Oriented on making people closer

The Oguz Khan University of Engineering and Technology of Turkmenistan, in collaboration with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Turkmenistan and the OSCE Center in Ashgabat, is holding a High Technology Week “Sustainable Economic Development: Innovation and Industrialization”, from 18 – 21 September 2023 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.

As part of the High Technology Week in Turkmenistan, UNDP and the OSCE organized an intellectual competition “Brain Ring” on the theme “Youth and Innovation,” which was held on September 21 at the Oguz Khan University of Engineering and Technology of Turkmenistan.

The intellectual competition was organized with the aim of empowering and unleashing the talents and creativity of young people, raising their awareness of modern innovative technological solutions, providing a platform for knowledge exchange and re-emphasizing that science, technology and innovation are important drivers of sustainable and inclusive development.

The Brain Ring on technology was held in three rounds and covered topics such as the first smart city of Turkmenistan - Arkadag, the promotion of women and girls in the field of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and the role of youth in harnessing the power of technology and innovation for accelerating achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

In order to respect the principles of gender equality and to attract girls to digital solutions, women and girls actively participated in the intellectual competition. The gender diversity of the competing teams broadened the pool of talent and allowed a wider range of innovative ideas to be submitted to the brief.

“Youth are the driving force of innovation. I am glad to see how boys and girls are actively involved in promoting innovation in our country, studying technology and not being afraid to try something new,” jury member Mr. Farhad Artykov, UNDP Project Analyst in Turkmenistan, Digitalization and Innovation said.

“The OSCE Center in Ashgabat works closely with the youth of Turkmenistan in many areas, including cyber security,” Mr. William Leaf, Political Adviser at the OSCE Center in Ashgabat noted. “In fact, we recently helped one university set up a Center of Excellence in Cyber/ICT Security to ensure that young experts like you are well-versed in the importance of keeping high tech safe and secure.”

The first place was taken by the team of the Engineering and Technological University of Turkmenistan named after Oguz Khan. The second place was taken by the team of the International University of Humanities and Development of Turkmenistan, and the third place went to the team of the Institute of Telecommunications and Informatics of Turkmenistan. All three teams received prizes from UNDP in Turkmenistan, the OSCE Center in Ashgabat and the Oguz Khan University of Engineering and Technology of Turkmenistan.

ORIENT news

Photo: UNDP in Turkmenistan