YEREVAN, MAY 5, NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian government is developing a program aimed at ensuring the availability of a computer in each household of the country. It is possible that agreements will be reached with big computer-producing companies on the sale of computers of various prices to the population. It is also envisaged to use some credit mechanisms to implement such agreements. The RA minister of economy Nerses Yeritsian stated this at the press conference held during the "without tie" meeting of the IT sector's heads in Tsakhkadzor on May 1-3. In accordance with the draft concept on development of Armenia's IT sector, the level of the population's physical, financial and content access to the Internet shall be increased from 5% in 2006 to 90% in 1918. From the viewpoint of achieving this goal, the minister attached special importance to the availability of e-content of the education, health care, agriculture and other sectors in the Internet, which will create demand for solution of physical (telecommunication) access problems and investment attraction. It is also planned to ensure Internet access by setting up 100 Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) access centers throughout Armenia in 2008-2013. Local government bodies, 900 postal offices, bank branches, about 1,500 schools, and 51 centers of the Social Security Service may become such centers. The draft concept envisages the availability of at least 250 ICT centers, which, according to N. Yeritsian, may play a great role in dissemination of electronic literacy and stimulate demand for computers. He said that the IT sector cannot develop without creation of IT product necessary for the formation of electronic society. The draft concept envisages increasing the annual production of IT sector to a billion dollars in 2018. In the minister's opinion, this is realistic if in the IT sector Armenia proceeds along the path passed by developed countries and uses their experience. He added that 10 main programs will be developed after the concept's approval by the government. 5 programs will be related to information society, another 5 - to development of the IT sector.

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