86 delegations, 320 students, 87 visitors, 82 delegation leaders, 77 deputy leaders and 11 observers: this is ‘the big family’ of IOI 2012.   

The 24th IOI in 2012  is held in Garda Exhibition Center, Sirmione, Italy.  It aims at stimulating interest in Informatics (computer science) and information technology as well as bringing together talented students from various countries to share scientific and cultural experiences.
Different cultures with one thing in common: the love for informatics and mathematics.

The competitors are brilliant high school students, no older than 20 years of age, chosen after a very selective and demanding process.

Even though each country has different selection criteria, students are required to be top of their class with outstanding abilities that set them apart.

The competition is based on using programming skills in solving problems, while presenting these problems in a gradual way in terms of difficulty.
Tasks are of algorithmic nature. Contestants have to show basic IT skills like problem analysis, designing algorithms and data structures, programming and testing.