In 2014, I launched one of Lithuania’s most ambitious educational technology initiatives – Smart Day, an innovative online competition that transformed how students engage with STEM subjects. What began as a digital contest evolved into a comprehensive educational platform reaching thousands of students across the country.
Rather than testing memorized facts, we designed challenges that required creative problem-solving across six disciplines: math, computer science, physics, chemistry, biology, and economics. Success demanded balanced knowledge across all subjects, as overall performance determined final rankings. Through partnerships and fundraising, we made all activities completely free, ensuring equal access for every student. Over the years, the project evolved into a comprehensive educational ecosystem:
- Smart Day: A national online competition challenging students with interdisciplinary STEM problems
- Smart Week: Weekly newsletter delivering science news and teaching resources to educators
- Smart Teacher: Digital handbook helping teachers integrate technology into their classrooms
- Smart Fights: Ready-to-use competition packages for schools to run their own brain training sessions coupled together with live events, hosted by our partner, ISM University of Management and Economics.
- Smart Event: Season closing event, inviting most inspiring speakers for youth in Lithuania, available for everyone who participated in the event.
The initiative’s impact exceeded our expectations. Beyond engaging over 3,000 students annually, it sparked broader changes in Lithuanian STEM education. Teachers began using our platform for regular classroom activities, and the weekly newsletter became a valued resource for bringing current scientific developments into lesson plans.
Most importantly, Smart Day demonstrated how thoughtfully designed technology could make complex subjects more approachable and exciting for students. The project’s success led to partnerships with the schools, universities, and and laid the groundwork for future educational technology initiatives in Lithuania.
This work exemplifies my approach to using technology to create meaningful social impact, particularly in education and youth engagement. Through Smart Day, we didn’t just build a competition platform – we created a new model for digital learning that continues to influence educational practices in Lithuania.
From the Archives
A glimpse into Smart Day’s early years. While many photos from this decade-old project have been lost to time and poorly managed backups, these captures show the spirit of what we built:
