Author: Emma Jilavian

Organizers of a large international technology conference, to be held in Yerevan in October, have been negotiating with former President Barack Obama to attend the event, which is dubbed the World Congress of Information Technologies.

The congress organizers, the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises President Alexander Yesayan told briefed reporters Saturday on efforts to secure Obama’s participation, but did not elaborate further, saying “surprises are expected.”

The WCIT 2019 will host three sets of “Lightning Rounds,” open to all, showcasing flash-forward technologies from start-ups, big companies, universities, and more.

The Lightning Rounds will provide an opportunity for entrepreneurs, innovators and scientists to present their ideas to international venture funds and world famous businessmen, in order to attract investments for their implementation. Fifteen ideas and startups will be selected by a jury of international specialists from submissions received from around the world. “We invite Armenian and foreign startups to register now on WCIT’s official website and submit their ideas,” UATE President Yesayan and Syuzanna Azoyan, WCIT 2019 program director said at the meeting with Armenian and European journalists.

More than 2,500 participants from 70 countries are expected to attend WCIT 2019. The agenda will include discussion of the hottest topics in the industry. ICT industry leaders and innovators, government and global policy leaders, startups, and investors will exchange ideas in sessions such as “Black Swan,” “Innovation Meets Capital,” “Artificial Intelligence in Genomics,” “How ‘Green’ is Silicon,” “Rise of the Machines,” and many others.

WCIT 2019’s program will also feature a panel of ICT ministers from nations across the globe, who will discuss the challenges in moving toward greater delivery of and distribution of enhanced public services and their nations’ best practices in dealing with those challenges.

Another panel will feature the mayors of “smart” cities from around the world, who will discuss the use of ICT in the municipal context and explore both its positive and negative impact on people’s daily lives.

The government of Armenia has declared ICT a strategic goal for economic development. Armenia actively promotes the development of high-tech innovations, ecosystems, and startups, and facilitates foreign direct investment in the ICT sector. There are more than 900 ICT companies in Armenia, including Picsart, Renderforest, Betconstruct, Joomag, and others. Forty-five percent of Armenia’s ICT-related exports go to the USA and Canada, 25% to Europe, and 11% to Asia.

The congress will be preceded by a concert at the Republic Square in downtown Yerevan at 8 p.m. on October 6.

“The world forum has been held in 16 countries, and we have invited musicians from all those countries to form an orchestra under the baton of conductor Sergey Smbatyan. There will be 70 musicians from 16 countries and 30 musicians from Armenia,” Yesayan said.

He noted for the first time in history an orchestra will play a piece of music arranged by artificial intelligence online.

WCIT is an annual congress where the world’s leading technology thinkers and innovators gather to advance the conversation on the key questions facing the industry and the world.

According to Yesayan the theme of the Congress will be “Fulfilling the Promise of the Digital Age – The Power of Decentralization.”

DILIJAN, Armenia—More than 400 schoolchildren from different provinces of Armenia participated in “Armath” summer TechnoCamp. The program, which was hosted by Monte Melkonian Military College in Dilijan, was available in two sessions—the first for children from 10 to 13 years of age, and the second for children aged 14 to 17. Participants came from various provinces in Armenia, as well as Artsakh and Javakh, as well as from the Diaspora through the “Ari Tun” program. The first session of the program ran from July 1 to 19.

The second session of the camp took place from July 10 to 19, where more than 200 schoolchildren and 13 team leaders from various provinces were in participation.

During the second session of “Armath” TechnoCamp, participants had the opportunity to learn about and create a smart management system of LED lights. In order to create these lights, participants were taught how to use the RaspberryPi platform and Python programming. They were also taught how to assemble and program robots. The main goal for each team was to design a robot to meet the standards of Robotex Armenia—an international robotics contest—as well as to be able to find solutions to problems through robotics.

In addition to robotics, the second session presented participants with cultural, sports, and entertainment features. Project manager of “Shtigen Kids,” Ani Aghajanyan visited “Armath” TechnoCamp and gave a presentation on renewable energy.

A robotics competition took place at the end of the second session, during which participants were given specific standards to meet. These rules included: the robot must follow road markings, the robot must take and place a trash bin using its hand, the robot must park itself at the marked locations, and the robot must cross the crossroad—equipped with traffic lights—when the light turns green. The rules called for these problems to be solved only through automatic management. Participants could not interfere with their robots during the final competition. To meet these standards, participants used Arduino and SeRob computing platforms, and C++ and Snap programming languages.

“We have children here who have attended ‘Armath’ engineering laboratory for only a month and are already able to solve complex problems usually assigned to university students. We could only dream of creating and programming robots with our own hands at their age. Now, with the support of Ucom, both girls and boys have the chance to acquire engineering knowledge and creative skills,” noted Tigran Safaryan, Marketing and Communications Director at Ucom.

This year, the team that won consisted of students from various “Armath” Engineering Laboratory locations: Ashnak, Arteni, Ranchpar and Aragats. The winning team—team 6 of the 13—scored the most points during the final robotics competition, meeting almost all the standards set by the judges. As a result of their victory, participants of team 6 were given smart watches from Ucom. The most valuable team member, Hayk Sargsyan, was given an electric scooter, and a tablet was given to the team leader, Slavik Israyelyan.

Team 13 came in second at “Armath” TechnoCamp, with a score not far behind the winning teams. Participants of team 13 were students of “Armath” in Noratus and Gavar. The most valued member of the team, Vahe Davtyan, was given a smart watch from Ucom. The remaining members of the team received 16 GB memory sticks from the UATE. Team 13 solved the robotics problem using Arduino (C++) computing platform. Their robot was the most efficient at crossing the crossroads during the final competition.

In participation were schoolchildren from: Yerevan, Armavir, Ranchpar, Norakert, Damala, Karvachar, Arteni, Agarak (Syunik), Agarak (Aragatsotn), Mastara, Ashnak, Agarakavan, Kaqavadzor, Dilijan, Sotk, Tchambarak, Gavar, Noratus, Akunk, Gyumri, Saratak, Haykavan(Shirak), Vahramaberd, Hadrut, Kajaran, Kovsakan, Askeran, Martakert, Sos, Lorut, Arevatsag, Mets Ayrum, Vanadzor, Aygepar, Choratan, Ijevan, Artashat, Hartavan, Lusagyugh, Berdzor, Martuni (Artsakh), Ishkhanadzor, Vardenis, Drakhtik, Vahan, Katnaghbyur, Aparan, Berdavan, Nerkin Tsaghkavan, Lusagyugh, Hartavan, Heshtia (Javakhk) and Tumanyan.

2019 Sponsors of “Armath” TechnoCamp include: the Children of Armenia Fund, Support to Javakhk Foundation, Instigate Mobile, Cronimet Mining, Ucom, “Sahman” (Border) NGO, Artsakhbank, World Vision Armenia, Armenian Educational Foundation, “Vardanants Knights” organization, and Nazaryan Educational Foundation.