Being a student of the 12th grage at the NIS of physics and mathematics direction in Almaty, Ivan Krepak is a programmer, robotics and IT security specialist. Ivan created the first smart lock in Kazakhstan, — “bLock,” and also developed the “Zharys” mobile app, which aims to increase the participation of young people in various competitions. He is also the developer of the “Qiianat Etpe” Antiterrorist Antenna project and the author of the “VoiceKomek” mobile app, which allows people with hearing and speech impairments to communicate with people who do not speak sign language.

“Today, in all international competitions and contests, our country is represented by students of intellectual schools. I made sure that our guys are internationally competitive. Our country has a powerful educational potential. The state is doing a lot so that today the atmosphere of the cult of knowledge reigned here, and young people had the opportunity to learn and create. But in order to make it, as Nursultan Nazarbayev says, ‘not to fall behind,’ we must raise competent, competitive and advanced youth. I sincerely believe that Jeff Bezos with Amazon, his company Uber and his Internet giant Alibaba, can be reised in our country,” said Ivan Krepak.

Krepak believes that the most breakthrough and large-scale ideas, discoveries that will be used not only by the country, but also by the whole world, occur precisely at a young age. Young people are easier to deal with problems, easier to take on complex tasks. The youth generates bold ideas, is not afraid to implement them. The youth is not afraid of failures.

“All successful startups do not work right away on the first attempt, successful startups are the result of experience gained from previous failed attempts. Before launching the Zharys, I developed many other mobile applications. Some of them were unpopular, there was flaw design, somewhere I lacked experience, but when I started participating in competitions, IT hackathons and other school disciplines, I realized that only Internet is not enough for me, I should go out in people, consult with professionals. Then I found like-minded people. I am glad that the Head of State decided to create a special fund to support start-ups,” the young inventor shared his opinion.

He also expressed confidence that the Year of Youth will allow the younger generation to expand the boundaries of their knowledge and skills in the educational environment, the development of information technology, business and other sectors of the economy and society.

“The Year of Youth is a new era for Kazakhstan. This can be called rebranding. Today, Kazakhstan in many ways overtakes not only the CIS, but also the USA, Canada, Japan, China,” Krepak noted.