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

With competitors from Copiapó to Osorno, the National Final of the XII Chilean Informatics Olympiad (OCI) was held on December 15 and 16, 2023 at the Computer Science Department of the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. The 32 participants had four hours to solve problems through the creation of codes written in different programming languages.

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

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

Ignacia Urbina, winner of one of the Bronze medals, says that she prepared herself through a competitive programming course at Penta UC: "I really liked, besides the competition itself, the People and the atmosphere, the activities we did with everyone", says the third year student from Colegio Cabo de Hornos, Chicureo (Metropolitan Region).

For Edgardo León, winner of the Gold Medal, a first year student from Colegio de Los Sagrados Corazones de Providencia (Metropolitan Region), the opportunity to meet new People who share his taste for programming was one of the aspects he liked most about the OCI: "I was always close to computers, but I had not 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 the participants also meet other young people who are also interested in technology, and that is one of the most important elements of the OCI, it generates a community around programming that crosses regional borders," concludes Catherine Espinoza.

The Chilean Informatics Olympiad has the support of the Millennium Institute Foundational Research on Data in its organization.

WINNERS OF THE XII CHILEAN COMPUTER SCIENCE OLYMPIAD

Gold Medal
Edgardo Leon Gonzalez, Colegio de Los Sagrados Corazones de Providencia (Metropolitan Region)

Silver Medal
Enzo Vivallo Flores, Ramon Freire High School (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, Liceo Sagrado Corazón, Copiapó (Atacama Region).
Francisco Muñoz Montecino, Instituto Superior de Comercio Profesor Fernando Pérez Becerra, Chillán (Ñuble Region).
Ignacia Urbina Gálvez, Colegio Cabo de Hornos (Metropolitan Region)