Today, Kyiv hosted iForum-2023, the largest IT conference in Eastern Europe, with more than 5,000 attendees. There were more people who wanted to attend, but unfortunately, this is the maximum number due to security requirements, so that everyone could be evacuated to a local shelter.
Areas of iForum 2023
Eight thematic areas were presented at the conference, with panel discussions on them taking place on four stages at once. These were Advertising and Promotion, E-commerce, Startups/AI, Blockchain, Digital Fun, and Ukraine of the Future.
Military Tech, which is one of the country’s top priorities in wartime, became a new area. The discussions were attended by developers and startups, as well as heads of the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Strategic Industry, representatives of the Army of Drones and Brave1, the Ukrainian Startup Fund, and others.
Oleksandr Kardakov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Octava Defense, presented key panel discussions. These included building defense ecosystems, discussions on the security of critical infrastructure, and the development and production of UAVs and their weapons. Another important topic for discussion is the search for investments for the implementation of new projects.
The iForum included the City of the Future exhibition, which brought together the most progressive and innovative projects. Among them were unmanned evacuation vehicles, robotic platforms, and various drones. HiTech Expert is going to make a series of reports about them.
Drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine
According to the Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, the state has already allocated about UAH 40 billion for the purchase of drones for the Armed Forces. This is one of the key areas that will help bring our victory closer.
According to him, by the end of 2023, the production of combat UAVs in Ukraine will increase 100-110 times compared to December last year:
“HOWEVER, THIS IS NOT ENOUGH. THERE WILL BE ENOUGH DRONES IN UKRAINE ONLY WHEN UKRAINE EXISTS WITHIN THE 1991 BORDERS FOR AT LEAST TEN YEARS.”
Fedorov also added that now, in addition to drones, the state should promote the creation of robotic army complexes:
“The next task is to scale the UAV experience to other areas of military innovation. To launch an army of electronic warfare and an army of robots.”
Exhibition at iForum 2023
The conference traditionally featured a variety of IT and Internet companies providing communication and corporate services, employment, online advertising and promotion, banking, information security, etc.
New cars were presented at a separate open area, including the first mass-produced Ukrainian electric cars LUAZ, which are positioned as the best means of delivering goods in the city. They have a speed limit of up to 50 km and a range of up to 100 km on a single battery with the ability to install up to 3 batteries.
