International Olympiad in Informatics in Szeged

The 35th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) will be held in the southeastern Hungarian city of Szeged from August 28 with the participation of about a hundred countries. This is the second time after 1996 that Hungary hosts the prestigious scientific competition.

According to an announcement Deputy State Secretary for Technology in the Ministry of Economic Development, Szabolcs Szolnoki on Tuesday, one of the aims of the competition is to raise awareness of IT education and to promote IT careers, which are becoming a niche profession due to digitalization, the politician said.

The event is expected to attract four young people from a hundred countries each, with Hungary as the organizer with eight entries. Including the chaperones, the number of IOI participants will reach 1,000.

The chairman of the Hungarian organizing committee, László Jobbágy, said the IOI is one of the five most prestigious science Olympiads returning to Europe after 11 years of competitions overseas and in Asia.

The event, which will take place from August 28 to September 4, will see young people compete over two days of competition, accompanied by social, sporting, tourist and cultural activities. The event is organized in connection with the 120th anniversary of the birth of János Neumann.

The chairman of the Hungarian technical committee, László Nyúl, an associate professor of the Institute of Informatics at the University of Szeged, said that the competitors will have to solve three tasks, write programs and develop algorithms in two to five hours.

Due to the pandemic, this will be the first time since 2019 that competitors will be able to participate in person. The technical background, the computers, servers, the strong and weak current network, requires a lot of preparation.