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The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will hold NASA Space Apps Challenge 2016 for the fifth time, which will be held from April 22-24. 200 cities around the world will take part in the event, and Armenia will officially join the competition for the first time.

The event embraces collaborative problem solving with a goal of producing relevant open-source solutions to address global needs applicable to both life on Earth and life in space.

The Head of organizing committee to the competition, ''X-TECH'' manager Arman Atoyan told Panorama.am that the competition will last for 48 hours (24 hours in Armenia to be held on April 22-23).  The worked out innovative solutions and suggestions will be submitted to the assessment of the local and international jury.

NASA coordinates the global event, but all locations are independently organized.

Atoyan informed that 30 participants have been registered from Armenia so far. “Based on the NASA open data the participant will be tasked to create mobile, virtual reality apps to provide innovate solutions of applicable to life. The local competition in Armenia will take place due to the support of the RA National Academy of Science Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory leadership within a program to promote participation in the international competitions.

“The Armenian jury will select the winner from Armenia, while all the designed apps will be submitted to the international Jury. The five winner teams will participate in the launch of a rocket in NASA Johnson Space Center, in Houston,” Atoyan informed.

To him, the competition is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the achievement made in the information technology sector of Armenia as well as capabilities of Armenian specialists who design applications of global importance and significance.

“This is a good chance to present the IT products of our state at the international platforms,” he noted.

Atoyan then added that his company «X-TECH» previously joined the competition as a virtual participant, and later on after long negotiations they reached an agreement to register Armenia as an official participant.