"The Republican Olympiad on Informatics among high school students" has been held for 13 years jointly with the organization of the Ministry of Transport, Communication and High Technologies, Heydar Aliyev Foundation, the Ministry of Education and the Institute of Information Technology of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. The Olympiad is dedicated to the 17 May - World Telecommunication and Information Society Day. The aim of the Olympiad is to enhance the knowledge and interest of high school students in the field of informatics and programming, as well as involve the selected students in international Olympiads.

   Olympiad consists of two stages. Registration of teams representing higher educational institutions of the republic was carried out on the site www.olimpiada.az within one month prior to the first stage of the Olympiad. Each team consists of 1 teacher (in the lead) and 3 students (bachelors). A maximum of 4 teams per higher education institution were admitted to the first stage of the Olympiad.

   Representatives of the organizations attended the opening ceremony held at Baku Engineering University. Rector of BEU, Professor Havar Mammadov welcomed the participants and talked about the attention of President Ilham Aliyev to IT and innovation fields in our country. The Rector also pointed out the advantages of the Olympiad to universities and participating students.

   Elmir Valizada, Deputy Minister of Transport, Communications and High Technologies, welcomed the event participants and wished them success. 

   The deputy minister also gave information about the ministry's work in the direction of IT development. Elmir Valizada noted that over the past 12 years, about 40-50 teams (160 to 200 participants) joined the first stage every year from 10 to 15 higher education institutions. This year, 62 teams from 25 universities across the country are eligible to participate in the competition. Along with the capital, the universities of Ganja, Mingechevir, Nakhchivan, Sumgayit and Lankaran State Universities, Azerbaijan Technological University as well as the Azerbaijan State Agrarian University were particularly interested in this year's Olympiad.

   Deputy Director of the Institute of Information Technologies of ANAS Rashid Alakbarov spoke about the successes of the youth policy implemented in the country. He pointed out that the Olympiad formed students' skills of intellectual abilities, algorithmic thinking and collective work.

   Senior lecturer of BEU Etibar Seyidzada explained the conditions and rules of the competition to the participants and answered their questions.

   It should be noted that the competition was held on the rules of international ACM / ICPC (International Olympiad on Informatics among high school students). According to the rules, only one team showing the best result for each educational institution will qualify for the final stage of the Olympiad, and the best four teams will be announced the winner.

  Winners (I-IV places) will be awarded with Honorary Awards and Honors by the Azercell operator and BestComp Group, as well as by the Ministry of Transport, Communication and High Technologies.

   The final stage will be held on May 5, 2018 at the Institute of Information Technology of ANAS.

    For further information: www.olimpiada.az