17 February 2026

At the same time, ceremonies were held in Andijan, Karshi, Namangan, Nukus, and Fergana — in total, around 1,100 girls and mentors from 6 regions of the country joined the launch.

📍Speakers at the opening in Tashkent included:

🔹 Nodir Alibekov, Head of the Digital Economy Development Department of the Ministry of Digital Technologies, emphasized that team projects can grow into полноценные startups, and the ministry is ready to support the most promising initiatives.

🔹 Saida Yusupova, Director of the NGO Tech4Impact and Coordinator of Technovation Girls Uzbekistan, thanked the partners who have supported the project for 10 years and announced the launch of a database with stories of graduates from different Technovation seasons.

🔹 Izzat Shukurov, Head of Yandex Uzbekistan, highlighted the importance of supporting youth and girls for the company and shared how he is inspired each time by the participants’ ideas.

🔹 Rahimakhon Nugmanova, Head of Government Relations at Yandex Uzbekistan, spoke about Yandex opportunities for developers, the company’s social and educational initiatives, as well as 4 special prize nominations for Technovation Uzbekistan teams, which we will share separately. Yandex specialists will once again become mentors for teams from all regions.

🔹 As part of a panel discussion on AI opportunities in Technovation projects and the connection between technology and the Sustainable Development Goals, the following speakers participated:

— Selbi Khanova, Partnership Specialist at the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in Uzbekistan

— Akmal Salikhov, Development Director at East Games, lecturer at WUIT

— Lyudmila Buzhorianu, Senior Digital Development Specialist at the World Bank

The experts discussed ethics and AI application, as well as how teams can consciously and effectively use artificial intelligence in their projects.

🔹 Elena Selezneva, Coordinator of Technovation Girls Uzbekistan, подробно explained the rules and stages of the competition.

🔹 Team Tecnas, winners of the 2023 international competition, and Student Ambassador Zebiniso Juraeva shared their achievements after participating in Technovation and inspired the girls to continue their education and build careers in STEM.

Technovation is not only about programming. Designers, project managers, marketers, data specialists, and representatives of many other fields also benefit from participation.

We also held a team-building session for participants and mentors who do not yet have a team 🤝

We thank our partners, speakers, participants, mentors, as well as our volunteers and Student Ambassadors (Kamilla A, Kamilla B, Ezoza, Muxtasar, Charos, and Madina) for their contribution to the organization and the atmosphere of the event 💙

❗️Stay tuned for updates: online seminars will start very soon, and we will publish instructions for team and mentor registration for full participation in the competition.

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In the 2026 season, the Technovation Girls Uzbekistan program is implemented by the NGO Tech4Impact in partnership with the Ministry of Digital Technologies, the Center for Digital Education Development, and Yandex Uzbekistan.