What if every teenager on the planet had a place where their idea would be heard, supported and shown to the whole world? That is exactly the challenge InventFuture.Global (IF.G) takes on — a global community for youth innovation education that Kazakhstan is now part of.
IF.G is a nonprofit organization (501(c)(3), registered in the State of Ohio, USA) and, in essence, a global network: a community of organizations and people running innovation-education programs for children and teenagers.
Its core principle is openness: organizations join the network with no fees and no contractual obligations, sharing ideas, resources and experience. It isn’t a corporation with a single headquarters — it’s a distributed international movement of educators, mentors and enthusiasts.
"A young inventor is growing in every home, and every border is connected by shared innovation."
"To ignite and grow innovation in youth around the world" — through future-ready skills, a global community of educators and partnerships for accessible STEAM education.
Innovation Collaboration Across Every Border.A Student Innovator in Every Home.
IF.G emerged as an informal community of educators. The COVID-19 pandemic became an unexpected catalyst: when schools closed, students in different countries needed to stay connected.
A summer competition with 24 participants aged 9–18. The founders were four organizations from China, Indonesia, the United Kingdom and the USA; in 2020 Chile and Canada joined.
From this point the flagship competition runs annually and grows into a global network spanning dozens of countries.
The flagship annual online competition for inventors aged 5–19. Enter individually or as a team of up to three, in any format: a prototype, an app, an AI agent, a service, a social initiative, a process or an idea. Two stages: an international jury evaluates a 60-second pitch, a presentation and a development logbook — the best advance to the final.
A virtual "field trip": multi-hour live broadcasts where young inventors present their projects to a global audience. This is the competition’s final stage.
Young ambassadors represent IF.G in their countries. Alongside are themed challenges from past years (Water Challenge, Food System Challenge), the FUTURA! newsletter and the Global Youth Invention Summit.
IF.GIC 2025: 245 young inventors from 34 countries, 30 finalists.
IF.GIC 2024: 188 participants from 25 countries.
GIFT all-time: over 1,800 speakers from 74 countries across 17 celebration broadcasts.
Kazakhstan is represented in IF.G through TransforNATION. David Tuganov — Kazakhstan’s representative in the network and an IF.G board member — is growing Kazakhstani youth participation in the global programs: the competition, GIFT and a podcast series with finalists.
This gives our students a direct bridge into the international innovation ecosystem — with no intermediaries and no barriers.
Participation in IF.GIC is by invitation from a member organization of the network, or via the Global Independent Innovator route.
Sources: official inventfuture.global pages (About, IF.GIC, GIFT, Past Events, Media Kit), HundrED. Names are given only from confirmed sources.
