YEREVAN, OCTOBER 5, NOYAN TAPAN. "The youth is a driving force of information technologies, and I believe that a community of young people engaged in the IT sector will form in Armenia under the aegis of the UN organization IT Global Development Alliance." Sarbuland Khan, Executive Director of the organization, stated this during the award-giving ceremony of the 4th open programming contest on October 5. Advisor to the RA Prime Minister Ara Hakobian said that the Armenian IT sector's potential consists in professional abilities of its employees. He attached special importance to the contest from the point of view that it provides an opportunity to identify competitive specialists. The holding of the contest in Vanadzor and Gyumri was supported by the UNDP Armenia Office, whose purpose, according to the UN Resident Coordinator in Armenia, UNDP Resident Represenatative Ms Consuelo Vidal, is to assist with development of the Armenian marzes by creating equal opportunities for local young people and those from the capital city in terms of finding a job. The 4th open programming contest (C++ and JAVA languages) included 4 stages. Unlike in previous years, this year's contest was held not only in Yerevan but also in Vanadzor and Gyumri. During the first stage, 50 out of 350 contestants were chosen, including 42 from Yerevan, 4 from Gyumri and 4 from Vanadzor. 30 were elected for the participation in the individual stage on September 30, with 10 teams being formed of these contestants to take part in the team contest on October 3. The contest involved programmers under the age of 30. After the individual and team contests, then winners were announced. For a second time, Vahe Musoyan won the individual contest and was awarded a prize of 300 thousand drams. Those in second and third places were given prizes in the amount of 200 thousand and 150 thousand drams. The winners of the team contest - Ara Arakelian, Gevorg Horomian and Armen Tsirunian were awarded a 450 thousand dram-prize. The teams in second and third places received awards in the amount of 300 thousand and 150 thousand drams. The Enterprise Incubator Foundation, the "All-Armenian Youth Center" fund, the UNDP Armenia Office and the USAID's Competitive Private Sector in Armenia Program's Office were the organizers of the contest.

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