The world’s first high-school competitors centered on utility growth and actual enterprise processes of main tech corporations begins a brand new chapter
As digital ecosystems increase at an unprecedented pace, the worldwide IT trade faces an acute scarcity of expertise able to working with large-scale, industrial software program methods. Against this backdrop, the International Software Engineering Olympiad PROD has carved out a definite area of interest. Launched in January 2024, this system shortly grew to become one of many few platforms the place high-school college students from a number of international locations clear up actual enterprise challenges, discover the structure of advanced software program methods, and achieve a mindset formed by the workflow of enterprise-level engineering groups. Registration for the brand new season closes on December 2, and the initiative is more and more seen as a gateway for younger folks to discover the total spectrum of contemporary technological growth.
PROD is without doubt one of the fastest-growing training tasks in recent times, bringing collectively high-school college students round duties drawn straight from real-world trade. The initiative is run by a number of Russian organizations: Central University – a new-generation STEM-oriented establishment ranked amongst Russia’s main universities and one of many high 10 best for admission; T-Technologies, a significant fintech firm; and the Faculty of Computer Science at HSE University.
The thought was born as an try to present youngsters an early, knowledgeable pathway right into a career shaping the long run technological panorama. Importantly, the organizers emphasize that no prior programming expertise is required – fundamental data of arithmetic and laptop science is ample.
PROD permits college students from grades 8 to 12 to check themselves in industrial growth, one of the vital advanced branches of IT. Its debut season in 2024 was a milestone as PROD grew to become the world’s first worldwide Olympiad of this sort. More than 6,000 functions have been submitted. During the second season, which opened in December 2024, over 10,000 college students utilized, and 4,000 Russian-speaking members from greater than 20 international locations – together with the UK, Germany, France, Canada, China and Peru – took half. In simply two cycles, the Olympiad has advanced from a standalone worldwide contest into a real bridge linking faculties, universities, and the know-how sector.
The new season opens in December 2025, with outcomes introduced in March 2026. For the primary time, the competitors is totally bilingual – in English and Russian – making it accessible to college students worldwide.
The design of PROD ensures that college students from any nation can full the total journey: from introductory duties to a ultimate venture protection. Most levels are held on-line, decreasing entry obstacles and establishing PROD as a really international tutorial platform. Only the ultimate spherical takes place offline in Moscow, with lodging for worldwide members totally lined by the organizers.
The competitors begins with a distant check in arithmetic and fundamental programming – equivalent for all members no matter nationwide curricula. The second spherical focuses on case challenges in frontend and backend growth, cell engineering, and MLOps, every reflecting the realities of contemporary tech industries all over the world. This construction helps college students grasp ideas relevant not solely in Russian or European fintech, but additionally throughout international digital ecosystems.
The ultimate stage consists of two rounds. In the person spherical, finalists develop a venture inside their chosen observe; within the staff spherical, they collaborate to create full-scale options primarily based on circumstances offered by the organizers.
PROD’s rising worldwide standing is strengthened by its actual affect on members’ futures. Over two years, this system has constructed its personal growth ecosystem: 39 finalists and award-winners have secured internships at T-Technologies – an organization growing a significant monetary and way of life providers ecosystem – with 19 presently interning and 9 already employed full-time. More than 120 members from the earlier season enrolled at Central University, together with 50 finalists and 20 winners and prize-winners.
In a world the place software program has develop into a common language, initiatives like PROD form a brand new era of engineers – younger professionals able to constructing world-class digital merchandise even earlier than coming into college. The Olympiad has already confirmed that high-school college students are prepared for this problem, and its worldwide enlargement ensures that younger folks anyplace on the earth can entry this expertise.
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