On August 4, we proudly celebrate the 31st anniversary of the founding of the “Internet Society” NGO. Established on this day three decades ago, our organization embraced a vital mission: to foster the development of one of the country’s most important sectors, the Internet, as a key resource for education and growth.
The film produced to mark our 30th anniversary offers a remarkable and insightful account of our organization’s journey, as well as the progress of Internet access and development in Armenia.
Additionally, one of our founders, Igor Mkrtumyan, shared his reflections in the anniversary magazine titled “Our Territory of the Internet.” We are pleased to present an excerpt from his contribution.
“Of course, we had to form an initiative group to envision how to introduce the Internet and domain infrastructure in Armenia. Naturally, we relied on organizations with the expertise and vision to guide this effort. At the time, two key leaders stood out: the Yerevan Institute of Physics (YFI), which maintained strong connections with scientific communities in Germany, and ‘Arminco,’ a technologically advanced company with solid international ties. Albert Toneyan, a renowned expert from YFI, and Andranik Aleksanyan, the respected director of Arminco, joined the initiative. Both were visionary leaders who immediately understood what needed to be done. Even today, I believe their involvement was critical to the success of our work.”
Of course, we all understood the immense responsibility we had taken on for the country, and solving this challenge became our top priority—the guiding principle of our efforts. We called for the formation of an organization capable of managing the Armenian domain with active participation from relevant public stakeholders. Institutions such as Yerevan State University, the Polytechnic, the Public Library, and the Yerevan Medical Institute were involved in this collaborative effort. The next step was establishing an organization authorized to manage the Armenian domain and oversee Internet operations. We held a founding meeting and created the public organization known as the “Union of Internet Users of Armenia.” In 2010, this organization was renamed the “Internet Society,” which continues its work to this day.
In the near future, we will be publishing regular excerpts from our anniversary edition, featuring insights from multiple generations of ISOC Armenia members about the organization’s origins and the development of the .am domain.
