IOI Olympiad (International Olympiad in Informatics)

The International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) is an annual Informatics competition launched in 1989 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). This article provides a brief introduction about IOI Olympiad along with the eligibility, syllabus, venue, rules, rewards, etc.

What is IOI Olympiad?

The term “IOI” typically refers to the International Olympiad in Informatics. The IOI Olympiad is an annual Competitive Programming competition for secondary school students from around the world. It is one of the most prestigious competitions in the field of computer science and programming. Participants, usually high school students, compete individually to showcase their problem-solving and programming skills by solving a set of complex algorithmic problems within a limited time frame.

Aim of IOI Olympiad:

The primary aim of the IOI Olympiad is to provide a common platform for students to come together and showcase their problem-solving and programming skills in the field of Computer Science and Informatics. It aims to:

• Promote Culture of Computer Science: IOI Olympiad aims to promote Computer Science education and encourage young minds to pursue careers in this field. It helps enlighten students about the importance of computer science and informatics.
• Foster Problem-Solving Skills: The cut-throat competition challenges participants with a series of complex algorithmic problems that require creative thinking and problem-solving skill. This leads to the development of skills among the participants.
• International Collaboration: IOI Olympiad brings together talented young individuals from different countries, establishing international relations and cultural exchange. It promotes a sense of global unity and cooperation in the field of informatics.
• Setting Standards: The Olympiad aims for excellence and motivates students to continuously improve and achieve efficiency. It is used as a benchmark to measure proficiency among students.
• Promoting Fairness and Integrity: The competition is conducted with a strong emphasis on fairness and integrity. It aims to create a level playing field for all participants and maintain the highest ethical standards in the competition.

Each participating Country is represented by a National Delegation. All members of a National Delegation represent one Country. A National Delegation is headed by a Delegation Leader and has a team of one to four contestants and if there is more than one Contestant, then the team may include a Deputy Leader. The team will compete in a two-day competition. Each team competes to maximize their score by solving three algorithmic problems within five hours on each competition day.

Eligibility for IOI Olympiad:

Any participant must hold the given conditions to be eligible for taking part in the Olympiad.

• Students should be enrolled in a school at a level of secondary education or lower and should not be enrolled in a degree program for majority of the period from 1st September to 30th December before the year of the IOI Olympiad in which they want to appear.
• Students should not be older than 20 years on the 1st of July of the year of the IOI Olympiad in which they appear. There is no lower age limit for participation.

Rules for IOI Participants:

It is the responsibility of the delegation leader to ensure all the rules are being followed by the members of delegation.

• Team Composition:
  • Competitors represent their home country in teams of up to four students.
• Language:
  • All problem statements and communication during the contest are in English.
• Language in Tasks:
  • Contestants can only use C++ to solve the problems.
• Equipment:
  • Participants bring their own laptops or devices.
  • In the competition room, blank paper, writing tools, Clarification Request Forms, snacks and water will be provided.
  • The use of electronic gadgets (such as mobile phones, tablets, or calculators) and access to external resources (like the internet) are not allowed during the competition.
• Code of Conduct:
  • Strict adherence to ethical standards is expected.
  • Collaboration or communication with other participants is not allowed during the contest.
• Proctoring:
  • The contest is closely monitored to prevent cheating.
  • Proctors ensure compliance with the rules.
• Grading:
  • Problems are graded by a panel of international judges.
  • Each problem typically has a predefined score, and contestants receive points based on the correctness and efficiency of their solutions.
  • Partial credit may be awarded for partial solutions.
• Fair Play and Sportsmanship:
  • Participants are encouraged to exhibit good sportsmanship and respect for fellow competitors.

Violation of any rules may lead to disqualification of the team.

How to Participate in IOI Olympiad:

Students in each country are selected for their country’s team through national computing contests.

• Ensure you meet the eligibility criteria and check with your country’s IOI committee for specific eligibility details.
• Find out if your country has a National Olympiad Committee responsible for selecting IOI participants. They will provide information on the selection process and deadlines. Use the official IOI website for the same.
• Prepare for the national selection rounds and IOI Olympiad itself. This involves improving your problem-solving skills, algorithmic knowledge, and programming abilities. You can use CP handbook to prepare for the same.
• Compete in the national selection rounds and strive to achieve high scores or rankings. Your performance in these rounds will determine your eligibility to represent your country at IOI Olympiad.
• Once the national selection rounds are complete, the National Olympiad Committee will announce the team members who will represent your country at IOI Olympiad. If you are selected, you will receive further instructions and information.

