Yandex hails opening of software school in Armenia’s Vanadzor

The Russian internet company Yandex, which recently launched a software programming school in Vanadzor (Lori region), is very enthusiastic about the initiative to promote a sustainable future for the youth in Armenia’s third largest city.

Speaking to Tert.am, a manager of academic programs, Sergey Chernishov, said they came up with the idea very sporadically, pursuing the company’s traditions to combine business projects with training initiatives.

"Just a few month ago, we brought one of our services, Taxi Yandex, to Armenia. We have also released Yandex maps and navigators,” he said.

“Whenever we launch services somewhere, we rapidly try to embark also on educational projects. As to why we do that, I have only one answer to that question: that’s the guarantee of a sustainable future. To develop such services, we have and need specialists. We need to be confident that there will be professionals for us on the market.”

The school, which opened in Vanadzor on Friday, is a joint project by Yandex, and Enterprise Incubator Foundation (Yerevan). It is designed for high-school students interested in acquiring skills in software development and information technologies. The long-term objective is job creation and development of the IT industries across the region.