ArmInfo.Science and Business Days 2023 will again be held in Armenia. Famous American scientist, writer and philosopher of Lebanese origin Nassim Nicholas Taleb will be a special guest of the event. Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan stated during a press conference on August 1.
The purpose of the event is to promote the development of interaction between business and science, to strengthen their connection, to identify opportunities for the commercialization of science, to stimulate international cooperation for the benefit of the further progress of the Armenian economy.
"More than 4,000 scientists work in Armenia, and we set ourselves the goal of introducing the results of their work into our daily life, into the manufacturing sector and the service sector, and making them available to the public. It is necessary to reach a level when young people will become more interested in science, and doing science will become attractive and profitable," the minister said.
However, according to surveys, about 87% of respondents in our country would like to run a businesses. At the same time, according to him, today a very small number of business representatives introduce scientific solutions and innovations into their activities. Answering a question from an ArmInfo correspondent, he noted that in most cases this is due to the fact that Armenians are more interested in doing small business than owning a large company. <And this transition requires psychological effort. Most of them feel in their comfort zone and do not try to get out of it. But in the case of our economy, affording such a thing is a luxury>, the minister said. He noted that the ministry's actions are aimed, among other things, at ensuring that businessmen are not satisfied with what they have, but introduce innovations, scientific thought into their processes, and develop international cooperation.
As of today, the IT sector is most turning to innovation in its operations, while in other industries the situation continues to leave much to be desired.
In this regard, Kerobyan pointed to the textile industry, where now, as part of the strategy, an attempt is being made to transition from a country that sells labor to a country that sells ready-made products with its own design, branding, which should be carried out through the introduction of innovative solutions.
It should be noted that Nassim Nicholas Taleb also took part in the online press conference. He noted that he was extremely glad to have the opportunity to come to Armenia and was looking forward to meeting Armenia, not only because his childhood in Beirut was closely connected with Armenians, but also because Armenia is of great spiritual and cultural value for the writer.
Science and Business Days 2023 will be held in Armenia on December 1-2, at the National Academic Theater named after Gabriel Sundukyan. The event was organized on the initiative of the Minister of Economy of the Republic of Armenia Vahan Kerobyan in order to bring together scientists, researchers, businessmen and investors from Armenia and around the world.
It should be noted that the key speaker of the event, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, is the author of The Black Swan, and Antifragile bestsellers. Taleb is widely regarded as a brilliant and out-of-the-box thinker who challenges conventional wisdom and encourages people to think outside the box. The Science and Business Days was first held in 2022. More than 1,000 participants took part in the event, including the main guest and speaker, Nobel Prize winner Ardem Patapoutian, famous astrophysicist Garik Israelian, New York University professor Georgi Derluguian and others.