Prime Minister of Armenia Andranik Markaryan, who is funding the expo, made his opening speech. Minister of Trade and Economic Development Karen Tchshmarityan was also present at the event. As for the deputies, Arshak Sadoyan was the only one who is very interested in IT. Perhaps the deputy’s visit was due to the fact that the general sponsor of the event was “Viva Cell”, while the field’s number one enemy is “ArmenTel” with its bad Internet connection.
This is the second annual “Digitec” expo. President of the Informational Technologies and Companies Union Karen Vartanyan says that this year, the number of participants exceeds that of last year. In fact, there are some large foreign organizations participating in this year’s “Digitec”. Some people think that this exposition is productive for companies and the business environment as a whole, while others are of the opinion that participating in “Digitec” is simply a formality. A representative of one of the large foreign companies told us during an interview that their organization is taking part in the event for the second time just to keep their image alive in the Armenian market. “I have participated in the international IT expositions in Russia several times. The brand name company sells its products at the pavilions, but “Digitec” doesn’t offer that. Here, we have a large flow of people, mainly company representatives and journalists,” says one of the workers of the corporation.
World-famous “Microsoft” was participating in the exposition for the first tiem ever. The company opened its branch in Armenia in May. On October 5, Microsoft signed an “Enterprise” contract with “Viva Cell”. This is the first contract being signed by “Microsoft” and any Armenian private company. “This once again assures that there is a desire to make investments in Armenia and help the IT field develop,” said vice president of “Microsoft” in Central and Eastern Europe Vahe Torosyan. According to the contract, “Viva Cell” will receive technical aid from “Microsoft’, as well as privileges and service advantages.
This year, the Japanese “Mitsubishi Electric” company also took part in the “DigiTec” expo. “Mitsubishi Electric” has been selling its air conditioners in Armenia for a while now. “Now we are presenting multimedia projects, which can be applied in the educational and business environments, as well as in the home. Besides that, we present cameras that can hold a lot of information. Later, we plan to present monitors for industrial work for dispatchers or airports and big-screen lighted TVs for streets,” said manager of the CIS countries representing “Mitsubishi Electric” Mikhail Nevzorov. According to him, the company is only proposing solutions during the expo. “Mitsubishi is not directly selling its products in Armenia, rather it’’s working with the local companies. Besides that, according to M. Nevzorov, they are having meetings with the Prime Minister of Armenia and the IT companies’ union with the purpose of discussing the development of global issues concerning video-technologies. “It’s clear that education can no longer develop with the chalk and eraser. It has to progress with new technologies and there have to be new solutions. Armenia will get up to that point sooner or later, but as to how fast it’ll get there is a matter of discussion for the IT field,” says the “Mitsubishi” representative. According to him, their company has researched the energy sector of Armenia and discovered that the equipment is old and that the Armenian companies will demand solutions sooner or later. Otherwise, Armenia will experience what Moscow experienced in 2005, when the electricity of the entire city went out for a couple of days. The “Mitsubishi” representative believes that Armenia has great potential when it comes to the IT field, especially high-quality engineers. M. Nevzorov said that “Mitsubishi” will do everything it can to have Armenia join the world IT group.
Another international company-the Dutch “Metris” INC presented the high-quality “Laboras” and “Sonotrak” measuring equipment, which are foreseen for studying the behavior of animals through clinical research. The main goal is to correctly determine the negative influence that drugs have during the research of toxicological drugs. “Metris IT Solution” company is involved in programming the equipment, as well as the elaboration of the “autopilot” program in airplanes. In response to our question as to whether or not that equipment is used in Armenia, the technical manager of “Metris” and director of “Metris IT Solution” Levon Baghdasaryan said: “At the moment, Armenia doesn’t have high-quality laboratories because the current laboratories are in a really bad situation and have many financial problems due to the collapse of the Soviet Union. We’re not looking for any market right now, rather we’re letting people know about the equipment we have. I think that throughout the course of time, we will be able to restoro the laboratories with the help of the Armenian government (through subsidies in other countries, for example). One of the equipments costs 80,000 Euros in Europe, while the other costs 12,000. But according to L. Baghdasryan, the Dutch have special discounts for Armenians.
For over two years now, the world-known “Intel” company is participating in “Digitec” by representing the “UniComp” organization and presenting its new line of technologies. This time, the company was known for its “digital home”, which includes a centralized equipment, computer, TV, DVD-player and a stereo. According to the “Unicomp” representative, it is multi-functional, however “it’s not expensive, it’s equivalent to the price of a good computer.”
“Alekserv” INC represented “Planet Technology Corporations” at “Digitec 2006” and it covered the concert/sport complex with its cordless Internet connection. Director of “Alekserv” Hayk Yesayan says that the company plans to cover all of Yerevan with cordless Internet connection. That may take six months to a year. Cordless connection will let people use the Internet without the help of dial-up. H. Yesayants says that this has nothing to do with “ArmenTel” and anyone can have access to the cordless Internet.
Some companies that had taken part last year didn’t participate in this year’s “Digitec” expo. They probably didn’t “get” anything out of it, but there are many companies that have high expectations.