Among the participants were fledgling and professional IT specialists aged 14 and up from all over Russia – almost 900 people in total. 557 of them were novice programmers. 26 teams participated in the event on-site, while the rest of the teams competed online. The oldest participant, Mikhail Larin, was 78 years old, the youngest, Tikhon Smirnyagin – 14.

The programmers were given six tasks: to develop a smart locomotive control board, to overhaul a product database, to write code for detecting aerial objects via video analysis, to identify defects in laptops, to automate the checking of requirements in a certified environment, and to develop a QnA chatbot.The tasks were offered by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Russian Railways, JSC NIIAS, the Corporate University of Russian Railways, and the companies Atom and Sila.

The prize pool for each case amounted to 600,000 rubles: 300,000 for first place, 200,000 for the second, and 100,000 for the third. The total prize pool was 3,600,000 rubles. The prizes went to 18 teams from 12 regions – Moscow, St. Petersburg, Perm Krai, Ulyanovsk Oblast, Novgorod Oblast, Rostov Oblast, the Udmurt Republic, Kostroma Oblast, Sverdlovsk Oblast, Moscow Oblast and Novosibirsk Oblast.

“Over these few days, we’ve witnessed a real digital shift, along with innovative ideas and unique digital solutions. 122 teams made it to the finals, which is 75% of the teams from the qualifying round: we are proud of this result and our participants! And we’d like to thank our partners for the cases they’ve offered, and to ITMO University for hosting the event and their active participation. I’m sure that the solutions offered by participants will find their practical applications and open new horizons for the digital future!” said Daria Mikaelian, the head of digital projects at the autonomous nonprofit organization Russia – Land of Opportunity.

The North-Western regional hackathon of the project Digital Breakthrough. Season: Artificial Intelligence took place as part of the federal project Artificial Intelligence of the national project Digital Economy, was organized by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, and managed by the autonomous nonprofit organization Russia – Land of Opportunity.

In 2024, eight regional hackathons will take place as part of the project. These will be hybrid competitions with venues in all federal districts. The regional hackathons have already taken place in Sochi, Moscow, Chelyabinsk, Vladivostok, Grozny and Omsk. Registration for the Volga Federal District hackathon, slated to take place in Nizhny Novgorod, is open on the project’s website until October 18, and the registration for the International Hackathon is open until November 4.