Winners of International School IT Olympiad in Cybersecurity to Be Awarded at CIPR 2025

The Nizhny Novgorod Region and the Republic of Cuba have opened entries for the International School IT Olympiad in Cybersecurity. Olympiad welcomes schoolchildren from Russia and other countries aged 14 to 18 inclusive. Registration is open until April 10, 2025, via the following link.

“Ensuring cybersecurity is a critical priority in many countries. Training specialists in this area, starting from school, is an investment in the protection of digital infrastructure and the sustainable development of future technologies. We hope that the International IT Olympiad, which we are holding together with our Cuban partners, will help find talents and give them the chance to grow in this essential area. It is important to form a new generation of experts capable of withstanding the challenges of the digital age,” emphasized Gleb Nikitin, Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

The Olympiad consists of several stages. The individual online stage will be held from April 2 to 15, and the team online competition – from April 21 to 25. Based on the results of qualifying stages, the 100 best participants will be invited to the in-person final held from May 30 to June 3 at School No. 21 in Nizhny Novgorod. The awards ceremony for the winners will be held as part of the conference “Digital Industry of Industrial Russia.”

“The International IT Olympiad is a platform where schoolchildren not only compete but also learn to work with future technologies. While solving problems in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, they gain unique experience that will help them become sought-after experts. It is especially inspiring that the final stage of the Olympiad will be held in Nizhny Novgorod, and the awards ceremony will be held at the tenth anniversary conference CIPR 2025, one of the major technology conferences in the country,” said Evgeny Fedoseyev, Director of ANO Gorky Tech.

The International Cybersecurity Olympiad is organized by the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, ANO Gorky Tech, and ANO NEIMARK, and the Cuban Union of Informaticians. The International School of Programming and Mathematics “Algorithmika” acts as the technology partner.

To recap, holding IT Olympiads and competitions meets the objectives of the new national project “Data Economy and Digital Transformation of the Country” implemented in Russia starting in 2025 by order of President Vladimir Putin.

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The Olympiad will be held in the Capture The Flag (CTF) format, where participants will solve problems related to cybersecurity in order to “find the flag” — a special line confirming the successful completion of the task. This format will help develop practical skills, find vulnerabilities in systems and ways to eliminate them.