YEREVAN—The Microsoft Innovation Center in Armenia, the Public Journalism Club of Armenia, and Zvartnots Airport, in cooperation with Microsoft Armenia and Counterpart International, are ready to kick off Armenia’s third annual hackathon contest (dubbed Hackathon[YAN] 2013), a competition dedicated to computer programming and tech innovation.
Within a time period of 24 hours, competing teams of programmers and designers will have to develop prototype programs and applications, which will ultimately be assessed by a panel of expert judges.
Head of the Public Journalism Club, Seda Muradyan, says there are no boundaries in the field of information technologies and a talented team has a chance at taking a big step into the field through this contest.
Director of the Microsoft Innovation Center in Armenia, Eva Hyusyan, says the interest in the contest increases year by year. While only about 35 teams participated in the event two years ago, the number of applications for this year’s competition has already exceeded 50.
Director of Microsoft Armenia, Grigor Barseghyan, attaches importance to three main principles when judging a submission: the novelty of the idea, its technical implementation, and the possibility of application.
Four companies were registered as a result of the previous contest, and now successfully continue their activities not only in Armenia, but also in foreign markets.
Organizers say the contest is a starting point of a process and hope that this year the hackathon will also produce interesting and practical results. The winner of the competition will receive 1 million dram ($2,469).
A hackathon – also known as a hack day, hackfest or codefest – is an event in which programmers, designers, and project managers are challenged to collaborate intensively on software development. The tradition of a hackathon started in Silicon Valley as an educational and fun event aimed at solving existing problems in computer technology and at spurring innovation in the field.
