On October 17, the annual Silicon Mountains summit, dedicated to the challenges of building a “Smart Country”, was held with Ucom as the platinum sponsor. The event marked the fifth gathering of local and international high-level IT experts. Eduard Musayelyan, the organizer of the Silicon Mountains 2023 international technological summit and the executive director of the Union of Employers of ICT, delivered the opening speech. The panel discussions revolved around three primary themes: “Smart Country”, “Smart Business”, and “Smart Citizen”.

“It is in the realm of being “smart” that countries showcase their competitive advantages as nations and states, as business entities, and as individuals. We must recognize that the most valuable resource of any country is its people, and this resource is invaluable and knows no borders. It is through the knowledge generated by humans, the technologies built upon it, and the dedicated efforts invested that we can attain sustainable development," stated Eduard Musayelyan, the executive director of the Union of Employers of ICT.

Ralph Yirikian, the speaker of the "Smart Business" panel discussion and the Director General of Ucom, the platinum sponsor of the event, emphasized the necessity for not only smart technologies but also flexible business management. He stated, "Telecommunications has always been closely aligned with technological progress, but we require a comprehensive, long-term, forward-looking strategy, a vision that should serve as a business plan for the nation's development. This would foster collaboration between businesses across various sectors and the government. We all need to be on the same page and understand the direction. We should harness today's technologies to drive creativity for the benefit of the country's economy and the end consumer. Currently, the world is implementing 5th-generation network technologies, testing the 6th generation, and I am confident that the 7th generation is not too far away; tests for this are already underway in laboratories. These advancements will bring about many changes, and there's no need to fear them. Technology serves as a means, a key, a vehicle that will lead us toward a more developed future."

Within the framework of the summit dedicated to the challenges of a smart country, a special postcard cancellation ceremony was held with the theme "State Award of the Republic of Armenia for Global Investment in High Technologies." This ceremony was presided over by the Chief of Staff of the RA Prime Minister, Arayik Harutyunyan, the Minister of High-Tech Industry, Robert Khachatryan, the 13th laureate of the State Award in the field of High Technologies, Shantanu Narayen, and the President of the Armenian Association of Philatelists, Hovik Musayelyan. Shantanu Narayen, the laureate of the RA State Prize for 2022, President and CEO of Adobe, received the award during the summit.

Let us add that among the special guests at Silicon Mountains 2023 were Vice President of Siemens EDA EMEA, Adrian Buckley; Director of Cisco's CISO Advisory Practice in EMEA, Eric Vedel; Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Armenia, Chip Laitinen; Trade Counsellor and Regional Director of the UK Department of Business and Trade, Andrew Whitten; and others.