ST. PETERSBURG, December 8. /Dunyo IA/. Karen Baratyan, a student from Uzbekistan enrolled in the Faculty of Information Technologies and Programming at the Saint Petersburg National Research University of ITMO, secured second place with his innovative project “TinchTech” - a mini-application designed for digital knowledge monitoring - at the student competition for chatbot and mini-application development for the national messenger platform “Max”, reports Dunyo IA correspondent.

It should be noted that the hackathon was held in multiple stages, with the final round conducted in Moscow. A total of 56 teams, comprising over 1,500 participants, advanced to the finals, having been carefully selected by experts from “MAH” (Moscow Academy of Hackathons) and “VK Education”.

Teams showcased over 50 prototypes of chatbots and mini-applications during the finals. The inaugural student hackathon for the development of chatbots and mini-apps for the national messenger “MAX” featured three focus tracks: Digitalization, efficiency and social impact.

Anna Stepanova, Vice President for Educational Projects at “VK Education”, emphasized:

- For us, this event was truly remarkable. When the hackathon officially launched on October 16 and the selection process began, we did not anticipate such a wide and extensive geographic reach. Submissions came from 110 cities, totaling 2,700 applications. We are genuinely proud of the digital solutions that have been developed and proposed for the “Max” messenger.