Adapting to the changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizers of the 2020 National Olympiad in Informatics—Philippines (NOI.PH) will push through with the event on August 8-9, 2020, utilizing the online realm as this year’s battleground for the brightest young Filipino minds in programming.
Through this virtual competition, the NOI.PH will assemble a team of the country’s best young programmers, to represent the Philippines in the upcoming International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).
An annual competitive programming competition for secondary school students, the IOI showcases teams from over 80 countries worldwide. Participants undergo a series of individual contests on computer programming, and are awarded medals depending on their final scores.
The 2019 IOI took place on August 4-11, 2019 in Baku, Azerbaijan, with 322 participants from 83 countries. Dan Alden Baterisna (De La Salle University Senior High School), Dion Stephan Ong (Ateneo de Manila Senior High School), Steven Reyes (Saint Jude Catholic School), and Ron Mikhael Surara (Philippine Science High School–Bicol Region Campus) represented the country at the 31st iteration of the prestigious competition, with Baterisna bringing home a bronze medal.
This year’s NOI.PH will see 30 finalists vie for spots in the national roster. The top two finalists will automatically take the first two slots, while the remaining two members will be selected based on their performance in the NOI Training season (which will likely be online as well).
Last March 13, the NOI.PH organizers announced the suspension of the onsite final round due to pandemic-related precautionary measures.
“In this digital age, you need computational thinking to thrive,” said Marte Soliza, one of the NOI.PH organizers. “Cultivating that is one of our goals as we train high school students and challenge them in the NOI Finals. Although there are unfamiliar challenges to overcome, we are fortunate enough to push this event through despite the pandemic.” Soliza also thanked the Department of Science and Technology – Science Education Institute (DOST-SEI) for supporting the competition and the country’s participation in the IOI.
“We thank NOI for sustaining this program that manifests your belief in the excellence of our students in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM),” DOST-SEI Director Dr. Josette T. Biyo. “This year’s NOI will surely be a showcase of gifts in coding or programming.”
Author: Mikael Angelo Francisco
Bitten by the science writing bug, Mikael has years of writing and editorial experience under his belt. As the editor-in-chief of FlipScience, Mikael has sworn to help make science more fun and interesting for geeky readers and casual audiences alike.
