4000 tech geeks will gather at the Lviv Arena Stadium at the end of September. Why? You might already guess – IT Arena 2019 is coming. Let’s raise the curtain on the most anticipated event on the Eastern European tech market.

Last year, IT Arena attendees had a unique chance to listen and network with experts from Facebook, Tesla, Google, eBay, Samsung, Gitlab, Taxify, SAP, and many other successful companies. Semyon Dukach, the protagonist of the “21” movie told his story of turning from MIT student who was a successful blackjack player into a venture capitalist and creator of the Troublemaker Award. What will 2019 bring for IT Arena speaker lineup? The co-organizers are constantly meticulously following the tech trends of the industry and are ready to announce the first batch of speakers.

Future of Automotive, Product management and importance of mindfulness

There are so many messengers you use every day to communicate with your friends or family it might be hard to choose a favorite one. But if you are Ukrainian, that probably would be Viber. Ukraine is the top country of Viber usage which brings 24,4% of all the app’s traffic. In 2019 Michael Shmilov, Advisor at Rakuten Viber will take the stage at IT Arena. Former Viber’s COO, Michael is now responsible for the operational running of the fast-moving business. He will share his knowledge of product planning, design, and management of the product team of a product which is used in 193 countries by more than 1 billion users.

What makes Google a tech leader? Innovations and infrastructure you may say, but the most valuable resource is, of course, the people. For many years Google invents and uses the best practices of management. With the help of Big Data solutions, they came up with the innovative method of tracking employee happiness levels to prevent professional burnouts. Hemant Bhanoo, VP of Product at Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute will share the latest methods of empowering the employees in the tech industry. After working at Amazon and Google, he for sure knows how important it is to stay mindful for productivity in any business, and tech in particular. Founder of several startups and angel investor, Hemant share his path from an engineer to a person who is helping tech employees stay motivated and productive.

Software development goes far beyond mobile and web. Viraj Tank, Mobile Team Lead at MBition Mercedes-Benz Innovation Lab is responsible for creating and delivering Flagship Mobile Application for Mercedes-Benz Car users. He spent the last 10 years growing and learning with Android and other Mobile platforms and developing multiple products in Mobile and Automotive space. Viraj will share his experience of developing a vehicle companion app for Mercedes-Benz Cars.

The first batch of speakers can be found here.

Blessed with engineering

More than a hundred people are working on IT Arena to become the most prominent tech event of 2019 – сo-organizers, partners, contractors, and volunteers. This year one of the biggest Ukrainian IT companies SoftServe, and the leader of automotive software industry Intellias joined the board of co-organizers of IT Arena. “We are working very hard to bring leading tech experts from Ukraine and other countries to present their ideas and share knowledge at this event. Lviv IT Cluster is a technological pioneer within Ukraine in the field of infrastructure development and cooperation with the IT business for the development of Lviv as a powerful tech center of Ukraine. That’s why I am heartened by the fact that the biggest industry IT conference of Ukraine takes place here, in Lviv,” shares Oleh Denys, Executive VP at SoftServe. “Our company will be an active member and co-organizer of IT Arena.”

The main purpose of IT Arena is to draw the attention of the international community to the Ukrainian tech industry, to show how many tech experts, talented entrepreneurs and high-quality products and services Ukraine can offer to the global market. Vitaly Sedler, CEO and Co-Founder at Intellias and Michael Puzrakov, Co-Founder at Intellias speak of the importance of organizing such conference: “When I tell our potential clients how blessed with engineering talents Ukraine is, they ask not only how big our engineering community is, but how innovative and ready to work with latest technological trends it is. Topics that are brought up at IT Arena always display what engineers and entrepreneurs of the future think. Namely, new mobility, AI and society coexisting, social media and their influence on politics, IoT and the human body – all these questions can be discussed at IT Arena. As a co-organizer Intellias is pleased to invite our clients, colleagues, and friends to Lviv at the end of September,” tells Vitaly Sedler. “IT Arena is a modern conference with great speakers, different tracks and is thus interesting for both engineers and startups, managers and owners of IT businesses. The conference of such a scale and quality is a great achievement of Lviv IT industry what encourages more people to work here, and more businesses and clients to come here,” adds Michael Puzrakov.

A better view on the Ukrainian startup scene

One of the biggest tech expos in Ukraine – Startup Alley will be extended in 2019. The number of startup booths will grow to 50. Attendees will be able to check out the newest tech products and developments from Ukrainian and international startups. Last year, IT Arena startup expo amazed guests with digitized backpacks, VR headsets, bionic body parts, useful business optimization apps, etc. Click here to find out more about Startup Alley 2019.

For the fifth year in a row, IT Arena attendees will be able to witness a battle between 50 early-age startups – Startup Competition 2019. Ivan Dmytrasevych, CEO at Startup Depot Business Incubator shares his expectations for the upcoming event: “This year we are focused on the intense and fierce competition of the best Ukrainian startups. Each year, their quality and quantity grow, many great ideas appear, so we work hard to select the best ones not only from Ukraine but from abroad too. In addition, there will be many famous people from the startup world attending IT Arena 2019: jury members, whose knowledge is one of the most valuable things of the startup competition. We want our startups to show good results after the end of the competition, be successful and grow.”

Tech talks and parties

Each day of the conference will end with afterparties, which will allow its attendees to hang out with friends and like-minded people, network and feel the atmosphere of the local pub culture. Be ready to rock to electronic music beats at the Futureland Festival. Already for the third time, the last day of IT Arena moves to Lviv city center: 50 meetups will be held at top cafes and restaurants around the old town.

Wanna join IT Arena – the must-visit tech conference of 2019? Grab your tickets here.