YEREVAN, DECEMBER 8, NOYAN TAPAN. Armenian students will participate for the first time in "ImagineCup" international contest held by Microsoft, with the final stage of the contest to take place in Paris in July 2008, NT correspondent was informed by Grigor Barseghian, the director of Microsoft RA company - Microsoft's Armenian subsidiary. This annual contest has been held since 2003. According to G. Barseghian, the use of information technologies in education is the subject of "ImagineCup 2007", while the subject of the 2008 contest is related to environmental protection. The teams, which must be composed of up to 4 students and a lecturer, may already register at www.imaginecup.com or the website of the same name in .ru domain. The contest has nominations on software solutions, photos and videofilms. The prize fund for the international finals is 200 thousand dollars. G. Barseghian said that the teams to reach the final stage, which will be held in Armenia in late May or early June 2008, will receive prizes, while the best team will take part in the international finals in Paris. Armenian teams may also participate in the contest by sending their works to the website, and the travel expenses of the teams to reach the international finals in this way will be financed by Microsoft. By the way, Synopsys Armenia and some other companies of the IT sector have expressed their intention to contribute to the prize fund of the Armenian finals. In the words of Miscrosoft RA's director, ideas proposed by student teams during the contest may become a commercial product. It is possible that either the teams will form companies for further development of these ideas, or these ideas and products created on their basis will be purchased by other companies. "On the other hand, the participation in "ImagineCup" will demonstrate our youth's potential in the IT sector. It will encourage investments in the educational system," he added. G. Barseghian said that the Enterprise Incubator Foundation and the USAID Competitive Armenian Private Sector (CAPS) Program will assist Microsoft RA in the organization of Armenian teams' participation in the contest.

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