Armenian-Indian "Center of Excellence" to become a serious stimulus to increase number of IT specialists

Interview of the Head of "Enterprise Incubator Foundation” Bagrat Yengibaryan to Mediamax and Itel.am portal

A few days ago, Indian Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of India signed an agreement to establish Indian-Armenian "Center of Honor" in Yerevan. "Enterprise Incubator Foundation" is the partner of C-DAC in establishing the "Center of Excellence ".

- What will this "Center of Excellence" deal with?

- Trainings of a large scale of IT-sector specialist, starting from network and device administration specialists to teachers of software support and various technologies, will be the main direction of the center’s activity.

Courses for teaching staffs in higher education institutions will be organized, training and retraining of specialists from governmental and other structures will be realized.

The center will also have a research department, where research will be realized aiming at increasing capacities of computer and computer equipment (the so-called High Performance Computing). Issues of increasing efficiency of electronic control and services will be researched as well.

Very important is the fact that certification courses in 6 directions will be carried out in the center. Both we and the Indian party want specialists not only from Armenia, but also from neighboring countries, to take part in the center’s certification. 

- How was the idea on establishing such a center in Armenia born?

- For the first time the idea on establishing an Armenian-Indian "Center of Excellence" in Armenia was expressed in 2007 during the visit of the Armenian delegation to India. Then visit of the Indian delegation to Armenia followed. The delegation prepared a proposal on establishing a joint "Center of Excellence", including general provisions. Later on, this proposal was signed by the governments of Armenia and India.

At present, a detailed business plan on the project is in the process of elaboration. Basing on this plan C-DAC and "Enterprise Incubator Foundation” will sign an agreement. It is planned to complete the business plan by the end of September, 2009.

- What volumes of investment will India and Armenia make in founding the center?

- The Indian party will invest about $1.5mln, the Armenian party - over $500 thousand, so the preliminary investments volume makes about $2mln. A more exact figure will be voiced after the business plan is complete.

The government of Armenia will allocate a territory for the center, provide with the necessary furniture and infrastructures, and will cover the expenses for local staff.

In its turn, C-DAC will provide its equipment, a supercomputer, the networks, etc, and will carry out courses and retraining for teachers.

We assume that for over a year after the center’s establishment, Indian specialists will contribute to the operation of the center. Exchange of specialist will be also carried out. Particularly, already in August, the Indian party plans to invite 8 Armenian specialists for training.

Besides, a Committee will be set up with the participation of interested parties from India and Armenia, which will monitor the center’s activity.

- Where and when do they plan to establish the "Center of Excellence"? Will it operate within the framework of a certain University or will it be an individual structure?

- We hope that the center will be already ready in January-February, 2010. Several alternatives of the center’s location are being considered. We would like it to be situated on the territory of Yerevan State University or the Engineering University. The variant of using the current laboratories and territories of "Enterprise Incubator Foundation" is also considered.

There is also another alternative, according to which the center will have one head office, and the laboratories will be situated in different institutions of higher education.

-What is the interest of C-DAC to establish such a center exactly in Armenia conditioned by?

- India, in conditions of the international competition in IT sphere, intends to spread its technologic and educational solutions and approaches worldwide, establishing such centers in countries, where the IT sector has high potential.

When C-DAC specialists familiarized themselves with the potential of Armenia’s educational system and the ambitions of the IT sector, they made sure that even if the center to be set up does not become regional, it will be of great importance for Armenia.

- Where else has C-DAC established its "Centers of Excellence"?

- The government of India has established over 10 "Centers of Excellence" in various countries, 3-5 of which are coordinated by C-DAC.

In CIS territory, C-DAC already has a center of excellence in Kazakhstan, at present negotiations are in process on establishing such a center in Belarus.

- According to you, what will be the results of founding such a center for Armenia’s IT sector?

- The center will become a serious stimulus to increase the number of IT specialists. Armenia plans to double the number of IT specialist within 10 years, making it from 5000 to 10 000, and it is impossible to provide such growth by means of natural development of the educational system in institutes. In addition, about half of IT specialists, who have graduated from institutions of higher education, do not work by profession.

The center will help to Armenia position itself in the region as a country, which can provide certain knowledge in IT sphere to neighbors.

I also consider stimulation of expert and research works in this sphere very important. So far, generally, Armenia has been rendering only IT services in the global market, not paying much attention to research works. Establishment of such a center will consolidate all the efforts made in training quality personnel for the IT sector.

- How affordable will the services of the center be?

- It is planned to carry out both paid and free courses in the center.

Fee rates will be established after the business plan is complete and after specifying issues, relating to the possible subsidizing of courses by the state.

The majority of courses will be exclusively for Armenia and, thus, possible subsidizing by the government will not create unequal competition in the market of training courses on information technologies.