Syllabus of IOI:

The syllabus for the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) covers a range of topics related to algorithmic problem-solving and programming. The following is a general overview of the typical subjects covered in the IOI syllabus:

Category	Topics
Basic Programming	Variables, data types, input/output, conditional statements, loops, functions, recursion, basic standard template library (STL) usage.
Mathematics	Number theory, basic combinatorics, modular arithmetic, prime numbers, basic geometry.
Data Structures	Arrays, linked lists, stacks, queues, trees, heaps, hash tables, graphs, etc.
Number Theory	Modular arithmetic, greatest common divisor (GCD), least common multiple (LCM), modular inverses, Chinese Remainder Theorem (CRT).
Greedy Algorithms	Basic principles, applications in optimization problems, interval scheduling, Huffman coding.
Dynamic Programming	Basic principles, memoization, tabulation, applications in optimization problems.
Graph Algorithms	Depth-First Search (DFS), Breadth-First Search (BFS), Dijkstra’s algorithm, Floyd-Warshall algorithm, Kruskal’s algorithm, Prim’s algorithm, topological sorting.
Combinatorics	Counting principles, permutations, combinations, inclusion-exclusion principle, generating functions.
Geometry	Basic geometry concepts, convex hull, line-sweep algorithms.
Game Theory	Introduction to game theory, minimax algorithm.
Online Judge Practice	Problem-solving on online judges such as Codeforces, AtCoder, HackerRank, etc.

It is important to note that the specific topics covered in the IOI syllabus may vary slightly from year to year. Additionally, the difficulty level increases with each IOI competition, so participants are expected to have a strong understanding of these topics and be able to apply their knowledge to solve challenging problems.

The syllabus gets updated, so it becomes important to regularly update yourself with the official website.

Venue of IOI Olympiad:

There are a total of 91 countries and regions that can hold the finals of International Olympiad in Informatics. In order to select the students representing a country, every country conducts a prelims round on their own and select 4 students to represent the country in IOI Olympiad. A coach is sent with a delegation of 4 students and 2 adults by every participating country. The two-day long contest is followed by some cultural and recreational events organized on the organization.

Itinerary of IOI:

The International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) is typically organized over several days, and participants engage in various activities during this period. Here’s a general itinerary for the IOI Olympiad:

Day	Activities
Day 1	– Arrival and registration
	– Distribution of information packets
	– Welcome ceremony and introduction to the event
Day 2	– Opening ceremony with official speeches
	– Introduction to IOI rules and guidelines
	– Practice contest for participants
	– Team leaders and contestants get acquainted
Day 3	– Day 1 of the main contest
	– Contestants have to solve 3 problems to solve in 5 hours
	– Free time or social activities
Day 4	– Day 1 Analysis and Appeals
	– Relax and Activities
Day 5	– Day 2 of the main contest
	– Conclusion of the contest
	– Participants may have free time or engage in activities
Day 6	– Day 2 Analysis and Appeal – Excursion or cultural activities for participants
Day 7	– Closing ceremony with result announcement
	– Distribution of medals and certificates
	– Farewell speeches and acknowledgments
	– Official group photo
	– Farewell dinner or social event
Day 8	– Check-out from accommodation
	– Departure of participants to their respective countries

It’s important to note that the actual schedule and events may vary each year, and organizers may incorporate additional activities or make adjustments based on the host country’s preferences. Participants also have the chance to interact with each other, exchange cultural experiences, and form friendships during the Olympiad.

Awards at IOI Olympiad:

A felicitation ceremony is conducted to address the participants of the event. After the contest, participants are awarded with medals based on their performance. The top 50% are given the medals.

The top 50% medals are divided into gold, silver and bronze. The ratio of medals is around 1:2:3:6 meaning:

• Around 1/12^th of participants gets gold medal.
• Around 2/12^th of participants gets silver medal.
• Around 3/12^th of participants gets bronze medal.
• Around 6/12^th of participants does not get a medal.

In most of the countries, students who qualify for IOI Olympiad are rewarded heavily. In India, qualifying for IOITC or IOI Olympiad gets direct admission to the top IIITs in the country, like IIIT Delhi, IIIT Hyderabad, etc.

