3rd Annual Armenian IT Competitiveness Conference Opens in Yerevan

November 24. The 3rd Annual Armenian Information Technology (IT) Competitiveness Conference opened in Yerevan with joint organization by the USAID-funded Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) Project, the Ministry of Economy, Armenian Development Agency, Microsoft Armenia, Enterprise Incubator Foundation, National Competitiveness Foundation, D-Link, Arminco and IT business associations. In light of the latest political and economic developments, the conference aimed to analyze current opportunities and challenges and define IT industry priorities for the future.

Over 250 industry representatives, including: government, private companies, educational institutions, international organizations, NGOs and others interested in the development of Armenias IT industry participated in the conference.

Highlighting the role of IT as one of the fastest growing industries, Nerses Yeritsyan, RA Minister of Economy, reminded participants that the sector had been pronounced a most important component of economic development by the government. "ICT largely promotes technological innovation and productivity in the country. At present, branches of a number of Russian, European, American companies and think tanks operate in Armenia, which means that Armenia is stressing its role as an IT country the Minister stated.

Despite the decline in sales and investment due to the global economic crisis, the Armenian IT industry had a number of achievements during the past year, such as improved tax and customs procedures as a result of successful public private sector cooperation; the entrance of the third mobile operator into the telecommunication market; a number of local and regional IT expos and forums securing business deals for Armenian IT firms; and ArmTech Congress in Silicon Valley, showcasing Armenias high-tech capabilities in one of worlds largest high-tech economic centers.

Armenia has a rich history in developing IT in the country. A number of successful projects have been implemented by the Ministry of Economy, among them, the Gyumri Technopark project. IT is being introduced in every sphere, and this can secure long-term prosperity David Hull, Director of the Economic Growth Office of USAID/Armenia said.

The conference presented the collaborative efforts of IT cluster stakeholders toward creating an IT society, producing competitive educational curricula through academic partnerships, enhancing the regulatory framework, etc. Invited international experts suggested solutions to Armenias telecommunication sector development and ways to expand high-tech businesses through the creation of venture capital funds.

The conference builds its success on the previous two IT competitiveness conferences held in 2007 and 2008 by CAPS and its major partners.

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Nonprofits & Activism

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• IT
• Conference
• Armenia
• YErevan
• CAPS