Egypt's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) is participating in the 28th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI), being held on August 12-19 in Kazan, Russia. MCIT participating team comprises of four competitors, including Ahmed Alaa Abdel Gawad, Mahmoud Badawy, and others. During the competition, students have to solve problems of algorithmic nature and computer programing. IOI aims at stimulating interest in informatics and information technology among young generations, as well as bringing together talented students from various countries to share scientific and cultural experiences. Contestants have to show basic IT skills like problem analysis, designing algorithms and data structures, programming and testing. The idea of the competition was first introduced during the 24th General Conference of 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 every year by a different country. IOI is one of the most recognized computer science competitions in the world with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNECO) and the International Federation for Information Procession (IFIP) being patrons. It is an annual international informatics competition for youngsters from 6 to 20 years old, organized in one of the member states in the International Informatics Committee. Since 2005, Egypt has been taking part in the IOI; it hosted the competition in 2008. Over the past years, Egypt became a strong competitor in the IOI and received a number of silver and bronze medals which facilitated the provision of job opportunities for participants in the world's leading information technology companies. Egypt won a silver medal in the 27th IOI 2015 that was held in Kazakhstan from July 26 until August 2. Egypt also won two silver and one bronze medals in the IOI 2011, hosted in Pattaya, Thailand on July 22 - 29. In 2010, Egypt won one silver and one bronze medals in Waterloo, Canada. In Bulgaria, 2009, the Egyptian team won three bronzes. In 2008, Egypt hosted the IOI and won a bronze medal. Egypt also won the first bronze medal in IOI 2005 held in Poland, then earned a similar one during the IOI 2006 organized by Mexico. The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) has been keen to support and sponsor the participation of Egypt in the IOI. Those medals reflect the fruitful outcome of the Ministry's strategy encouraging the use of information technology among youth through specialized contests in informatics.
