From 24 June to 5 July 2024, the University of Lviv hosted a two-week English-language summer school "Artificial Intelligence Technology summer school 2024" (AITss 2024), which has traditionally been dedicated to the study of artificial intelligence technologies and has been held for the past few years. The school is organised by Ivan Franko National University of Lviv on the initiative of the Department of System Design of the Faculty of Electronics and Computer Technologies, in particular Associate Professor Roman Shuvar, together with the Centre for Marketing and Development and the Artificial Intelligence Technology Laboratory.
The school's audience is constantly expanding with new representatives from IT companies, as artificial intelligence technologies are of interest not only in academic circles but also in the industry. The school was held in an online format, which allowed us to bring together interested participants from all over the world. Thus, despite the difficulties associated with the war against Ukraine, about 500 participants from many cities of Ukraine (Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernivtsi, Khmelnytskyi, etc.) as well as from foreign countries, including: USA, Poland, Germany, Turkey, Spain.
The event brought together all those who want to learn more about artificial intelligence and its capabilities nowadays and prospects in the future. The presentations were aimed primarily at students of educational programmes that train software engineers specialising in AI software technologies, including: "High Performance Computing and Software Engineering at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv.
During the summer school, students attended more than 60 lectures by IT industry experts aimed at enhancing their understanding and learning of innovative technologies. The experience of leading experts from IT companies undoubtedly plays one of the most important elements of non-formal education, where you can understand the scale and relevance of solutions in the industry in a short time.
AITss 2024 featured 56 speakers from Ukraine and around the world. They shared their knowledge and valuable skills with the students, and later the participants had the opportunity to work actively in team projects. Together with them, the participants explored such relevant topics as Python basics, mobile development for iOS, Android, Databases, Big Data, Generative AI, Software & Web development, IoT, IIoT, AIoT, etc. We would like to add that all theoretical and practical materials were developed for the students according to their starting level of knowledge and are intended to interest them in developing in the field of AI to a professional level.
It is worth noting that the best works performed by students and focused on AI were submitted to the project competition as part of AITss 2024. This year's jury will review each of the submitted works and select the winner according to the approved rules.
And this autumn, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv will host the in-person completion of the Artificial Intelligence Technology summer school 2024, where the results of the competition will be announced, followed by a festive diploma presentation.
This year, the event was organised with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, Lviv City Council, and Lviv Regional State Administration. Leading Ukrainian and global IT companies joined the partnership, in particular: N-iX and NeuroForge became the official partners of the school, SoftServe, EPAM, and Indeema were partners. They also contributed to the successful implementation of AITss: GlobalLogic, Sigma Software University, UA-Teens, ELEKS, CHI Software, Machine Factor Technologies, Weav.ai, NeuronsLab, E-Docs. Information support was provided by: Lviv IT Cluster, Marketer.ua, IT Ukraine Association, DOU.
We thank our partners for their significant support and assistance in organising such a large-scale event. We also express our sincere gratitude for the significant contribution to the development of Ukrainian IT at the international level to everyone who joined AITss 2024. We sincerely wish all the participants of the school to continue to develop successfully in the IT sphere, developing many more useful and advanced projects in the future!