Today, May 15, 2014, the most important event from the local ICT industry, Moldova ICT Summit 2014, has been declared closed.
During three days, May 13 to 15, the event gathered more than one thousand participants: representatives of the Government, managers of ICT companies, ICT professionals and IT entrepreneurs, ambassadors, representatives of development partners, experts from the country and abroad as well as representatives of academia and of the civil society.
“The ICT sector plays an essential role in the country development process and has the potential of becoming one of the most competitive sectors of the Moldovan economy, more than this, it may become a catalyst for increasing the traditional sectors’ efficiency”, Prime Minister of Moldova, Iurie Leanca, said at the very beginning of the meeting.
During the Moldova ICT Summit 2014 the electronic identity card has been launched. The first to request the new ID was the Prime Minister, Iurie Leanca.
The Minister of Information Technology and Communications presented the IT Industry Competitiveness Package for the first time. The package describes the framework for the creation of IT parks and introduction of a single tax for resident companies. At the same time, the creation of the first ICT Centre of Excellence inside the Technical University of Moldova has been announced.
Moldova ICT Summit brought the topic of ITC solutions and tools implementation in vitally important areas such as the governing act, educational system, health care field, banking sector and business environment with a view to enhancing their competitiveness, streamlining processes and optimizing costs to the fore. A special session was dedicated to the IT entrepreneurship. Some successful start-up founders from Moldova, Romania, Estonia and Lithuania shared with those present their enthusiasm and accumulated experience and provided the local community of IT entrepreneurs’ representatives with recommendations and useful tips.
Present at the ICT4Education session, Maia Sandu, Minister of Education, spoke about the intention to apply the on-line electronic admissions system, E-admission, in the future, but also about equipping schools with computers holding free software licenses, with the support of companies like Starnet, Microsoft and Intel. “If we do not include information technologies into the education system, we run the risk of misleading the pupil, creating a dissonance between the traditional methods of learning and the playful appearance and curiosity, posed by the information technologies. Thus, the educational institution will become an outdated system rather than a living and interesting institution”, Maia Sandu said, at the opening of the ICT session for education.
During the same session, the E-scoala.md project – an information management platform enabling digitization of some educational institutions’ management processes, part of the “Connect” initiative was also presented. This system allows you to create lessons and educational content, visualize personal information about students, etc. The parents, at their turn, have remote access to information on school performance, curricula, as well as other data and documents.
Another novelty presented during the Moldova ICT Summit was the Roboclub, launched by the USAID CEED II Project and the National Association of Private ICT Companies under the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Moldova. The “Roboclub” project represents a unique educational initiative for the Republic of Moldova and is based on the LEGO Education Program. It will be implemented in Moldova at the Center for Children and Youth “ARTICO”, Polytechnic College and the “Horizon” Theoretical Lyceum.
During the closing ceremony, the organizers praised the success of this year’s Summit ICT edition. “I would like to thank all participants and representatives of government institutions who, through their involvement, create opportunities for local ICT industry development”, Veaceslav Cunev, President of the National Association of Private ICT Companies said.
Moldova ICT Summit 2014 was organized by the National Association of Private ICT Companies, Ministry of Information and Communications Technology and USAID CEED II Project, in partnership with the Center for Electronic Governance, MIEPO, Ministry of Education, Microsoft, Orange, DAAC System Integrator, HP, Endava, Intel, Unibank, Deeplace and other partners.
