In the past six years, the IT industry in Armenia has been growing by an average of 22 percent annually. The IT sector now employs more than 15,000 people, accounts for 5 percent of the country’s GDP, and is a solid bet in a landlocked country with strong math skills.
These realities, coupled with a few success stories for Armenian companies in the tech world, have caused some to go as far as dubbing Armenia “the Silicon Valley of the Caucasus.”
3,000 Vacancies and the Tragedy of Untapped Potential
While the country is struggling with high labor migration and an unemployment rate of 18.5 percent, sources indicate that there may be as many as 3,000 vacancies in the IT sector today.
“There is so much untapped potential,” says Patrick Sarkissian, ONEArmenia’s founder. “While IT firms are hiring, hundreds of young people leave Armenia every year to find work abroad.”
The problem is straightforward enough: Armenia’s IT sector has, in fact, grown so fast that we’re now lacking qualified workers to fill in the vacancies.
“Hye Tech Kids” is a program that will bring the latest technologies to classrooms in rural Armenia, and give every kid a fair chance.
ONEArmenia, in partnership with The Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE) will equip five schools with Armath labs, a made-in-Armenia engineering lab that includes a 3D printer, CNC devices, hand-made mini-computers, a robot kit, and two educational coding programs.
The $57,882 raised via ONEArmenia will also be used to train and deploy coaches to each lab with the mission to teach, accompany, and inspire the kids who attend the after-school club. “Attendance isn’t mandatory,” explains Anna Sargsyan, project coordinator at UITE. “But the overwhelming majority of students who come once, come back for more.”
A prototype of this program was implemented from 2008 to present by UITE, and has proven to be successful with 500 graduates to date, 70% of whom are now working, or continuing their education in the IT field.
The curriculum is designed so that students are directly employable once they graduate. “Teenagers who attend for 3 or 4 years already acquire enough technical knowledge to find entry-level jobs in the IT sphere” explains Sargsyan from UITE. “And those who choose to study STEM related fields at university benefit from a big head start.”
From Potential to Growth
By connecting children and teenagers with the resources they need to work in IT, ONEArmenia and UITE capitalize on Armenia’s greatest asset: its brain power. To help them bring the latest tech tools to rural schools, and the brightest kids to the IT sector, check out their campaign, and donate now.
