Today, the younger generation in Russia stands to drive the country’s economic and technological progress in the coming years, said Alexander Vedyakhin, first deputy chairman of the board of directors at Sberbank, after the finals of the National Technology Olympiad (NTO) in the Technological Entrepreneurship profile.
The finals drew 90 high school students representing 22 Russian regions. Over four days, they tackled a range of tasks in social studies and computer science, leveraged Sber’s GigaChat neural network, and pitched 21 startup ideas developed at the Sber School Accelerator under the guidance of mentors. Finalists will continue refining their ventures within the accelerator to reach concrete business milestones.
The winning team in this profile hailed from Kurgan and carried the SkyControl name. Individual winners were identified from the cities of St. Petersburg, Tyumen, Moscow, and the Kurgan region. In the solo category, awards went to 14 students from St. Petersburg, Veliky Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod, Tomsk, Tyumen, as well as Moscow, the Kurgan region, and Pskov regions.
Vedyakhin emphasized that the Sber Technology Entrepreneurship Profile is more than a contest for school-age ideas. The participants are introduced to fundamental entrepreneurship concepts and, with the mentorship of seasoned entrepreneurs, transform their early concepts into viable business projects within months.
According to him, this approach helps shape a new generation of capable professionals who are competitive in the labor market. He noted that supporting talented youths and offering opportunities to study at leading universities benefits both Sber and the broader nation.
Among the ideas presented at the finals were a noninvasive glucose monitoring device, an AI-powered language learning app, and a platform for organizing cyber security training and competitions along with other innovative solutions. (Source: Sber press materials)
Alexey Komissarov, rector of the Presidential Academy, highlighted the current importance of engaging high school students in programs that teach technological entrepreneurship. He remarked that enabling students to progress from a startup mindset to an actionable business project will yield tangible results for the sector’s development as a whole.
It is worth recalling that the NTO school program was active in more than 40 areas during the 2023/2024 academic year. The technology entrepreneurship department ranked among the top five in popularity with high school students. This year’s organizers and partners included the Sber School Accelerator, the National Research University Higher School of Economics, and the Presidential Academy. (Attribution: event organizers’ summary)