Regional startups will receive 200,000 tenge for the best social IT idea.

Astana Hub, the IT startup technopark, announces a competition for the best technological solution to a social issue in its region or city, called “Idea Battle.” Startups from across Kazakhstan can participate. The main selection criterion is the practical benefit of the solution for a specific region. The winners of the competition will receive 200,000 tenge each and access to the technopark’s educational programs.

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The contest will be held online. To participate, you need to post a photo or video on Instagram with the city name, a description of the problem and its solution, and include the hashtag #hub_ideabattle. Applications will be accepted from November 12 to November 22, and on November 24, three winners of the contest will be announced live on the astana.hub Instagram page.

The contest, which will launch simultaneously in all 15 regions of the country, aims to identify new faces in the IT community, support fresh ideas, bring "smart" technologies to remote regions, and increase public awareness of the opportunities provided by Astana Hub, - notes Arkady Seleznev, Managing Director of the Technopark.

The jury will evaluate applications based on originality, the realism of the solution, and its positive impact on the existing problem - the impact factor.

To date, local IT communities have already been formed in 15 cities across the country. These are Aktobe, Aktau, Atyrau, Kokshetau, Kostanay, Uralsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Pavlodar, Taraz, Turkistan, Zhezkazgan, Kyzylorda, Petropavl, Taldykorgan, and Shymkent. Regional community managers of Astana Hub have spent the past 3 months working with local programmers, IT companies, and other interested audiences, organizing training sessions, workshops, and hackathons. The social ideas contest “Idea Battle” will be the concluding event of 2021, bringing together the knowledge and skills gained by startups from all corners of Kazakhstan.