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Growth of Armenian information technology sector reaches record high

July 24, 2017 By administrator

The growth of the Armenian information technology sector – which employs thousands of engineers – accelerated to 38.2%, according to government data.

The technology industry had already grown by more than 20% per year over the past decade, making it the fastest growing Armenian sector. According to government estimates, the country’s 500 information technology companies, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises, have earned more than $ 550 million in combined revenues in 2015.

The sector is dominated by Armenian branches of US giants like Synopsys, National Instruments, Mentor Graphics and VMware. But its steady expansion is increasingly being carried out by local Armenian firms.

The most successful of these startups is PicsArt, one of the most important photo retouching and photo sharing applications in the world. The company now has more than 350 employees in Armenia and has 90 million active monthly users worldwide.

Another smaller startup, attracted at the beginning of the year $ 5 million, from two US investment funds. The company, called Teamable develops software used by companies to hire skilled workers. Like PicsArt, Teamable has offices not only in Yerevan but also in San Francisco.

Another Armenian firm, SoloLearn, this month won the Grand Prize for Facebook’s “App of the Year” event, which attracted 900 applications from 87 countries. SoloLearn offers a free online application for people interested in learning computer programming.

Karen Vartanian, President of the Armenian Union of Information Technology Enterprises, highlighted the growing importance of these startups. “Our local products are emerging more and more and are proving to be international carriers,” he said.

Vahan Shakarian, executive director of Yerevan’s Technology and Science Dynamics, which manufactures smartphones and tablets, said the industry has grown rapidly as it is export-oriented. He also warned: “Booms are possible in economics. The main thing is to stay at the same level at the end of the boom. It’s a real challenge. “

For Vartanian, the main challenge is the lack of qualified computer personnel in Armenia. “Our growth is now being delayed by a severe shortage of personnel,” he added. “The education system is in tatters”.

Industry leaders have long complained about the insufficient professional level of many computer graduates from Armenian universities. According to their estimates, there are now between 2,000 and 4,000 vacancies in the sector, which employs about 15,000 people.

Successive governments have committed themselves to tackling this problem. Vartanian stressed, however, that there is still no “comprehensive and strategic cooperation” between authorities and IT companies.

In January, Prime Minister Karen Karapetian met with a team of government officials and sector officials who proposed a major reform of engineering education in Armenia. One of the leaders said that only half of the 1,300 students in information technology graduates from Armenian universities each year are sufficiently qualified to work in the sector without further training.

Monday, July 24, 2017,
Claire © armenews.com

ARFD: High voter turnout in Armenian elections needs special examination

April 5, 2017 By administrator

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation Dashnaktsutyun on Wednesday, April 5 called for a special probe into the unexpectedly high voter turnout in the April 2 parliamentary elections.

Armenian parliamentary elections hada voter turnout of some 61%. Based on results calculated in all the 2009 polling stations, the Republican party leads with 49.12% of votes (771 247 ballots), followed by the Tsarukyan bloc with 27.32% (428 965), YELQ with 7.77% (122 049) and the ARF Dashnaktsutyun with 6.57% (103 173). Voter turnout stood at 60.86% on Sunday, April 2.

The high voter turnout, according to ARF, was a commendable display of civil activity on the one hand, and “an evil phenomenon caused by the use of financial and administrative resources” on the other.

Elections, ARF said, were commendable in terms of free competition and a civilized campaign by participating forces .

Also, the party cited “the crystallization of politics as a reason behind the society’s rejection of defeatist ideas.”

Armenia-Azerbaijan Border tension reaches highest point – Seyran Ohanyan

December 9, 2015 By administrator

The situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border and on the Line of Contact is under proper control, Armenia’s Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan told reporters as he answered Tert.am’s question about the situation on the border after Azerbaijan opened tank fire at the Armenian positions.

“Tension has actually reached its highest point. They are firing not only small arms, but also mortars. In the south-eastern section of Artsakh they also opened tank fire. Those were not pointed strikes. This is the enemy’s tactic of destabilization,” Mr Ohanyan said.

Azerbaijan’s step could not only cause foreign policy problems, but also result in domestic political one.

“The Middle East situation could be a reason for the two presidents’ meeting as in many respects it involves our region. I want our people to be sure we have developed containment mechanisms,” Mr Ohanyan said.
In response to Tert.am’s question as to the reasons for Armenia not applying to international organizations – the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and UN Security Council – as Azerbaijan has repeatedly applies heavy weapons, Mr Ohanyan said:

“We are dealing with a neighbor that does not understand human speech. A dialogue requires a ceasefire and mutual arrangements. An international investigation can identify the guilty party. It is time for serious work to ensure serious work to develop mechanisms for international investigations for specifically addressed assessments to be made.”

Speaking of his talk with Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Mr Ohanyan said he had informed Mr Kasprzyk of the situation.

The Armenian side showed restraint during the parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan.

“However, our referendum [on constitutional reforms] caused a 4-5-day-long tension. That prevented many of the commanders from leaving the positions to [vote in the referendum],” Mr Ohanyan said.

Armenia ranked high in Freedom on the Net 2015 report

October 28, 2015 By administrator

Freedom House published the Freedom on the Net 2015 report, placing Armenia among the free countries with a total score of 28 (0 = Best, 100 = Worst).

The internet penetration rate in Armenia has continued improving over the past few years, alongside improvements in the stability of the internet’s infrastructure and relatively few restrictions on online content. Additionally, citizen groups and NGOs have made use of online communication tools to promote and organize campaigns, particularly surrounding the protests in Yerevan against hikes in electricity prices in mid-2015, the report says.

In March 2015, members of parliament proposed amendments to the Law on Personal Data Protection that aim to increase privacy protections by creating an agency with the authority to oversee government decisions with regard to accessing personal data.

Georgia is the other former Soviet republic to be listed among the free countries.

According to the reports, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan are among the partly free countries, while Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan are listed as no free.

Published on Wednesday, October 28, Freedom on the Net 2015 finds internet freedom around the world in decline for a fifth consecutive year as more governments censored information of public interest while also expanding surveillance and cracking down on privacy tools.

The NGO said cases of content removals has increased. Authorities in 42 of the 65 countries assessed required private companies or internet users to restrict or delete web content dealing with political, religious, or social issues, up from 37 the previous year.

Arrests and intimidation have escalated, the report says. Authorities in 40 of 65 countries imprisoned people for sharing information concerning politics, religion or society through digital networks.