Ameriabank summed up results of  "Be the Change" contest

ArmInfo.Ameriabank has summed up the results of the "Be the Change" student contest, launched jointly with the Visa payment system at the end of last year. 11 teams from Yerevan and the regions of Armenia took part in the final stage of the contest. By  holding such a competition, Ameriabank attaches importance to the  development, potential and ideas of young people. The ceremony of  awarding the winners of the competition took place on April 13 at the  head office of Ameriabank.

The winner of the competition was the Take AR Startup team,  representing young people from different regions of Armenia, starting  from Tavush, ending with Aragatsotn, Gegharkunik. The idea of young  people was to increase the efficiency and interest in the educational  process using AR technologies (Augmented Reality). In particular, the  project provides for an application that will be adapted to 8th grade  anatomy textbooks, thanks to which schoolchildren will be able to  study the structure of the human body in 3D format. The team started  working on the idea back in 2018, however, thanks to the platform  provided by Ameriabank, work has been intensive since the beginning  of the year. According to the winners, the idea is planned to be  implemented within 9 months.

Representative of the jury,  Head of Ameria Management Advisory Services  Tigran Jrbashyan noted that the choice fell on this team for several  reasons. He first mentioned the innovation, and as an important  element of it Jrbashyan singled out the changes in the society, which  can be due to the implementation of such an initiative.

, he said.  Jrbashyan noted that today's generation does not have a Soviet past  and is more free in comparison with its predecessors. And, despite  the problems with the level of education, he stressed that today's  youth is more open, ready to look to the future and change it. "Such  investments that are aimed at developing the creative thought of  young people are extremely important for the future of our country,"  he said. At the same time, the stressed that systemic reforms in  education today are more necessary for Armenia than projects to build  schools, raise wages, etc.  In this vein, Jrbashyan noted that the  competitiveness of education is often forgotten, in the case when the  world, with the development of its technologies, dictates to young  people to be competitive precisely in this context.

Among the projects that reached the final, according to him, quite  serious areas were presented, however, as a result of heated  discussions, the choice fell on the education sector due to the  presence of serious problems in education in Armenia, especially in the regions of the  country. At the same time, he noted that 4 projects alone were related to  cleaning, garbage collection. ,  Tigran Jrbashyan said.

At the end of the awards presentation, the jury members agreed that  the teams that presented their innovative projects today should  continue working on them, look for their competitive advantages, and  analyze their ideas more deeply. In particular, many participants  will be assisted by the members of the jury or will continue to work  within the framework of acceleration projects.   During the competition, teams of 4 or more students presented their  innovative ideas that can make a positive difference in the life of  society, a person or a group of people in the educational or economic  field.  In total, 11 teams  made it to the final stage of the competition, of which those who  took 2nd to 6th places were awarded cash rewards in the amount of 100  thousand drams. And the winning team received 3 million drams for the  implementation of the project.

Other members of the jury were Rebecca Hakobyan, Chief Marketing and Communication Officer of Ameriabank, Vahan Melkumyan, Head of Learning and Development Division of the Human Resources Management Service of Ameriabank, Elen Danielyan, Head of Personal Banking and Cards Direction of Ameriabank, Artyom Shamtsyan, Chief Innovation and Digital Officer of Ameriabank, Nazareth Seferian, Corporate Social Responsibility expert, Armine Mkrtchyan, member of the Board of Trustees of “reArmenia” platform, Seda Papoyan, Managing Director, Girls in Tech Armenia, Diana Arzumanyan, CEO and Co-Founder, Orion Worldwide Innovations Armenia, Anna Khachatryan, Operations and Community Manager, EPIC incubator.

It should be reminded that Ameriabank is one of the most dynamically  developing banks in Armenia, which is one of the most stable and  largest financial institutions in the country. Ameriabank is a  universal bank providing corporate, investment and retail banking  services in a comprehensive package. Ameriabank holds leadership in  the banking system of Armenia in terms of key financial  indicators.