The team ranked among top three at ICOA 2026 tournament in Sydney
The Ukrainian national team of school students won four medals at the first International Cyber Olympiad in AI (ICOA 2026). Following the results of the competition, the national team ranked among the top three strongest teams of the tournament. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine (Юлія Бойко) citing press service of Ajax Systems, according to the portal PromPolitInform.
The international tournament took place in Sydney with 65 school students from 20 countries participating. The Ukrainian team included four students from Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Odesa, and Poltava region, who passed the national selection and prepared for the event at Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.
Based on the competition results, Ukrainian students won one gold and two bronze medals in the main standings. Additionally, the team secured a silver medal in the special Pioneer Round standings.
Key Features of ICOA 2026
The specialized ICOA olympiad focuses on practical applications of artificial intelligence in information security. During tasks, participants applied artificial intelligence models to solve cybersecurity problems and investigated vulnerabilities of AI systems used in robotic devices.
One of the competition partners, Ajax Systems, funded travel, accommodation, and participation expenses for the Ukrainian delegation in Australia. The project was implemented within the company’s educational initiative Ajax Next, which supports the development of technical education in Ukraine.
Development of Olympiad Movement in Ukraine
“Participation in international olympiads is extremely important. First, it provides motivation to study hard and be the best in Ukraine. Second, competition is the engine of development. Only in international competition can one develop into a world-class specialist. And third, it develops the ‘Ukraine’ brand,” said Oleksandr Konotopskyi, founder and chairman of the supervisory board of Ajax Systems.
He added that the company considers supporting young talent a key priority. In 2026, under the Ajax Next program, participation of 120 Ukrainian students was supported across 7 international competitions in mathematics, physics, robotics, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence, with most teams returning home with medals.
Furthermore, the company funded two specialized mathematics camps for 180 students and announced plans to help Kyiv Polytechnic Institute enter the top 100 universities worldwide.
Photo: пресслужба Ajax Systems
