Creative Tech

As a small landlocked country with no access to the sea and limited territory, Armenia’s only salvation is to look to air and space, argue experts in the country’s space industry. “That’s where we are going to secure our future.”

The Digitec Summit convened leading entrepreneurs, scientists, policymakers and educators earlier this year to explore how cultivating an “ambitious” tech ecosystem is the key for Armenia to withstand shocks in an ever-volatile global system. Leigha Schjelderup explains.

In AI research, large-scale computing resources are a key determinant of success. Armenia, facing this challenge, is responding with a strategic initiative: building an AI institute to foster both resource acquisition and training scientists to use large-scale computing resources.

Strategic measures are needed to further scale up the venture capital space in Armenia. This needs a favorable ecosystem and infrastructure. Nune Zadoyan explains.

Three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia is working on regaining its former status as a tech hub. This involves fast growth, numerous changes and challenges to overcome.

Mechanisms and channels to communicate the importance of science and its benefits to society must be institutionalized to mitigate the effects of false or unsubstantiated information that has seeped into social media platforms.

The Gituzh initiative recently issued a statement expressing its disappointment in the Armenian Government’s inability to support the country’s scientific modernization and to implement plans around science and research and development investments.

For Chinar Movsisyan, founder and CEO of manot, a genuine love for math and science formed the basis for her academic pursuits, and the desire to apply theory in the real world pushed her pivot to business.

In order for tech to truly benefit Armenia, it needs to benefit all of Armenia. For this to become a reality, accessibility to education in the regions as well as the creation of more local job opportunities are essential.

What makes Armenia innovative? While there are many promising preconditions, innovation currently occurs in “pockets” in the country rather than at scale. An orientation toward more open collaboration is paramount.

Despite the critical challenges facing Armenia, achieving security and development, establishing strong state institutions, quality education and healthcare and a fair judicial system remain constant. Science, technology and innovation will be key to its realization, writes Ani Toroyan.

Despite leading the region in many progressive metrics, the past few years have reinforced how peace isn’t something Armenia can take for granted: it must cultivate optimal conditions for innovation because of external threats, and that will take conscious architecting.

BigStory VC, a founder-led venture capital fund, promises to be the first of its kind, as Armenia’s start-up ecosystem continues to grow and its members attain success.

As Armenia continues to face geopolitical threats from neighboring Azerbaijan and indifference from the rest of the world, events like the Starmus Festival help strengthen Armenia and its economy, and advance its position on the global stage.

A training course for young men and women launched in 2019 by the FAST Foundation—Unit 1991—is a new military unit focused on the creation of arms using the latest technologies.

Exploring the emerging AI industry landscape in Armenia is necessary to ensure not only that the country is in a position to advance the benefits of the “ideologized” technology, but also the resolve to mitigate future risks.

Armenia’s Science Committee has launched ambitious grant programs to attract scientists and researchers from around the world to come to Armenia and strengthen scientific excellence in the country.

No one can refute the success stories and statistics of Armenian women in tech. Taking a more holistic view, however, one finds that the narrative isn’t quite so simple or straightforward.

HyeTech, a gathering of Armenian professionals who share technical, business and entrepreneurship expertise, is a case study in the value that networking organizations create for both their members and the ecosystem they operate in.

Estonia, Ukraine and Armenia inherited an appreciation for the hard sciences from the Soviet Union, helping to leave their mark on the global tech map. While Estonia is considered the rising star, Ukraine and Armenia still face challenges despite significant achievements in the field.

Since the 2020 Artsakh War, discussions about Armenia-Diaspora collaboration have become more active. Through his own personal experience, scientist Hrant Khachatrian lays out his vision for effective cooperation.

Two decades ago, the IT sector was declared a priority for Armenia. With natural talent, innovation and state privileges, the sector seems to be growing relatively fast. Yet, its influence on the country’s economy remains relatively low.

Building cool products is one thing, successfully delivering them at scale is another. If the Armenian tech sector is to grow sustainability, it’s going to need to excel in both.

We are at an exciting inflection point for Armenia’s tech sector, as the potential for rapid growth and new activity in the coming years is high, writes Njdeh Satourian.

October is traditionally the highlight of Armenia’s technology-themed events calendar. This year saw two large-scale events: Engineering Week and DigiWeek 2021.

Armenia’s government has introduced a number of benefits for the tech industry. Will these benefits contribute to the development of the sector and are they sufficient to solve the existing challenges?

Academic programs around the world are not preparing enough bioinformaticians to deal with the exponential data growth we are observing. Armenia needs to catch up quickly.

Only a few years ago, hearing the word “unicorn” made us all imagine the character we know from fairy tales and cartoons. Today, the mythical creature is also associated with successful startup companies, such as Picsart and ServiceTitan.

With the right choices in education, Armenia can build an IT community capable of creating its own secure and reliable systems, which will be beneficial from a business perspective as well as for social institutions, including government and national defense.

This article is not about the past, the golden decades when science flourished in Armenia. It’s a guide on what can be accomplished in the present and into the future through the lens of one visionary, Dr. Mushegh Rafayelyan.

A network of factories, research centers and institutes made Armenia an electronics hub during the Soviet Union. Producing mostly military-focused hardware, Armenia punched well above its weight among the republics.

The IT sector in Armenia is a strategic direction for the development of the country thanks to the relatively high level of scientific and educational potential of the population, and also one of the highest paid sectors.

Prioritizing science will pave the way towards economic and strategic development. Formed by industry representatives, the Gituzh initiative is working to increase public awareness and government funding for science development.

Digital Pomegranate, already into its eighth year, has played an active role in shifting the image of Gyumri from a city of poverty and tragedy to a city with a viable future. Its new project, Distrikt, promises to be the first SDG compatible community in the world.

Masha Keryan collaborated with Armenian AR/VR game development app Arloopa on an experimental project to showcase some of her artwork digitally. The result was their first-ever AR exhibition of NFT pieces and VR Tilt Brush sculptures.

How an AI-powered platform that analyzes thousands of online job postings from a wide variety of commercial websites to provide insights into the labor market can make data-driven decisions come to life.

The current state and future direction of science in Armenia has been discussed on various platforms recently. Gagik Tovmasian writes about the need to elevate the status of national institutes and willingness to open up to the world.

On the path to becoming a serious player in the global tech sector, Armenia needs to foster an environment that allows technology companies to achieve their business goals, which includes legal institutions to resolve complex disputes.

With the absence of qualified academic supervisors and challenges with the quality of student research, there was a need to develop a platform where students and supervisors could meet remotely.

This is not a cyberpunk essay about a dystopian future, but rather an attempt to take a pragmatic look at creative industries and the landscape of digital culture in Armenia.