Silicon Mountains held in a two-day format with an expo for the first time
The Silicon Mountains 2026 technology summit and expo opened in Yerevan on 3 November. This year’s theme is “Invest in Innovation,” and for the first time the event runs over two days, 3–4 November.
The summit was organized by the Union of Employers of Information and Communication Technologies (UEICT) with the support of the Ministry of High-Tech Industry and Artificial Intelligence of the Republic of Armenia. According to the organizers, the platform has brought together more than 100 speakers and 10,000 participants since 2019. This year it combines an international summit, a technology expo, the Microelectronics International Forum and startup showcases on a single platform.
UEICT President Armen Baldryan said in his opening remarks that the union’s goal is Armenia’s technological development, which should drive progress across the entire economy. He highlighted five pillars: education, startups, investment, public-private partnership and international cooperation. Armen Baldryan thanked the ministry and expressed hope that the cooperation would deliver very serious results within the next two to three years.
Davit Tadevosyan, Minister of High-Tech Industry and Artificial Intelligence of the Republic of Armenia, stressed that investing in innovation means, above all, investing in human capital and its capabilities so that ideas turn into practical solutions. According to the minister, the countries and systems that succeed today are those that not only create technology solutions but also make them part of an ecosystem. Such initiatives, he said, send an important signal for positioning Armenia on the global technology map.
Part of the expo is Startup Valley, where 12 startups selected through a competition present their projects with the ministry’s support. At University Expo, 7 member universities of the union showcase technology education programs and student projects. The ministry, UEICT and Step AI also have stands. General partners include Ucom, Synopsys and Visa.
Speakers on the first day of the international summit include Dr. Kam Ghaffarian, co-founder of X-energy, Intuitive Machines, Axiom Space and Quantum Space and 2026 laureate of the Republic of Armenia State Prize for Global Contribution to Information Technology; Hassan Mansour, CEO of Monty Mobile; Laith Altimime, President of SEMI Europe; Dr. Garik Israelian, co-founder of STARMUS; Ricardo Pinto, Europe NI CTO at Nokia; and Vahe Andonians, founder of Cognaize. The program also features discussions on Estonia’s experience in building semiconductor talent, with Dr. Yervant Zorian, President of Synopsys Armenia, and Hakob Arshakyan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Armenian Innovation Foundation, as well as the awards ceremony of the 21st International Microelectronics Olympiad.
Sources: official Silicon Mountains 2026 program (silicon-mountains.org), UEICT (ueict.org), Ministry of High-Tech Industry and Artificial Intelligence of the RA (hightech.gov.am), opening ceremony speeches.
