Day one of Silicon Mountains 2026 brought speeches from international technology leaders, investors and policymakers, a new postcard dedicated to the “Silicon Mountains 2026” Tech Summit & Expo, and awards for the winners of the International Microelectronics Olympiad.

On November 3, the two-day “Silicon Mountains Summit & Expo 2026” opened in Yerevan under the theme “Invest in Innovation.” Organized by the Union of Employers of Information and Communication Technologies (UEICT) since 2019, the event this year brings together an international summit and a technology exhibition. It is held with the support of the Ministry of High-Tech Industry and Artificial Intelligence of the Republic of Armenia.

Opening Ceremony

In his opening remarks, Davit Tadevosyan, Minister of High-Tech Industry and Artificial Intelligence, noted that for years the platform has brought together innovators, investors and advocates of the industry, many of whom are now among the organizers of the event. He spoke of the remarkable path the sector has enrolled over the past three decades, and highlighted the importance of investing in people and their capabilities, and in carrying ideas from start to finish in a practical, hands-on environment.
UEICT President Armen Baldryan outlined the five pillars of the country’s technological development: education, startups, investment, public-private partnership and international cooperation. He emphasized that all five are represented in the event’s agenda, and expressed confidence that close collaboration between the state and the private sector will deliver significant results within the next two to three years. Following the opening ceremony, guests toured the Expo.

Summit: Prominent Speakers from Around the World

After the opening of the Summit, some of the most respected names in the technology world took the stage. Few occasions bring such a group of experts together in one hall on a single day.

In his opening address, UEICT Executive Director Eduard Musayelyan described investment in the broadest sense: not only as capital, but also as a new laboratory, an educational program, a transfer of experience, the first order placed with a young team, or a door opened to an international partnership. He recalled that since 2024 Silicon Mountains has also been held in Armenia’s regions, out of the conviction that a young person’s opportunities should not be determined by their place of residence and announced that the next regional event will take place in Tavush Province. He concluded:

“To have a stake in tomorrow’s success, you must be ready to share its risk today.”
The first keynote of the Summit was delivered by Dr. Kam Ghaffarian, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of X-energy, Intuitive Machines, Axiom Space and Quantum Space, and the 2026 Global High-Tech Award Laureate. His talk was titled “Building the Future of Space Together: Becoming Interstellar.” He shared the following words: “When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.”

Hassan Mansour, Chief Executive Officer of Monty Mobile, spoke on “Great Innovation. Is It Enough?” He joined the company in 2006 as a graduate engineer and today leads the global teams across Monty Mobile’s international offices; the company operates in more than 200 countries and regions.

Laith Altimime, President of SEMI Europe, who brings more than 30 years of international experience in the semiconductor industry and is responsible, among other things, for SEMICON Europa, presented “Redefining the Entire Semiconductor Value Chain.”
Ricardo Pinto, Europe NI CTO at Nokia, with more than 25 years of experience in telecommunications, spoke on “From Connectivity to Intelligence: Building the AI-Native Future,” presenting the evolution of network infrastructure in the age of artificial intelligence.
Dr. Garik Israelian, Co-founder and Creative Director of STARMUS and an astrophysicist, spoke about how artificial intelligence is transforming astrophysics.

Special Postcard Cancellation Ceremony

In keeping with tradition, a special postcard cancellation ceremony is held at every Silicon Mountains event. This year was no exception: a two-sided postcard dedicated to the “Silicon Mountains 2026” Tech Summit & Expo was cancelled with a special postmark. The front of the postcard bears the inscriptions “SILICON MOUNTAINS 2026” and “TECH SUMMIT AND EXPO” in Armenian and English; the back features a photograph from the Silicon Mountains Summit held in Armenia in 2025.

The ceremony was attended by Hovik Musayelyan, President of the Armenian Philatelists’ Association; Gevorg Mantashyan, Deputy Minister of High-Tech Industry and Artificial Intelligence; Shushan Aleksanyan, Chief Executive Officer of HayPost; Eduard Musayelyan, Executive Director of UEICT; and Ralph Yirikian, CEO of Ucom. Hovik Musayelyan noted that the postcards carry considerable philatelic value, as they will find their way into collections around the world, and emphasized that in recent years Silicon Mountains has become Armenia’s most important technology platform. Gevorg Mantashyan said the postcard will travel to different corners of the world, carrying with it the memory of this day.

The postcard was designed by David Dovlatyan and printed by “Ktav” Ltd. Size: 150.0 x 110.0 mm. Print run: 500 copies. Date of issue: November 3, 2026. The postcard will not be reprinted, and can be sent to any country from any HayPost branch.

Awarding Ceremony of the 21st International Microelectronics Olympiad

The first day of the Summit concluded with the awarding ceremony of the 21st International Microelectronics Olympiad.
At the start of the ceremony, UEICT President Armen Baldryan said: “Microelectronics is the foundation of technology, and the future of technological development belongs to the specialists who spent two days competing in Yerevan. Microelectronics is not just a field; it is a mindset, a special engineering character and a particular lens through which to see the world. I want every one of our participants to become, in a few years, the kind of professional the whole world will know.”

Partners

The event’s Platinum Sponsor is Ucom. Bronze partners are Visa, Synopsys, Tech Park Yerevan, EU for Innovation East, Cognaize and Yandex Armenia. Learn more about our other partners at silicon-mountains.org .
About Silicon Mountains

Silicon Mountains is Armenia’s leading technology platform, organized by the Union of Employers of Information and Communication Technologies since 2019. Over the years, more than 100 speakers have taken part, and attendance has exceeded 10,000. This year’s edition is the 11th.

For more information: silicon-mountains.org · [email protected] · +374 94 031771