Armenia to host N2 Annual Conference  

Armenia is going to host the N2 Annual Conference for the first time next month, attracting leading international experts to discuss shared ideas and interests under the slogan Together Towards a Digital Future.

The event, co-organized by the Union of Armenian Operators, the Internet Community NGO, ICANN (Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers), Internet Society of Armenia NGO, RIPE NCC and IoT interest group, will riun from 10 through 12 October, the Ministry of High-Tech Industry reports.

At a news conference on Thursday, the organizers detailed the agenda, introducing the objectives and the planned activities. Describing N2 as a series of public discussions "aiming to create platform for experts, network operators and services, as well as the Internet and IT community", Deputy Minister Armen Abroyan said their priority focus is on economic development. “The development of the Internet and internet infrastructures should be a key component behind the development of the digital economy in Armenia - in the context of both ensuring the quality and accessibility of broadband internet and making Armenia a transit country for internet [technologies]. We attach much importance to the state policies,” he told reporters.

The agenda covers six events: the Network Operators’ Forum, the Fifth Armenian Internet Governance Forum (ArmIGF), the Youth Internet Governance Forum (YIGF), the banking workshop RIPE NCC, the 4th Eastern European conference DNS-4 and the ISOC IoT SIG Workshop.  

The Network Operators Forum will be conducted for the first time, Christine Gyonjyan, the director of the Armenian Operators’ Union, said, adding that the selected topics are expected to develop "a better understanding of the Internet’s role in digital society and infrastructures, cyber-security  and data protection."

RIPE NCC, as a banking workshop, will also be conducted in Armenia the first time, with the IoT interest group potentially enabling organizations and individuals to create a platform to address the existing challenges and opportunities (encountered by internet developers and users) Gyonjyan continued.

Lianna Galstyan, a public relations director at the Internet Society NGO, said the fifth forum agenda covers also a range of actual topics dealing with data localization, development of digital future, cybersecurity and wiretapping.

The DNS 4 forum is an important regional event to discuss also such issues as environmental security, sustainable employment and multi-language internet potentials.