Conference Connecting Science and Technology in Armenia

On October 11-12, Armenia will host the "Integration of Science and Technology" conference, aimed at creating possible collaboration foundations between local research groups and both foreign universities and international as well as local IT and technology companies.

As part of the conference, guests and speakers from the Diaspora will visit Armenia, while representatives of the local scientific community will present reports, and research groups will showcase their work at their booths.

The main goal is to achieve tangible and clear results. For example, a local research group will conduct research work for local technology enterprises alongside a scientific supervisor from a foreign university.

The vision is to establish connections between international and local scientific research groups, facilitating reciprocal visits between Armenian and foreign scientists, thus turning Armenia into a center of economic interests for scientists.

The conference is organized by the Institute of Informatics and Automation Problems of the National Academy of Sciences and the Catalyst Foundation, an initiative of SmartGateVC, supported by the European Union's "Support for SME Development in Armenia" program (EU-SMEDA). According to Ashot Arzumanyan, co-founder of SmartGateVC, the critical factor is to have science in Armenia.

"We have a serious industry formed on the basis of Soviet science, but in the last 30 years, our science has been gradually deteriorating due to lack of funding. In fact, our industry tomorrow may be at risk just because today science is not developing at the same pace, it is falling behind. We must restore science, so that large Armenian companies do not open their laboratories in other countries for objective reasons at this time. We need to create foundations for cooperation, resolve funding issues, and develop schemes," says Ashot.

The conference has invited those who are genuinely needed. The goal is not for guests to come, talk about their good opportunities, and leave. They have chosen people who can lead scientific work, are ready to provide direction, and collaborate.

The main areas of the conference include machine learning, quantum computing, computational biology, electronic design automation, computer vision, robotics, and the Internet of Things.

The organizers have met with representatives of relevant state bodies to discuss potential funding options, create working conditions for diaspora scientists in Armenia, and address issues related to the development of science in Armenia.