CSE Students Help Their Team Take Second Place in the Open Government Data Hackathon

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YEREVAN, Armenia – The American University of Armenia (AUA) is proud to announce that a team that included two students from the Computer Science (CS) program of the Akian College of Science and Engineering (CSE) took second place in the Open Government Data Hackathon. Mark Hovsepyan (BS CS ‘20) and Hovhannes Stepanyan (BS CS ‘19) participated in this competition of innovative ideas and programming.

The event took place at the Innovative Solutions and Technologies Center (ISTC) on April 13-14, 2019. It was implemented by the Public Journalism Club (PJC) NGO, in cooperation with the Transparency International Anticorruption Center, ISTC, and Armavir Development Center, with funding from the U.S. Embassy and the World Bank.

The hackathon provided a platform for Armenia’s experts in technology and civil society to promote open and transparent governance in the country by creating useful projects to reduce corruption risks in various sectors of public administration. The competition comprised a number of events targeting the development of innovative solutions for governance, transparency, and accountability.

An independent panel of experts, which included AUA Assistant Professor and Chair of the Data Science (DS) program, Dr. Habet Madoyan, selected the winning teams. Winners received monetary prizes and other investment opportunities. The AUA students were encouraged to participate in the hackathon by their instructor Arman Arakelyan, who teaches an Information Visualization course at AUA and is the Operations Manager at the Entrepreneurship and Product Innovation Center (EPIC).

“We wanted to try something new and gain some professional experience in the format of the hackathon. It was challenging, as we had limited time and limited resources. However, we managed to get to the point where our project was able to win and if we had to do it again it would be much easier considering the experience of those two days and our collaborative work,” said Hovsepyan. “Challenge yourself even if you don’t know what to expect, since that way you push yourself to produce great results and be proud of them.”

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.