OREANDA-NEWS  On 17 September was announced, that registration of participants for Latvia’s third annual IT Olympiad began. The competition is open to students from high schools and higher education institutions, and the Olympiad is organised by Lattelecom Technology – part of the Lattelecom Group – along with Hansabanka and Microsoft.
 
The IT Olympiad is organised separately for two groups – one for schoolchildren, the other for students in their early years of university studies. Each group will be assigned tasks of varying degrees of difficulty, ones that are fairly close to the everyday work of a software programmer. Before taking part in the Olympiad, people must put together teams of three individuals and register on the Internet page www.lattelecom.lv/olimpiade.
 
“Existing and potential IT students are the ones who will be able to bring the idea of Latvia as a global IT power to life. We need specialists who can not only work at a professional level, but who are also enthusiasts about the IT sector. In organising this IT Olympiad, we hope that this will encourage high school students to think about a career in IT and to motivate those who are already students in the IT field at the higher education level so that they go to work in the sector in Latvia because their ideas and abilities are much appreciated here,” says Inguna Pede, director of Lattelecom Technology’s Software Solutions Service.
 
“IT is a very visible and dynamic part of modern reality. In future, IT will strengthen its positions even further, and it is specifically our younger generations which will have to be prepared to manage these technologies and develop them even further. The goal for Microsoft is to promote the integration of young Latvians into the global process of facilitating IT development as quickly as possible, offering support and as much motivation as possible for outstanding work and innovation,” says the Microsoft director for business development and marketing in Latvia, Daiga Trumpe, when asked about why her company supports the Olympiad.

The Olympiad will be held in two rounds, with the qualifications round taking place from September 22 until October 6. Participants will have to handle a number of tasks during this process, but not at a specific site. Once the qualifying rounds are over, the six best teams from high schools and the six best teams from the university level will be invited to the finals, which will take place at the central Hansabanka building in Rоga on October 24 and 25.
 
Software design assignments will be based on the .NET 2.0 platform. The tasks will not require in-depth knowledge about the relevant technologies. Participants should have basic understanding about software design in the .NET environment, as well as basic knowledge about software design. High school students should have basic knowledge about object-oriented software programming. University students will be expected to have basic knowledge about databases and a bit of experience in the design of simple Windows applications and Web pages.

Last year 34 teams of high school and university students took part in the IT Olympiad. The “RAM” team from the University of Latvia took top honours at the upper level, while a team called “LED” from the Rоga No. 1 State Gymnasium won first prize at the high school level.
 
Lattelecom Technology and its partners organise the IT Olympiad with the aim of ensuring greater interest among high school and university students in software design, as well as helping them to develop teamwork skills which can prove what they are capable of.
 
The organisers of the Olympiad
 
Lattelecom Technology, which is part of the Lattelecom Group, is Latvia’s leading provider of integrated IT solutions and services. Competence and experience in the Baltic market allow the company to offer various software products, as well as specialised and bespoke IT solutions.

Hansabanka is Latvia’s leading commercial bank and is part of the globally known Swedbank finance corporation. Innovations are a key value for Hansabanka, and that is why the bank devotes so much attention to various opportunities for education and development.
 
Microsoft Latvia was established in 1999 as the Microsoft business in the Baltic States. In 2003, the company opened up offices in Estonia and Lithuania, too, thus allowing Microsoft Latvia to focus fare more on the local market and conditions therein. Today Microsoft Latvia employs more than 50 people, offering support for its partners, development of services and solutions, as well as marketing campaigns.