Tag: science

Armenia is developing policies to inventory, preserve, restore and promote historical monuments, recognizing their economic and cultural value. While progress aligns with sustainable development goals, significant challenges in preservation and management persist.

Lilit Margaryan, the operations manager of Gituzh, joins us to discuss what the initiative has managed to achieve over the last three years. We also dive into the concept of national research and innovation systems, and discuss the prioritization of strategic scientific directions. Lastly, Lilit shares with us their upcoming initiative called Science Week, a week-long series of events that aims to promote science in Armenia.

Expectations and optimism are often the primary drivers of investment activity. It’s easy to be negative in the current times that Armenia is living, however, hope and optimism are key to inspiring drive, effort and motivation, especially when Armenia needs it most.

Suzanna Shamakhyan, Vice President of Strategic Programming at the Foundation for Armenian Science and Technology (FAST), joins us to discuss the organization’s initiatives to improve education and science in Armenia. She breaks down how the current poor state of the country’s education system can be viewed as an opportunity to pilot innovative new solutions. We also discussed FAST’s new Generation AI program, which aims to bring artificial intelligence education to high schools in Armenia.

In this episode, we talk to Nerses Ohanyan, co-founder of HyeTech, about the organization’s recent trip to India and their efforts to connect the Armenian tech ecosystem with the rest of the world. We delve into why it's crucial for Armenia to develop its capacities in the space tech ecosystem, and Nerses shares exciting initiatives such as the Bazoomq space research lab, the Kemurdzhian Challenge, and the Armenian Model Rocketry Association.

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.

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.

While innovation is increasingly being acknowledged as key to a country’s competitiveness in global markets, contributions of the humanities and social sciences to the body of knowledge are largely left out of debates.

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.