FemInno, the largest female innovation platform in Armenia and the region, held a conference in Yerevan from July 27 to 28 for the third consecutive year. More than 50 panelists gathered under one roof for two days of talks and workshops, and discussed the hottest topic of the technological world: artificial intelligence and its impact on all spheres of life.
FemInno 2024 opened with welcoming remarks by the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, Zhanna Andreasyan, who addressed participants and guests who had arrived from more than 10 different countries, including the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Denmark, Austria, Netherlands, Georgia, and more. In her remarks, Andreasyan reaffirmed the importance of educational initiatives in the fields of STEM in Armenia and emphasized the positive impact government standards have had on public education STEM programs.
During the opening of the conference, the new collaborative efforts with the WCIT conference were also announced. Founder of FemInno, Seda Papoyan, and the executive director of WCIT 2024, Hayk Karapetyan, signed a Memorandum of Understanding at the event.
Among the guest speakers of the FemInno conference was Ida Tin, representing Germany, who created the term “femtech” in 2016. Her “Clue” mobile app is the number one women’s health app in the world, with over 15 million users in 180 countries.
The speakers at the conference were Sabrina Palme, founder of Palqee from Great Britain, artificial intelligence researcher Eugenia Stamboliev from Austria; Armen Orujyan, head of the Armenian FAST Foundation, who implemented the “AI Generation” program in public schools; co-director of world-famous Armenian startup Picsart, Madlene Minassian; Danish Nermeen Ghoniem, who is a member of the Board of the Danish National Center for Artificial Intelligence; and many others.
Zarik Boghossian, an Armenian American who is the founder of several successful technology businesses and an investor in various Armenian startups, shared his own success story, inspiring the attendees at the conference.
This year, FemInno was hosted in one of the oldest buildings in Yerevan, the Arno Babajanyan concert hall, in the heart of the capital, where talks, workshops, panel discussions and performances were held on all floors. The conference, again, cooperated with international organizations like the UNDP and GIZ.
The 2024 conference was attended by long-standing partners, such as Align Technology, as well as new partners, including the Amundi-ACBA asset management company.
“We can already confidently say that every year at the end of July, thanks to FemInno, we are able to create an international celebration of women and innovation, which makes Armenia visible and interesting to the world in a new way. We reaffirm that in Armenia and everywhere, women have great potential in all levels of innovation,” said Seda Papoyan, Founder of FemInno.
Leading experts and managers of Armenian IT companies shared their experiences at the FemInno conference, including Irina Dumanyan, head of Siemens Armenia; Suzanna Azoyan, executive director of SADA Armenia; Arsen Baghdasaryan, head of DataArt; and others. Industry experts in HR, such as Ani Meruzhan Margaryan, Lilit Gevorgyan, Lilit Papikyan, Narek Aslikyan and others, shared their professional experience with the participants.
At the end of the FemInno 2024 conference, the organization’s annual scholarship program, named after Sona Mnatsakanyan, was summarized. Eight young female students received scholarships to pursue their educational goals in the fields of science and technology.
In the coming months, the FemInno platform plans to bring its conference to New York. Previously, FemInno has held conferences in San Francisco and Sydney.
