Cyber-security key component in our cooperation with Defense Ministry, says Armenian IT company chief

The IT industries’ major contribution to Armenia’s defense sector could be first of all the cyber- security guarantees, says the executive director of Synopsis Armenia.
In an interview with Tert.am, Hovik Musaelyan shared his vision of the company’s cooperation perspectives with the Ministry of Defense, addressing also other forms of assistance, particularly the domestically manufactured drones and mine radars (robotics) deployed in Nagorno-Karabakh (which he said are very cost-effective).
“We have long been collaborating with the Ministry of Defense, so no wonder that the minister himself has twice visited Synopsis to attend meetings and round table discussions. Those meetings were aimed basically at identifying the aid mechanisms that leading IT and telecommunication companies could offer to our defense sector. Also, working groups have been created to identify the needs.
“The experience over these years has demonstrated that the key benefit our defense institutions could have from the IT sector is cyber security, which has received an extremely important status today. Both cyber-attacks and cyber-wars have assumed key role, so I can say without exaggeration that an army’s might is measured not so much by its armament and soldiers’ number as the technological devices potentially influencing the enemies or third countries, defense structures and key industries. That’s the character of the wars today,” he added.
Musaelyan said he is also aware of negotiations over the sale of robotics. “But to the best of my knowledge, Nagorno-Karabakh has already acquired such drones, which are rather effective. But I have no idea of the company through which [the transaction was carried out]. I have heard that [the equipment] is manufactured in Armenia at a very low cost price. I find it the right approach, as we can thus create our own [product] instead of purchasing foreign countries’ imports. Also, there is the confidentiality and security problem. If you import that kind of product from other states, they are aware of its technical parameters, which isn’t right.”