Armenia announces winner of presidential award for IT development

PanARMENIAN.Net - A press conference announcing the winner of the Annual Award of the Armenian President For Outstanding Contribution to Global IT for the year 2016 took place at the Presidential Palace. The event was presided over by Chairman of GIT Award Committee and Chief of Staff to the President Armen Gevorgyan, Ralph Yirikian, the General Manager of VivaCell-MTS - the Company-sponsor of GIT Award - Hovik Musaelyan, Chairman of Executive Board of GIT Award, and Tony Moroyan, Representative of the Award Selection Panel, the CEO and Chairman of Viasphere International.

For 2016, the inventor of datagram and founder of Open-Root organization Louis Pouzin, who is also known as one of the founding fathers of the Internet, will receive the presidential award. The Global IT Award is granted on an annual basis to an individual, whose internationally acclaimed contributions to IT have resulted in near-revolutionary or revolutionary developments that have positively impacted or hold the potential to positively impact the humanity.

The speakers highlighted the importance of the Award for the development of Armenian ICT Sector and promoting the country’s image internationally. GIT Award is held in Armenia for already seven years, hosting outstanding professionals from around the world once a year. Armenia hosted the following giants in previous years: the retired CEO/ Chairman of the Board of Intel Corporation, Craig Barrett in 2010, co-founder of Apple Computers, Inc. Steve Wozniak in 2011, Chairman Emeritus of Synaptics, Inc. Federico Faggin in 2012, President of the Society of Semiconductor Industry Specialists, President of Techno Vision consulting firm Tsugio Makimoto in 2013, Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Insieme Business Unit at Cisco Mario Mazzola in 2014, and Chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab. Eugene Kaspersky in 2015.

VivaCell-MTS has supported the GIT Award during the whole period of its existence, having donated AMD 144.2 million for the realization of the program. The Company’s support to the award from the very beginning is based on its vision of Armenia’s future – a country with internationally competitive ICT sector. The Company contributes to this national objective in synergy with impactful projects implemented at a national level. Apart from positioning Armenia and promoting it internationally as a country having achievements and a huge, yet-unrealized potential in the development of ICT, and opportunities for investment in the sector, the Award also has a great role to play internally. The GIT award is stimulating the attractiveness of ICT sector as a professional choice among the Armenian youth. Each visit by a laureate to the country, followed by awarding and lecture by a prominent leader in the sphere of Information Technologies, is a serious promotion of the ICT for the younger generation.

“The sphere of Information and Communication Technologies is one of the key directions of Armenia’s economic development, and the Award of the President has a great importance in terms of promoting Armenia. Time will pass, and internationally acclaimed figures in the sphere of IT will arrive in Armenia, increasing the awareness about our country as one that relies on its intellectual potential,” said Gevorgyan.

“We are confident that the gurus, who have received this honorary award, will return to Armenia in coming years, bringing with them contemporary culture of high technologies and boosting Armenia’s image around the world as a country relying on intellect and knowledge,” said Musaelyan.

In addition to supporting the GIT Award, VivaCell-MTS has been supporting numerous projects in ICT sector with the amount of social investment in the sphere totaling AMD 953.6 million.

“The award is a powerful tool aimed at showing our achievements in the sphere of ICT to the world and strengthening the country’s image,” Yirikian commented.

“I’m proud that we have managed to bring about the visit of IT legends to Armenia and we hope to repeat it this year,” said Moroyan.