{
  "id": 9828313,
  "title": "Opening of IT Arena 2026 in Lviv: How Ukraine Is Turning the Experience of War into a Competitive Technological Advantage",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/25/opening-of-it-arena-2026-in-lviv-how-ukraine-is-turning-the",
  "topic": "tech",
  "section": "Tech",
  "published": "2026-09-25T20:11:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "UATV English",
    "slug": "uatv-english",
    "url": "https://uatv.ua/en/opening-of-it-arena-2026-in-lviv-how-ukraine-is-turning-the-experience-of-war-into-a-competitive-technological-advantage/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "IT Arena 2026, one of Ukraine's largest technology events, commenced in Lviv on September 25, 2026. The three-day conference, themed \"Leading the Way,\" gathered representatives from the IT sector, businesses, startups, investors, and international companies. Featuring over 100 speakers, 300+ companies, and 100+ startups from 40 countries, the program covered five main areas — Business, Product, Dev, Innovation, and Pitching.\n\nAmong the distinguished speakers were Finnish entrepreneur and investor Mikko-Pekka Hänski, CEO of F-Drones Stanislav Khutor, Head of BlaBlaCar in Central and Eastern Europe Roman Miroshnichenko, Head of the AI direction at Mriya Viacheslav Miekh, and American Admiral Michael S. Rogers. These experts addressed various aspects of technology, from entrepreneurs and investors to military leaders.\n\nThe first day of IT Arena 2026 kicked off with Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi's speech at the \"Building Brand Ukraine: Innovation, Diplomacy, and the Power of Perception\" panel. Sadovyi emphasized that Ukraine is not only at war but also at work, highlighting the country's ongoing work, product creation, problem-solving, and recovery efforts. He advocated for reframing the global perception of Ukraine, shifting from a victim brand to a recovery brand.\n\nThe following key block was the \"Future Force: Born in Ukraine\" panel, which focused on the people and technologies shaping Ukraine's future amid the ongoing full-scale war. Discussions centered around modern warfare transformation, unmanned systems development, the role of technology on the battlefield, and new competencies formed in combat conditions. Participants included Head of CIMIC of the 412th Nemesis Unmanned Systems Brigade Volodymyr Horodnychyi, Executive Director of AB3.Tech Viktoriia \"Tori\" Honcharuk, and Ukrainian officer and artillery reconnaissance battery commander Vitalii \"Hryva\" Mamets.\n\nThe final block of the first day hosted the \"Cyber War: How to Win\" discussion, featuring American Admiral Michael S. Rogers. The conversation centered on cybersecurity and Ukraine's wartime experience in an increasingly intertwined digital and physical environment. Rogers highlighted Ukraine's unique practical experience in dealing with large-scale external cyber threats, noting that even the United States can learn from Ukraine's approach. He emphasized that Ukraine has become a living laboratory for cybersecurity, testing technologies in real conflict conditions, such as unmanned and autonomous systems, cyber defense, artificial intelligence, satellite technologies, and control systems.",
  "summary": "IT Arena 2026 — one of Ukraine’s largest technology events — started in Lviv on September 25. The conference is taking place on September 25-27 under the theme Leading the Way and brings together representatives of the IT sector, business, startups, the investment community, and international companies. The program features more than 100 speakers, more than 300 companies, and more than 100…",
  "key_points": [
    "IT Arena 2026 opened in Lviv on September 25, 2026",
    "Three-day conference featured 100+ speakers, 300+ companies, 100+ startups",
    "Ukrainian Mayor Andriy Sadovyi emphasized reframing Ukraine's global perception"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}