Egypt is due to host the 20th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) scheduled from August 16–23, 2008 at Mubarak City for Scientific Research and Technology Applications in 6th of October Governorate.
More than 300 contesters from about 80 countries are expected to take part in the international competition which will be held in Egypt for the first time.
The IOI 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.
Last year, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Ministry of Education and the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport signed a trilateral agreement on co-organizing the 20th IOI in Egypt.
"Egypt have been organizing the Egyptian Olympiad in Informatics (EOI) from 2003–2007; and due to the efficiency of this local competition, the country was chosen to compete in IOI during the time from 2005–2007," Senior Advisor to the Minister of Communications and Information Technology for Human Resources Dr. Ekram Fathy said.
Each participating country is sending a delegation of four members aged from 6–20 years in addition to a trainer and his or her assistant.
"The competition is based on using programming skills in solving problems, while presenting these problems in a gradual way in terms of difficulty," Dr. Fathy explained.
About IOI
IOI is an annual international informatics competition for youngsters in one of the member states in the International Informatics Committee.
The competition tasks are of algorithmic nature. Contestants, however, have to show basic IT skills like problem analysis, designing algorithms and data structures, programming and testing.
The idea of IOI was first introduced during the 24th General Conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris by the Bulgarian delegate Professor Bojidar Sendov in October 1987.
In 1989, the first IOI was held in Bulgaria to become an event hosted annually by a different country. The plan was included into the 5th Main Program of UNESCO for the biennium 1988-1989.
