On December 5–6, 2025, one of the largest youth festivals in the field of digital and creative industries — ITFest 2025 — will take place at the Atakent Exhibition Center in Almaty. The event is organized within the framework of the AI-Sana state program by the Alliance of Universities of Kazakhstan with the support of the NNEF Public Foundation. The Alliance unites the country’s leading universities — IITU, KBTU, UIB, and Astana IT, which train specialists for the national economy. The festival aims to develop digital skills, entrepreneurial thinking, and project culture among students and schoolchildren, as well as to popularize the use of artificial intelligence. Participants will compete in eight categories:
— Hackathon
Topics: AI, blockchain, big data, digital services
Participants: school students
Format: team projects developing innovative solutions for business and government.
— Startup Battle
Topics: GreenTech, FinTech, EdTech, MedTech, Creative Industry, and others
Features: projects using AI/ML
Format: startup pitch presentations before a jury.
— CyberSecurity CTF
Cybersecurity tournament
Participants: school and university students
Format: practical tasks and cybersecurity cases.
— CyberSport
Disciplines: CS2, Dota 2, FIFA
Format: youth esports competitions.
— Movie & Video
Short film and AI-content competition
Format: creative projects using digital technologies and AI.
— Design & Animation
Competition in webtoon, animation, and graphic design
Participants: school and university students.
— ITFest Cup (ICPC)
Competitive programming
Participants: school students
Format: solving algorithmic tasks against the clock.
— IT FEST Robo Competition
Field: robotics and microcontroller programming
Participants: school students (grades 8–11)
Goal: promotion of technical disciplines, learning to work with ESP32, deepening knowledge of electronics and programming
Format: creating mobile robots and completing practical tasks.
Prize places:
— 1st place – 250,000 tenge;
— 2nd place – 200,000 tenge;
— 3rd place – 150,000 tenge.
IT FEST Robo Competition:
— 1st place – 200,000 tenge;
— 2nd place – 150,000 tenge;
— 3rd place – 100,000 tenge.
Additional nominations: 50,000 tenge each (“Best Engineering Solution”, “Best Web Interface”, “Best Presentation”).”