OCI National Finals 2023: 50% competitors from regions and 28% women

December 2023. With competitors from Copiapó to Osorno, the National Final of the 12th Chilean Informatics Olympiad (OCI) was held on December 15 and 16, 2023, at the Computer Science Department of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. The 32 participants had four hours to solve problems by creating code written in different programming languages.

Catherine Espinoza, executive director of the Chilean Computer Science Olympiad, emphasizes that the skills acquired in computing and programming are applicable to other areas: "You learn abstraction, pattern recognition, and also more specific knowledge such as algorithms. And all of this has diverse fields of application such as health, transportation, and everything around us. For this reason, it can become very multidisciplinary."

Of the 32 total competitors in this National Final, 50% were from regions and 28% were women. Among the 10 national medal winners, four were from regions and two bronze medals went to women.

Ignacia Urbina, winner of one of the bronze medals, says she prepared for the competition by taking a competitive programming course at Penta UC: "I really enjoyed it, not only the competition itself, but also the People the atmosphere, and the activities we did with everyone," says the 11th-grade student from Colegio Cabo de Hornos in Chicureo (Metropolitan Region).

For Edgardo León, Gold Medal winner and 10th-grade student at Colegio de Los Sagrados Corazones de Providencia (Metropolitan Region), the opportunity to meet new People share his interest in programming was one of the aspects he liked most about the OCI: "I've always been close to computers, but I hadn't dared to enter the OCI until 2021, when I learned more about the world of programming and decided to participate."

"The OCI is a competition where you learn a lot about programming, but—in addition—participants meet other young people who are also interested in technology, and that is one of the most important elements of the OCI: it creates a community around programming that crosses regional borders," concludes Catherine Espinoza.

The Chilean Computer Science Olympiad is supported by the Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data its organization.

WINNERS OF THE 12TH CHILEAN COMPUTER SCIENCE OLYMPICS

Gold Medal Edgardo León González, Colegio de Los Sagrados Corazones de Providencia (Metropolitan Region)

Silver Medal
Enzo Vivallo Flores, Ramón Freire Institute (Metropolitan Region)
Han Yu Yang Wang, Shanghai High School (China)
Francisco Pinhao Valenzuela, The English Institute (Metropolitan Region)

Bronze Medal
Maximiliano Sánchez Almeyda, Liceo Bicentenario Polivalente San Nicolás, Ñuble (Ñuble Region).
Nicolás Olavarría Rojas, Colegio Alicante del Sol (Metropolitan Region)
Javier Calfuala Villa, Liceo Bicentenario Padre Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, Loncoche (La Araucanía Region).
Diana Alcota Varas, Sagrado Corazón High School, Copiapó (Atacama Region)
Francisco Muñoz Montecino, Professor Fernando Pérez Becerra Higher Institute of Commerce, Chillán (Ñuble Region)
Ignacia Urbina Gálvez, Cabo de Hornos School (Metropolitan Region)