by Haroutiun Khachatrian The Union of Information Technology Enterprises (UITE) is a business association, i.e. a union of legal entities pursuing common professional interests. According to Executive Director of UITE Karen Vardanian, the aim of the association is to protect the interests of its members, also to promote the development of the information technology industry in Armenia and to prevent unfair competition in this sector. Karen Vardanian said that the members of their association are companies of various sizes, each of which has its own peculiarities. Among the UITE members are big companies like VivaCell, Orange, and Synopsys, as well as numerous smaller companies. Yet all the members have equal rights not conditioned by the size of the given company and its profits. The UITE executive director said that their organization has a special commission that settles any conflict of interests between members. The UITE was established in 2000 by six members. Today it has over 50 member companies. Karen Vardanian told Noyan Tapan correspondent that UITE employs lawyers and other experts to realize its objectives. Besides, the association organizes numerous events that serve as a platform for further meetings and contacts between specialists, with the annual exhibition Digitech held since 2005 being the most notable one. K. Vardanian expressed satisfaction over the fact that thanks to Digitech, a number of famous companies, including National Instruments and Mitsubishi Electronics, made an entrance into the Armenian market and operate here. The number of both visitors and participants is increasing year by year, turning Digitech into a regional event. Despite the economic crisis, the number of participants has grown in recent years. In 2010, 68 companies participated in Digitech, while this year UITE expects this annual exhibition to have a hundred participants and attract some 18 thousand visitors. In the words of K. Vardanian, their association found that it is not only IT experts who visit Digitech – it has become a kind of platform for establishing business ties. For that reason UITE has begun working out different versions of Digitech for some sector or another, for example, for bankers or medical equipment manufacturers. The association organizes other events as well, in particular, student contests. UITE also hosts special events for its members, for example, meetings with government members. Karen Vardanian said the government takes notice of the association’ demands and has already solved a number of their problems. He expressed hope that thanks to activities of their association, more companies in Armenia will introduce modern technologies. At the same time he expressed regret at the lack of active associations like UITE in Armenia, noting that in other countries they play an important role in society’s life.

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