Series of national digital-content competitions (2003–2010)
The All-Armenian E-Content Competition (also known as the All-Armenian E-Content Contest) was a series of national competitions held in Armenia to recognize outstanding digital content projects. Categories included e-culture, e-education, e-science, e-government, e-health, e-business, e-entertainment, and e-involvement. The competitions were closely linked to Armenia’s participation in the World Summit Award (WSA) and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
Armenia first gained international recognition in this field in 2003. This was followed by the national competition Mashtots-1600 in 2005, with further editions of the All-Armenian E-Content Contest held in 2006, 2008, 2009, and 2010.
History
2003
In 2003 Armenia participated in the World Summit Award cycle associated with the World Summit on the Information Society. The award ceremony took place in Geneva in December. Armenia was represented by the DVIN project (Data Visualization Interactive Network for the Aragats Space Environmental Center), developed by a team from the Cosmic Ray Division of the Yerevan Physics Institute under Professor Ashot Chilingarian. DVIN won first place in the e-Science category among more than 800 entries from 136 countries.[1][2]
2005 — Mashtots-1600
On 10 June 2005 the “Mashtots-1600” pan-Armenian electronic content contest was held in Yerevan to mark the 1600th anniversary of the creation of the Armenian alphabet.
Documented projects and winners
e-Culture — Website: Arcaler – The Armenian Art and Culture Network
e-Culture — CD/DVD: Aram Khachaturian: Life and Work (later recognized by WSA as a 2005 Culture & Heritage winner)[3][4]
e-Education / e-Learning — CD/DVD: The Armenian Genocide: 1915–1923
e-Education / e-Learning — CD/DVD: E-Learning of East Armenian
e-Government — CD: Automated Work Place “Law”
e-Government — Website: Official Web Portal of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia
e-Science — Website: Data Visualization Interactive Network (DVIN)[6]
Projects presented internationally
In November 2005 Armenia presented eight winning entries from Mashtots-1600 at the international World Summit Award competition in Tunisia:
The Armenian Genocide: 1915–1923 (multimedia CD)
Aram Khachaturian: Life and Work (multimedia CD)
Byurakan Observatory — aras.am
Republic of Armenia Economic Court — economic-court.am
Doctor.am
eDram — edram.am
Armenian Public Television — armtv.com
Armenian Agency for Tourism Development — armeniainfo.am
The CD “Aram Khachaturian: Life and Work” was named the world’s best cultural CD project of the year. “The Armenian Genocide: 1915–1923” ranked among the top ten educational projects. The websites eDram and Doctor.am placed in the top ten in the e-Business and e-Health categories respectively.[3][7]
2006 — Second All-Armenian E-Content Contest
The second contest took place in 2006. Grand prize winners included:
Spyur Information Center LLC (spyur.am)
Secretariat of the Council for Information Technology Development and Armenian Development Agency (itdsc.am)
Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia (ombuds.am)
Mediamax News Agency (banks.am)
Mane Mehrabyan and Armenuhi Pahlevanyan (hayeren.hayastan.com)
Additional first-place awards went to projects such as book.am, taxinfo.am, armeniapedia.org, yerevan.am and others. Categories covered e-Culture, e-Business, e-Engagement, e-Entertainment, e-Governance, e-Learning, e-Health, e-Science, e-Armenian Studies and e-Native Language.[8]
2008 — Third All-Armenian E-Content Contest
The 2008 edition awarded Grand Prizes, First-Degree Prizes, category winners and two special prizes.[9]
Grand Prize winners
Satellite GPS Tracking and Security System (locator.am)
Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute (genocide-museum.am)
Tundarts Armenia / Return to Armenia (backtoarmenia.am)
Armenian Educational Portal (armedu.am)
Arminco corporate website (arminco.am)
Climate Change Information Center (nature-ic.am)
Tert.am
Intellectual Property Agency of Armenia (aipa.am)
Category winners (selected)
E-culture — Research on Armenian Architecture (armenianarchitecture.am)
E-business — locator.am
E-involvement — Tert.am
E-entertainment — Virtual Photo Club (35mm.am)
E-education — Armenian Educational Portal (armedu.am)
E-health — healthrights.am
E-science — Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute
E-government — backtoarmenia.am
2009 — Fourth All-Armenian E-Content Contest
The fourth contest was held in 2009. Complete and independently verified lists of category winners from available sources remain limited.
2010 — Fifth All-Armenian E-Content Competition
The fifth edition ran from 25 November to 25 December 2010 and attracted 320 applications. It was organized in honor of the 500th anniversary of Armenian book printing. According to the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), the category winners were:[10]
E-education — Armenian Virtual College (AVC)
E-entertainment — Armenian Entertainment Guide (Bravo.am)
E-business — Armenian National Auto Portal (Auto.am)
E-culture — Sergei Parajanov Museum
E-government — Armenian Development Agency (ADA)
E-involvement — Armenian Online Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010
E-health — Armenian Health and Medical Portal (Doctors.am)
Bravo.am also received the overall Grand Prix.
Note: Doctor.am (2005 e-health winner) and Doctors.am (2010 e-health winner) are different projects.
Historical significance
The All-Armenian E-Content competitions document an important early phase of Armenia’s digital and multimedia development. They highlight the transition from CD-ROM-based multimedia products and scientific information systems in the mid-2000s toward interactive websites, online portals, digital museums, educational platforms and commercial internet services by 2010. The competitions therefore serve as a useful historical record of the growth of the Armenian web ecosystem.
Research note: Many original competition websites (including mashtots1600.am, econtent.am and e-content.am) are no longer online. Surviving information relies on web archives, contemporary press reports, organizational records and remaining project sites.