IOI Olympiad Roadmap for Indian Students:

The 4 students to represent India at the IOI Olympiad are selected through the Indian Computing Olympiad (ICO). The conducting body for ICO is Indian Association for Research in Computer Science (IARCS). ICO is held in 3 stages and 4 students who qualify all the three rounds are selected to represent India for IOI. The three stages are:

• Zonal Informatics Olympiad (ZIO) or Zonal Computing Olympiad (ZCO): ZIO is an offline written test and does not require to code in any programming language. The duration of the exam is 3 hours. There are 4 questions in ZIO and each question has 3 sub-questions, so there are a total of 12 sub-questions. Each question is of 20 marks such that each sub-question carries 5 marks and if a student solves all the three sub-questions, he/she is awarded full 20 marks. So, the total marks for ZIO is 80 marks. In ZIO 2024, 462 students registered for the contest out of which 111 students got qualified.
  ZCO is an online programming contest in which the questions are based on Algorithmic techniques. The allowed languages are C, C++, Java and Python. ZCO is open to all the students from 8th Grade to 12th Grade. Students require basic understanding of Data Structures and Algorithms to crack this Olympiad. In ZCO, students are given 2 problems each of 100 marks. The questions usually have subtasks to award points on solving the problem partially. Both ZIO and ZCO are usually held in between November to January. The registration fee for ZIO and ZCO is around 400-500 INR. Students who qualify either ZIO or ZCO are eligible for the next round.
• Indian National Olympiad in Informatics (INOI): After qualifying ZIO or ZCO, the students advance to the next round which is INOI. INOI is a programming contest with 2 questions which are more difficult as compared to ZCO. Similar to ZCO, INOI is also graded partially. C++ is the only programming language allowed in INOI. INOI is usually held in January or February. Around 30 students are selected from INOI to advance to the next round.
• International Olympiad in Informatics Training Camp(IOITC): 30 students are selected to take part in the International Olympiad in Informatics Training Camp. IOITC is held in the month of May at the Chennai Mathematical Institute(CMI) for selecting the final 4 students to represent India. This training camp usually lasts for ten days. Finally, 4 students are selected to compete in IOI Olympiad.

IOI Olympiad Roadmap for Students in USA:

Students who want to participate in IOI Olympiad from USA need to qualify all the stages of United States of America Computing Olympiad (USACO). USACO is an online computer programming competition which serves as a qualification to participate in IOI Olympiad from USA. In an academic year, USACO conducts 4 contests: December, January, February and US Open. The US Open contest is 5 hours long whereas the others are 4 hours long. In each of these contests, there are 4 difficulty levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum. All the participants have to start from Bronze Level. Each of these contests are scored out of 1000 points with 3 competitive programming problems of equal points (Each problem is worth 1000/3 = 333.33 points). The number of testcases in each problem can range from 10-30, with all of them having equal points weightage except the sample test cases which are not worth any points. Inputs and Outputs of testcases (except sample testcases) are not visible during the contest. USACO supports C++, Java and Python but it is recommended to use C++ as it would help in IOI Olympiad. The cutoff in each round is always a multiple of 50 and ranges from 600 to 850. If you score at least the cutoff score for your division, then you permanently qualify for the next division. 4 students who qualify all the rounds of USACO are selected to represent USA for IOI Olympiad.

Previous Years IOI Olympiad:

The IOI Olympiad has been held annually since 1989, and each year a different country takes on the role of the host. The competition involves multiple days of algorithmic problem-solving tasks for high school students from around the world. Here is the list of past 10 IOI Olympiads along with all the details:

Year	Dates	Host Country	City	Contestants	Countries
2023	28th August 2023 – 01 September 2023	Hungary	Szeged	351	87
2022	07 August 2022 – 15 August 2022	Indonesia	Yogyakarta	349	88
2021	19 June 2021 – 25 June 2021	Singapore	online	351	88
2020	13 September 2020 – 19 September 2020	Singapore	online	343	87
2019	04 August 2019 – 11 August 2019	Azerbaijan	Baku	327	87
2018	01 September 2018 – 08 September 2018	Japan	Tsukuba	335	87
2017	28 July 2017 – 04 August 2017	Iran	Tehran	308	83
2016	12 August 2016 – 19 August 2016	Russia	Kazan	308	80
2015	26 July 2015 – 02 August 2015	Kazakhstan	Almaty	322	83
2014	13 July 2014 – 20 July 2014	Taiwan	Taipei	311	81