Many young people from Gyumri in Armenia’s Shirak region see their future in the sector of information technologies (IT), and the Gyumri Technology Centre (GTC) – developed with the help of EU4Business – is exactly what they seek.
The GTC is an inspiring example for other regions of Armenia. In October 2017, an IT incubation laboratory was opened in the centre as part of the ‘Boosting Technological Developments in Shirak Marz’ project, funded by the European Union as part of tis EU4Business initiative, and by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Development of the Republic of Armenia.
The project aims to supports Shirak’s economic development by reducing youth unemployment and developing the IT community and relevant businesses.
The incubation laboratory offers 17- to 35-year-olds six months of free training on programming. This is followed by a five-month internship, after which the best candidates will be provided with a permanent job at companies operating in the GTC.
The project helps IT companies grow and create new jobs, expecting to facilitate the employment of 90 IT professionals in local companies. This two-year project was launched in December 2016 and has a budget of €750,000. The EU contribution is €510,000.
Sona Harutyunyan, a training participant, rates the IT incubation lab highly: “The knowledge we gained at University is basic. This project has enabled us to deepen our knowledge to enter into the IT profession. In six months we have significantly deepened the knowledge that we received at University. After six months of training, we took an exam and passed to the internship stage. I am doing my internship at the ‘Synergy’ Company and it will last for 5 months. We will prepare a project, which we will be presented. The IT sector in Gyumri is developing and there are many vacancies. This will give us the opportunity to stay in Gyumri after the training and not go to Yerevan.”
After participating in the training and doing an internship, Armen Movsisyan now works at the ‘Chessify’ company: “After graduation, we were able to put skills into practice. We took exams and did an internship at the company, which wanted to give us a chance. Now I’m working at ‘Chessify’. Recently, especially when GTC moved to a new building, it was a great stimulus for Gyumri residents to prove their talent in the IT sector.”