YEREVAN (Arka)—Armenia has been selected to host the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT), to be held in 2019, the Deputy Executive Director of Armenia’s Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE), Hayk Chobanian, announced on Facebook.

The decision to hold WCIT 2019 in the capital of Armenia was adopted at WCIT 2014, which was held in Mexico City from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.

According to Chobanian, the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) – the organizing body of WCIT — had announced a competition to hold WCIT 2019 in one of WITSA member countries. As a member of the alliance UITE had sent an application.

“For us it is very important that such a conference is to be held in Armenia. In the first place, it is very important from the point of view of increasing the technological rating of the country,” says Chobanyan.

According to him, in order to achieve this goal it is necessary to begin actively cooperating with WITSA.

The World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) is a consortium of associations from information and communications technology industries around the world. The group claims that it represents over 90 percent of the world IT market through its global membership, and has a goal of advancing the growth and development of the IT industry.

WITSA was founded in 1978 as the World Computing Services Industry Association, and participates in advocacy in international public policy that affects the “global information infrastructure.”

It voices the concerns of the international IT industry in organizations such as the World Trade Organization, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and the G8. WITSA represents IT industry associations in over 80 countries or economies.

UITE was founded in 2000 to protect the interests of local IT companies in Armenia, stimulate business development, and encourage research in the field of IT.