On April 22-23, a 24-hour hackathon devoted to innovative IT solutions in education will be held in Kharkiv (Kharkov), Eastern Ukraine. Participants will pitch to the representatives of Ukrainian tech universities, IT business and venture funds to compete for a 30,000 hryvnia award (approximately $1,100).
Christened “IT-Eureka! Ukraine,” the event will attract Ukrainian student teams, which will create a prototype based on their ideas with support from mentors.
Launched in 2014 in the framework of the Tempus (Trans-European Mobility Programme for University Studies) program, the contest has since attracted over 1,500 students with more than 600 projects.
This time the hackathon is organized by Ukrainian IT company Sigma Software and Swedish Sigma Technology in partnership with Kharkiv National University of Radioelectronics.
“The existing education system provides students with fundamental knowledge, but does not give them practical skills to advance, promote and present their ideas,” says Mykhaylo Antonovych, head of Sigma Software University.
“We are offering students an opportunity to invent and create a solution prototype and, eventually, even change the education system,” he adds.
”Together with Sigma Software we’ve held many education projects, courses, and seminars to improve Ukraine’s higher education system and create a startup promotion system for students.
“IT-Eureka! Ukraine” is another step on this way. The contest will help initiative students get experience in team work on a project, implementation of an idea in a prototype, and will provide the winner with opportunities to move to another level in startup creation,” comments Niklas Malmros, President at Sigma Technology Solutions.
