ACAA, AESA Host WCIT Discussion in New Jersey

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FAIRLAWN, NJ—The 23rd World Congress of Information Technology (WCIT), which was held in Armenia in October of 2019, attracted the attention of New Jersey Armenians on Friday evening during a roundtable discussion.

Organized by the New Jersey chapters of the Armenian Cultural Association of America (ACAA), the Northeastern USA chapter of the Armenian Engineers and Scientists of America (AESA) and the St. Leon Armenian Church, the discussion, which welcomed close to 100 guests, centered around the future of technology in Armenia.

Former Weekly editor Antranig Kasbarian welcomed the audience and introduced moderator Armen Morian—a lawyer with a private practice in New York. Morian was also senior advisor of the 23rd WCIT, in which he authored the agenda and led the effort to identify and recruit speakers.

Panelist Emma Arakelyan is a public speaker and a technology innovation accelerator and IP protection services CEO at her two companies. She has been involved in tech and educational programs in Armenia since 2015.

The next speaker was Stephan Haig Tchorbajian, a real estate developer and tech entrepreneur from New York. His latest venture is in the IT sector in Armenia. Tchorbajian is also the vice president of the northeastern section of the AESA.

Karen Tonoyan, a patent attorney focusing on computer electronics and software technologies of the Armenian Bar Association, followed Tchorbajian’s presentation focusing on the achievements of the WCIT 2019 conference from Armenia’s perspective.

The final panelist was Harout Topsacalian with an international consulting career that took him to Armenia and Georgia as part of USAID. In the last two years, Topsacalian has re-engaged with Armenia’s tech sector and has invested in several startups.

A Q&A session closed the roundtable that lasted close to two and a half hours.

There was also a short video highlighting WCIT’s opening ceremony.