ArmInfo. Ameriabank has summed up the results of the "Be the Change" student contest, launched jointly with the Visa payment system at the end of last year. 11 teams from Yerevan and the regions of Armenia took part in the final stage of the contest. By holding such a competition, Ameriabank attaches importance to the development, potential and ideas of young people. The ceremony of awarding the winners of the competition took place on April 13 at the head office of Ameriabank.
The winner of the competition was the Take AR Startup team, representing young people from different regions of Armenia, starting from Tavush, ending with Aragatsotn, Gegharkunik. The idea of young people was to increase the efficiency and interest in the educational process using AR technologies (Augmented Reality). In particular, the project provides for an application that will be adapted to 8th grade anatomy textbooks, thanks to which schoolchildren will be able to study the structure of the human body in 3D format. The team started working on the idea back in 2018, however, thanks to the platform provided by Ameriabank, work has been intensive since the beginning of the year. According to the winners, the idea is planned to be implemented within 9 months.
Representative of the jury, Head of Ameria Management Advisory Services Tigran Jrbashyan noted that the choice fell on this team for several reasons. He first mentioned the innovation, and as an important element of it Jrbashyan singled out the changes in the society, which can be due to the implementation of such an initiative.
<Change starts in the mind. Another issue is that we do not have experience for these changes, knowledge, we are not yet mature enough to imagine these changes in reality. But I am impressed and glad that the guys gathered today have these changes in their heads>, he said. Jrbashyan noted that today's generation does not have a Soviet past and is more free in comparison with its predecessors. And, despite the problems with the level of education, he stressed that today's youth is more open, ready to look to the future and change it. "Such investments that are aimed at developing the creative thought of young people are extremely important for the future of our country," he said. At the same time, the stressed that systemic reforms in education today are more necessary for Armenia than projects to build schools, raise wages, etc. In this vein, Jrbashyan noted that the competitiveness of education is often forgotten, in the case when the world, with the development of its technologies, dictates to young people to be competitive precisely in this context.
Among the projects that reached the final, according to him, quite serious areas were presented, however, as a result of heated discussions, the choice fell on the education sector due to the presence of serious problems in education in Armenia, especially in the regions of the country. At the same time, he noted that 4 projects alone were related to cleaning, garbage collection. <Attitude towards garbage is the most important symbol in terms of our attitude towards our country. Therefore, it is very important that several projects were devoted to this particular topic, which means that our youth wants change>, Tigran Jrbashyan said.
At the end of the awards presentation, the jury members agreed that the teams that presented their innovative projects today should continue working on them, look for their competitive advantages, and analyze their ideas more deeply. In particular, many participants will be assisted by the members of the jury or will continue to work within the framework of acceleration projects. During the competition, teams of 4 or more students presented their innovative ideas that can make a positive difference in the life of society, a person or a group of people in the educational or economic field. In total, 11 teams made it to the final stage of the competition, of which those who took 2nd to 6th places were awarded cash rewards in the amount of 100 thousand drams. And the winning team received 3 million drams for the implementation of the project.
Other members of the jury were Rebecca Hakobyan, Chief Marketing and Communication Officer of Ameriabank, Vahan Melkumyan, Head of Learning and Development Division of the Human Resources Management Service of Ameriabank, Elen Danielyan, Head of Personal Banking and Cards Direction of Ameriabank, Artyom Shamtsyan, Chief Innovation and Digital Officer of Ameriabank, Nazareth Seferian, Corporate Social Responsibility expert, Armine Mkrtchyan, member of the Board of Trustees of “reArmenia” platform, Seda Papoyan, Managing Director, Girls in Tech Armenia, Diana Arzumanyan, CEO and Co-Founder, Orion Worldwide Innovations Armenia, Anna Khachatryan, Operations and Community Manager, EPIC incubator.
It should be reminded that Ameriabank is one of the most dynamically developing banks in Armenia, which is one of the most stable and largest financial institutions in the country. Ameriabank is a universal bank providing corporate, investment and retail banking services in a comprehensive package. Ameriabank holds leadership in the banking system of Armenia in terms of key financial indicators.
