AUA Alumna Facilitates Technovation Armenia

2 min read

YEREVAN, Armenia- Narine Abazian is the President and Founder of Women and Information Society NGO, and a graduate from AUA’s Industrial Engineering Program. Her organization, whose mission is “to contribute to the integration of women and girls in the Information Society of Armenia” is responsible for the fact that, since 2012, Armenia has celebrated International Girls in ICT Day (Information and Communications Technology). Recognition of this day works to encourage and empower girls to pursue careers in ICT.

This year, to further this initiative, the Women and Information Society NGO in collaboration with the National Institute of Education, organized Armenia’s participation in the international competition, Technovation. With support from AUA, the United Nations in Armenia, the Association of Employers of Information and Communication Technology Employers, Synopsys Armenia, Unicomp and the Enterprise Incubator Foundation, Technovation Armenia afforded Armenian girls the opportunity to participate in this competition.

Schoolgirls (ages 10-18) from Yerevan and several regions around Armenia entered the competition and spent twelve months creating mobile apps to solve specific problems around the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) within their respective communities. Among the projects submitted were mobile applications for the blind, for the deaf, for internet safety, garbage management, access to transportation for underserved communities, inclusive education and others.

On May 5, 2017, AUA hosted the final stage of Technovation Armenia: the Regional Pitch Event. Three Armenian teams were selected to enter the international competition comprising more that 11,000 girls from around the world. From the 3000 teams representing 105 countries, 12 finalist teams were selected, among them One Step Ahead, an Armenian team from Karbi school in the province of Aragatsotn. The team of five girls created the Armenian Sign Language app which they will be presenting at the World Pitch Summit, hosted by Google, in Silicon Valley from August 7-11.

“I would like to thank Dr. Aram Hajian,” Abazian told AUA, “Dean of  AUA’s College of Science and Engineering, for his kind support and welcoming speech in this year’s forum and  Assistant Vice President Anahit Ordyan for her inspirational speech to the schoolgirls. My special thanks to Aram Keryan, operations manager at EPIC (Entrepreneurship
& Product Innovation Center of AUA) and a judge during the Regional Pitch Event for Technovation Armenia.”

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides a global education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.