Project information

StatusFinalist
URLGo to website
CategoryEconomic Development
CountryArmenia
Operational areasUrban
Target groupsYouth, Women, Men, Seniors
Fixed connectionCable
Wireless connectionWiFi
Access pointsGovernment office, Business, School
InteractLandline Phone, Desktop Computer, Cellphone, Laptop
Software License TypesOpen Source, Proprietary

Project location

Random images Challenge 2008

ICT/High Tech Educational Consortium Design and Establishment

  • Brief description

  • ICT/High-Tech Educational Consortium will become the innovative form of the collaboration between educational institutions and ICT/High Tech companies in Armenia for the determination of qualifying requirements to the contemporary ICT specialists, for the consultations during the formulation of educational curricula, corresponding to the contemporary ICT/High Tech industry needs, for the organization of professional students’ practices etc. It will also become ICT/High Tech industry R&D center, where high quality professionals will be involved. The best students who will present prospective business plans will get financial support to start their own companies.

  • Vision, Objectives and Goals

  • The vision of the Consortium on ICT/High Tech education is to create a network of leading ICT/High Tech companies and universities in Armenia to enable and promote innovation and the advancement of technology through a variety of educational programs that will ensure the long-term growth of ICT/High Tech industry.  Consortium will operate in accordance with the ICT/High Tech community needs and will solve different types of problems connected with education and R&D.

    Each UITE member can contribute to Consortium through:

    ·        Funding

    ·        Integrating their best specialists into the teaching process

    ·        Sharing educational models

    ·        Providing appropriate equipment

    ·        Providing scholarships to outstanding students

    ·        Supporting innovative ideas and providing technical assistance to startup ICT/High Tech companies

    So, UITE is planning to undertake this and other projects for solving educational and advocacy problems in the sector.

  • How does ICT contribute to the organisational objectives
  • ICT/High-Tech Educational Consortium will become the innovative form of the collaboration between educational institutions and ICT/High Tech companies in Armenia for the determination of qualifying requirements to the contemporary ICT specialists, for the consultations during the formulation of educational curricula, corresponding to the contemporary ICT/High Tech industry needs, for the organization of professional students’ practices etc. It will also become ICT/High Tech industry R&D center, where high quality professionals will be involved. The contribution of ICT is quite obvious here, as it is rahter impossible to establish ICT/High Tech Educaitonal Consortium without usage of the most advanced ICT tools.
  • Transferability
  • The strength of the Consortium model in Armenia is that it will comprise 20 different IT companies - UITE members’ representatives, whose united work will create synergy effect. The international experience shows that ICT Consortia are of great success and, considering the fact the almost in all Post Soviet countries Universities experience the lack of funds, which prevents the faculty from involving high quality specialists in the teaching and R&D process, because adequate specialists work in the industry, where salaries are much higher than Universities can afford to offer, having Educational Consortia that can unify industry, universities and governmental structures can contribute to countries' economic development. This project can be applicable in any country with transition economy.
  • Project summary
  • According to the Enterprise Incubator Foundation studies, the representatives of ICT/High Tech companies regard the current number of students as adequate to meet industry’s demand in technical specialists. At the same time, they point that the overall quality of the graduates does not meet the needs of the industry. Many graduates require on job training in order to become qualified for full time positions.Some UITE members try to solve the problem in different ways, for example, the major players of the ICT/High Tech industry such as Lycos and Synopsys have created training centers, which enroll about 200 students annually with narrow specializations, appropriate for their companies. However, these two companies are exceptions, because the majority of ICT/High Tech industry participants can not afford organizing such training, because it is too expensive.UITE was specially set up by the private sector representatives to consolidate industry issues for advocacy, to facilitate business and encourage advancement of research in the ICT/High Tech sector and one of the major goals of UITE strategy, that was developed with the participation of all 20 UITE members, is to enhance educational, training and certification existing possibilities, and also to create new opportunities that will bring continuous results. Today all the Universities in Armenia, which are responsible for education quality, have several problems, and the main one is the lack of funds, which prevents the faculty from involving high quality specialists in the teaching and R&D process, because adequate specialists work in the industry, where salaries are much higher than Universities can afford to offer. One of the reasons for educational funds limitation is that Armenian legislation does not provide any tax benefits for educational investments, i.e. all funds that are spent on educational quality increase are taxed.  The result is that although there are about 1000 graduates from ICT/High Tech related departments of different Universities each year, only 10% of them possess necessary knowledge and skills to be employed by ICT/High Tech companies. Nevertheless, this knowledge is obtained not during their studies at the Universities or colleges, but via self trainings or trainings provided by ICT/High Tech companies.  The above listed problems need quick solutions as the lack of qualified specialists hinders the industry natural development pace. Far not all ICT/High Tech companies can afford creating training centers and teaching students as Lycos and Synopsis do, at the same time they have human and financial resources that can be used and bring results if companies join their efforts. During annual UITE general meeting held on 2 March, 2007, UITE members made a resolve to design and establish ICT/High Tech Educational Consortium. To ensure favorable conditions for Consortium activities and investment opportunities, UITE plans to work out conceptional outline of the possible changes in the tax legislation such as tax benefits for educational investments.