winners of the CCA Awards will participate in the final of the WOMEN IN TECH - Global Movement Awards on November 16 this year. We wish our talented women the best of luck!

Stay tuned for the next CCA Awards, which are planned to be held in Baku next year.