Co-founder and CINO of Blockchain R&D Hub Arman Aleksanian was an expert jury member at the semifinal of the Eurasian Digital Platforms competition that took place on October 6th, 2018. The contest was part of the international technological exhibition DigiTec Expo 2018.
The inaugural competition was organized by the Eurasian Economic Commission in preparation for the Eurasian Week forum. Eurasian Digital Platforms’ goal is to identify companies and projects that can make a significant contribution to the development of the EAEU Integrated Information System with the implementation of EAEU’s digital agenda in mind. The competition’s semifinals take place at the largest business forums in each of these countries. The finalists and the winners of the contest will be announced at the annual forum during Eurasian Week 2018 from October 22-24, 2018 in Yerevan, Armenia.
Special guests of the competition included Armenian Minister of Transport, Communication and Information Technologies Hakob Arshakyan and Armenian Minister of Education and Science Arayik Harutyunyan. EEC Board Member Karine Minasyan served as Jury Chairman and Blockchain R&D Hub’s Arman Aleksian served as a jury member for the competition.
Armenia was the fifth destination after four semi-finals in four different countries. The twenty finalists from five countries were identified as businesses with an interest in the implementation of the EAEU’s digital agenda and its readiness to integrate into this process with real projects that can be scaled across the Eurasian Economic Union according to Karine Minasyan. She also stated that the competition was already a success.
Out of the thirty Armenian projects that competed, twelve of them made it to the semifinals and 4 four of them won (Earlyone, Kamurj, Armat Lab and Shadowmatic).
Earlyone took the Digital Future of the EAEU prize. The project is a queue management system that helps save the resources and time of companies and people. Earlyone’s CEO and founder Gevorg Safaryan said that the system is currently being used by banks, telecom companies, insurance, and credit organizations in Armenia. People from Belarus and Kazakhstan showed an interest in implementing Earlyone in their countries.
Kamurj won in the category of Best Technological Solutions for Implementing the Digital Agenda of the EAEU. The project is a digital platform to facilitate international cooperation of raw materials and the production of goods within the EEU. Kamurj co-founder Hamlet Asatryan said that the project aims to increase the efficiency of trade relations between the member states of the EAEU.
Laboratory Armat won in the category of Best Digital Projects of the EAEU. The company works to create labs that instill professional skills among schoolchildren through after-school engineering programs for children aged 10-18. The company has created 230 labs in Armenia where approximately 5300 children have learned programming, animation, robotics, 3D modeling, and how to make drones.
Shadowmatic (also an Armenian firm) won the prize for the Best Game for Children and Teenagers in the category of the EEU Digital Agenda. The project is a 3D puzzle in which you need to rotate abstract objects and create silhouettes using their shadows. This is supposed to help children expand the limits of their imagination.
The four semifinalists will be participating in the finals at the Eurasian Week Forum. The winners will have the chance to obtain international and government support and attract investment and other forms of assistance from leading digital corporations, venture funds, accelerators, and industry associations.