Education and innovation

More than 30 educational IT initiatives, 16 speakers from six countries, some of the most interesting IT developments in Ukraine and abroad, and more than 5,000 visitors... All of it has been brought to the capital of Ukraine by one of the biggest events in the world of innovative technologies, held here for the seventh consecutive year and called “IT Jam 2015.”

“We came up with this as an event that would unite people from Ukraine and abroad. This is a venue where people can meet, learn, exchange ideas, and continue to communicate in the future,” the IT Jam’s co-organizer Rimma Men told us.

The organizers invent new ways of holding the event every year. “For example, we took 85 people past year, activists from the IT industry who develop the IT community, make presentations at various conferences and events, share experiences with others. We took them out of town and held a foresight event, which is a methodology for designing future. It usually results in several scenarios being offered. We see now that the IT community is developing according to one of them,” Men added.

The chief slogan of this year’s IT Jam is education and innovation. “After all, over the past years, we saw a lot of initiatives appearing that are taking the first steps to teach other people IT. Therefore, we would like to draw attention to them, because in order to develop the IT industry, you need to have dozens, if not hundreds such initiatives,” Men explained, and added that IT had now broke into almost all aspects of life, whether people notice it or not.

All the activities of the IT Jam took place in three locations. The first of them offered people a chance to listen to interesting speakers, coming from countries including the UK, the US, Sweden, and Ukraine. Experts talked about new trends in the IT market and the impact of innovative technologies in various spheres of human life, such as security, e-healthcare, energy, cryptography, design, eye-tracking systems. In particular, there was a lively discussion of the car’s transformation into a... smartphone.

ON THE INTEL UKRAINE’S “EDUCATION FOR THE FUTURE” GROUND, YOUNG DESIGNERS COULD LEARN TO WRITE THEIR OWN PROGRAMS AND CHECK THEIR PERFORMANCE

Over the years, the car has evolved into a very different beast. Even if it looks somewhat similar externally to its predecessors, on the inside, it is a totally different machine, reminding a multifunctional gadget most of all. “Definitely, the next few years in the automotive electronics will see much emphasis on safety,” program manager of Luxoft Company Yurii Shvalik told us. In particular, it will involve developing systems to help prevent traffic collisions. “For example, we will see systems that stop the car when the driver becomes ill while driving. The car will feel it and neatly park itself on the sidelines while calling emergency services,” he explained.

Another trend is augmented reality. “The car will be a very interesting application of it in terms of navigation. It will liberate the driver from the need to look at on-board computer on their side and take eyes away from the road, for the front window will serve as a kind of monitor, projecting navigator’s tags on the road,” Shvalik explained. Another highly interesting development is the unmanned vehicle which is becoming an innovative space for communication instead of a transportation means.

The second location offered a variety of educational initiatives in IT, like courses and training centers. “It is independent and non-formal education. Some work totally free-of-charge. People understand that they want to share with others the acquired knowledge,” Men told us. In addition, to promote the popularization of IT education in Ukraine, the organizers have launched the first annual award event, called the IT Education Awards. “We had 46 nominees, and there will be much more of them in the coming years. The IT education is what you need to do to lift the industry and the country as a whole to a new level,” Men explained.

The third location was called the Gadget Area. All comers had a chance to personally test some of the latest technical innovations, such as 3D printers, drones, augmented reality devices, and machines for moving objects... with the power of thought. This has been made possible by a new technology called Mindflex, which uses special forehead sensors that read brain activity and cause the ball to move, depending on the concentration of the player. The Tobii technology enables people to operate a computer by looking at it and try portable “smart” glasses called the Eye Tracker. “Imagine, for example, that you are a marketer doing some test. You have a group of users who you task with finding a specific product in the supermarket. The user puts these glasses on and goes to fulfill their task. You get a few records allowing you to analyze user’s behavior and can decide for yourself if the product is placed right, or maybe should be moved somewhere,” the Eye Tracker co-developer Anna told us.