Saturday, 13 December 2008
The IT Development Support Council (ITDSC) met at the Office of Government, chaired by council head, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan.
The council discussed the current status information technologies, the course of implementation of the assignments issued at the previous session, took note of a September 17 amendment to the presidential decree ref. PD-896 of July 20, 2008 on setting up an IT Development Support Council September 17, 2008. The Council similarly discussed the course of preparations for introduction of the Armenian version of Windows Vista operating system and the rules of procedure for ITDSC task forces.
Before proceeding to the discussion of other agenda items, Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan introduced the new council members elected on a rotational basis according to the presidential decree ref. no. 247-P, September 17, 2008.
Then the Council reviewed the current status of information technologies in Armenia against a background of continued global financial and economic crisis. The representatives of council-member companies came up with over a dozen of proposals concerning corporate activities in the given sector, which were accepted by the Council. As suggested by the Prime Minister, the proposals concerning the improvement of the business environment in the country, the use of Diaspora’s potentialities in stimulating the IT sector, the design of a concept for backing young companies etc will be reorganized into council decisions with the indication of specific timings and responsibilities for their implementation. The prime minister called on the company heads to be exacting as much as possible as to the compliance with the decisions passed during joint discussions.
Concerning the status of previous session’s assignments, ITDSC Executive Secretary Armen Grigoryan and RA Minister of Economy Nerses Yeritsyan said they have been carried out as a whole. In particular, the proposals of the Minister of Economy concerning the import of fixed satellite communication stations, adopting a simplified procedure for the allocation and use of radio frequencies have already been endorsed and will be sent off to corresponding authorities on behalf of the Government. According to another decision, an expert group has been established with the purpose of studying the efficiency of Fiber-Net Communication Ltd’s use of the “north-south” optical cable. RA Minister of Economy Nerces Yeritsyan reported that a group has been set up to draft the final list of events under the Month of Information Technologies, prepare a package of proposals concerning organizational issues. The council membership was informed that in line with another assignment, together with the tax administration experts, the ITDSC Secretariat organized discussions concerning the proposals on the amendment of tax laws as submitted on the part of the top-executives from the Enterprise Incubator Foundation. As a result, mutually acceptable proposals were formulated and submitted to the Council for consideration. Concerning the submitted proposals, the prime minister instructed the Minister of Economy to finalize them for discussion at the Supreme Council on Introduction of New Culture of Revenue Administration. Concerning the assistance to the Armenian-English translation software package development process, the Minister of Economy advised that consultations have been organized on this issue with their outcome to be submitted to council members for approval.
With reference to the next agenda item, namely the passing of rules of procedure for ITDSC task forces, the following working groups have been: on strategic policy, on investment and business opportunities, scientific - educational, legal regulation, telecommunication and Internet infrastructure, culture and language, e-government. The document streamlines the activities of these groups and coordinates the cooperation with State agencies and non- governmental organizations. It was also mentioned that these working groups are advisory bodies which will comprise ITDSC members, inclusive of government representatives, cultural and scientific - educational establishments, international, public and private organizations. Their primary goal is to discuss and provide the Council with proposals concerning the development of the sphere of information technologies and telecommunications, formulate actions and programs in this direction and conceptual approaches. The package specifies the powers invested in these working groups. The meeting approved the nominations of working group supervisors.
In conclusion, head of the culture and language working group Haik Khanjyan reported on the status of the Armenian version of Windows Vista computer operating system.
