SILICON MOUNTAINS 2022 international technology summit underway: ‘Let's turn Yerevan into a technological hub’

The year-end international technology summit SILICON MOUNTAINS 2022, which is dedicated to the application of digital solutions in various branches of the economy, is taking place in Yerevan.

This—fourth such—summit consists of four panel discussions: Smart Governance, Smart Economy, Smart Banking, and Smart Infrastructure. The organizer of the event is the Union of Employers of Information and Communication Technologies (UE ICT). 

The summit, within the framework of ideology, continues to unite local and international experts in technology, and representatives of state, private, and public institutions on one platform to discuss the challenges of the fourth industrial revolution, the inevitable technological future, and all the opportunities and risks arising from it.

At the beginning of the summit, a video was shown about the previous three summits.

In his welcoming remarks,  Eduard Musayelyan, Executive Director at UE ICT, stated that during these years, they have brought together more than forty speakers from about ten countries on one platform.

"We have tried to gather here famous businessmen who do not represent the ICT sector, but widely use the sector's solutions for their business development. The example they set will be very interesting for other businesses," he said.

In his turn, vice-speaker Hakob Arshakyan of the National Assembly of Armenia noted that the high-tech industry sector in Armenia continues to confidently maintain and develop its position as the fastest growing branch of the country’s economy.

"This is evidenced by the fact that in case of regional crises, the influx of talent mainly took place in Armenia itself. We know that talent goes to more developed, better-known places where it can create. Being a center is not so easy, various countries enter into competition, and it is necessary to accept it as a challenge and make great efforts in this direction. The link between science, education, industry, and economy should be brought to a fundamentally new level. This should be the conversation about our future in terms of ensuring a new scientific and technological leap in Armenia," said Arshakyan.

Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan also delivered welcoming remarks, and noted that  that this year Armenia’s economy has virtually a record growth, which is gratifying.

"In this growth, the contribution of the IT sector is the biggest, both directly—according to which the sector recorded a 50-percent growth—and indirectly—because as a result of the regional crisis, many talented people came to Armenia, who made their contribution not only in the IT sector, but also in related domains.

Some time ago, we had set a plan before us as to how to turn Yerevan into a technological hub where we can attract innovation-oriented people because today the most heated competition is for those people," said the economy minister, presenting projects the Armenian government is implementing in this regard.

In his turn, governor Martin Galstyan of the Central Bank of Armenia noted that the main bearer and pioneer of digital technology is business.

"Today we have to think about creating smart systems, innovative solutions because there is no time to linger. We, together with our government colleagues, decided last year that we are moving to the concept of a digital society. Its three benchmarks are: creation of a national electronic identification system, interoperability between systems, cybersecurity. The creation of a national electronic identification system will significantly accelerate the spread of smart solutions in Armenia. One of our goals is the development of the cashless economy," he emphasized.

SILICON MOUNTAINS 2022 technological predecessor—the third—summit was held in Yerevan on June 17 of this year. It was held on the topics of digital transformation, cybersecurity, and modern financial technology.