Today, on April 19, 2012, the Press Conference dedicated to the Annual Award “The Best IT Managers” 2012 was held in Synopsys Armenia. This is the second year of the contest. Synopsys Armenia CJSC is the main organizer and VivaCell-MTS CJSC is the sponsor of the Award. The Speakers were: the President of Award Committee, Director of Synopsys Armenia CJSC Hovik Musayelyan; the members of Award Committee: General Manager of sponsoring company VivaCell-MTS CJSC Ralph Yirikian and Assistant to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Vardan Nikoyan. “Investing in young managers with state-of-the-art knowledge in IT sphere is the most important factor leading Armenia to have its special place in IT global market”- said the President of the Award Committee, Director of Synopsys Armenia CJSC Hovik Musayelyan. “It is obviously impossible to enhance the overall effectiveness of economic system without IT sphere and in this context the educational and training system of IT specialists has vital role as an essential guaranty of modernization. Implementing this program will majorly contribute to both development of local organizations and overall advancement of the sphere” – said Assistant to the RA Prime Minister Vardan Nikoyan “We believe that highly effective IT sector requires highly-skilled IT managers able to lead the change and innovation both in technology applied science and management. By sponsoring the participation of Armenian IT managers in a world-class IT management training at Stanford, VivaCell-MTS at the same time sets strict requirements before the selected IT managers: we expect that three IT managers having passed the Stanford's flagship IT management program, upon returning to the country will lead innovation in technology and IT management,” VivaCell-MTS General Manager commented. “The training will have strong, tangible and long-term outcomes on the national level, stretching far beyond selected IT companies whose managers were selected to take part in the training,” added Ralph Yirikian. The Annual Award “The Best IT Managers”, established under the high patronage of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia aims to provide IT Managers in Armenia with favorable opportunities to improve managerial qualifications and skills in business administration by taking training courses in different prestigious universities around the world. Winners will have an opportunity to: • Learn business management principles that determine success in tech industry, • Test their business perspectives and innovative thinking , • Gain business knowledge from distinguished faculty with high-tech experience , • Create new professional relationships with highly qualified peers and build life-long business contacts , • Become a part of an exclusive network of 3500+ executives. Eligible candidates are IT managers with at least 10 year managerial experience; working at IT companies registered in Armenia. Winners from the previous year cannot submit an application in the subsequent three years. Procedure: Eligible candidates are welcomed to submit Application form and the list of required documents electronically to bestit@gov.am no later than April 21, 2012. The selection process is conducted by Award Committee appointed by the Prime Minister’s decree. The winners will be announced by May 15. The prestigious 15-day training course at the Stanford Executive Institute will take place in August 2012.

---