The Armenian Ministry of High Technology Industry, in partnership with the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE), has announced the inaugural edition of DigiWeek21, whose anchor event will be Digitec21 titled “Thriving in a Post-COVID World“.
In a press release on October 22, the organizers said DigiWeek21 would be a week-long series of events from October 27 to November 3, 2021, in Yerevan and Gyumri.
The objective will be on how to grow the high technology industry like blockchain and Artificial Intelligence in the country and split into three main themes covering venture, science and sustainability, and Artificial Intelligence.
It is sponsored by, among many others, The European Union of Armenia, Soft Construct, and the Government of the Republic of Armenia, Giz, and Hack Tech.
Through the event, international guests, including experts and entrepreneurs, will have a chance to maximize their exposure and contribution to one of the country’s most influential technology events.
This is possible because the high-profile conference is condensed to one week and because Digitec21 is Armenia’s largest technology exhibition inspired by previous successful conventions, according to Davit Sahakyan, First Deputy Minister of High Technology Industry.
“Our objective is to conduct a full week of panels to discuss current and future challenges and opportunities in technology in Armenia and beyond. By incorporating all of these events into one week, international guests can maximize their exposure and contribution to Armenia’s most important technology forum.”
The Executive Director of UATE, Raffi Kassarjian, said the Digitec21 exhibition at the K. Demirchyan Sports Complex would see over 100 companies participate, including PicsArt, SADA, Self Space, Instigate, and more.
Digitec21 builds from the history and success of previous events such as the ArmTech Congress. This event attracted high power delegations from across the world, where they met in Yerevan, the Silicon Valley, and New York City. In the previous nine years, the goal was to enhance communication and cooperation with and within the country’s Armenian high-tech industry.
Accordingly, to make the upcoming event more successful and well-rounded, there will be two more complementing events–the HyeTech Showcase for identifying skilled talent in the country and beyond. Along the same vein, there will be the Koreez Competition awards for the best students and teachers in the country, assessing their performance in STEM subjects.
The Ministry of High Technology will lead the Digital Transformation event with assistance from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Operator’s Union of Armenia.
Notably, the Digitec Summit will be held parallel with the Digitec21 Expo on October 29 and 30, 2021. Its focus will be on how countries actively using technology respond to global challenges and opportunities in light of the disruption of the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Contributing to the debate on how they are responding and adjusting to forced changes due to the healthcare crisis will be senior executives of some of the country’s successful companies, including CodeSignal, Disqo, Krisp, PicsArt, and ServiceTitan.
However, the keynote address on October 29 will be from the Moderna Co-Founder and Chairman, Noubar Afeyan. The $130 billion biotechnology company is spearheading the fight against the COVID-19 virus as a vaccine manufacturer and researcher. The final closing remark marking the end of the event will be from the Chairman of the Board, UATE, Alexander Yesayan.
In 2019, the government of Armenia teamed up with the WHISE-Embleema Consortium—to modernize its healthcare system using the blockchain under the country’s Ministry of Health. The goal is to establish a reliable and sound base for collecting and securing sensitive patient data leveraging a tamper-proof blockchain solution.