The Armath engineering laboratories pavilion was always crowded during the days of DigiTec 2019 technological exhibition held at Yerevan Expo Center on October 6-9. The visitors, local and international business representatives and government officials were eagerly listening to the description of the projects presented by the Armathians and trying to identify the prospects for further cooperation.
At the opening ceremony of the exhibition the agreement on the exporting of Armath to the Republic of India was signed in Armath pavilion. Mr. Karen Vardanyan, the Executive Director of the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE) and Mr. Vijay Shah, a physician, business and social activist representing BattleLab India Pvt LTD, underscored the importance of such international cooperation in the field of education. Mr. Narayana Murthy, the co-founder of Infosys company which occupies the third place among the Forbes «World’s Best Regarded Companies» 2019, was present at the signing. The same day Armath pavilion also hosted the management staff of the «Mubadala» investment company.
On the second day of the exhibition, the ministerial delegation of the World IT Congress (WCIT 2019) consisted of ministers from the respective sectors of Bangladesh, Iraq, Brazil, Belize, Malaysia, Bulgaria, Greece, Lithuania, Estonia and a number of other countries visited the DigiTec. They showed great interest towards the Armath project.
Mr. Karen Vardanyan, the Executive Director of the Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises, first signed a memorandum with Mr. Sisey Tola Yadete, the Minister of Innovation and Technology of Ethiopia on the implementation of 51 Armath laboratories in Ethiopia. This was immediately followed by the UATE Memorandum of Understanding with Mr. Mohammad Hashim, the Afghan Minister of Telecommunications and IT, on the readiness to have a similar project in Afghanistan.
The Ministers of Information Technology of Ethiopia and Afghanistan, as well as the partners of the Armath laboratories in Bangladesh and Morocco, were invited to visit the Armath Engineering Laboratory in Agarak, wishing to fully satisfy their interest towards the Armath. At the laboratory, they were introduced to the specifics of the project, the successes the children had achieved, and the work of Armathians.
Mr. Rajiv Ramaswami, the CEO of VMWare, was among the visitors, and he proposed a job to one of the students of the Armath laboratory operating in Ghoghanj NGO, seeing the project implemented with the participation of the latter – the drone based on artificial intelligence which is capable to semi-autonomously follow any moving and immovable object.
One of the prominent projects was the «Charents» smart irrigation system created by the Charentsavan Armath Laboratory students. The main feature of this project is that it is implemented with the support of «Sadoyan Technologies», which, according to the company's CEO Artem Sadoyan, is meant to reflect the unique opportunity to implement business projects in partnership with local businesses and the Armath network.
We should note that this year the DigiTec was held alongside with the WCIT 2019. Within the frames of the latter, the UATE Executive Director Mr. Karen Vardanyan presented the international format and perspectives of the Armath educational program during his special speech.
At the WCIT 2019 Gala Dinner, the UATE CEO Mr. Karen Vardanyan received the Eminent Persons Award from the World Alliance of Information Technologies and Services (WITSA) which was dedicated to recording his long-standing contribution to the development of the Armenian technology sector. The award ceremony highlighted the important projects initiated by Mr. Karen Vardanyan, in particular the «Armath» engineering laboratories and annual international DigiTec.
On the backdrop of growing international interest in Armath during these days, the Forbes reporter Mr. Wade Shepard also visited Armath. Soon we will also read about the Armath engineering laboratories in his material on Armenia's technological potential.
The project of establishment of Armath engineering laboratories is initiated and implemented by the UATE. Currently, there are more than 280 Armath Engineering laboratories operating in Armenia, Artsakh and Georgia, where more than 7,500 children receive engineering education free of charge.