The First European Junior Olympiad in Informatics was launched!

The very first European Junior Olympiad in Informatics - eJOI was launched today with an official ceremony in the Aula of the Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”.

Attending the ceremony and greeting the teams and guests were the President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, the European Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society Maria Gabriel and the Minister for Education and Science for the Republic of Bulgaria Krasimir Valchev. The European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Tibor Navracsics sent his greetings to all participants from Brussels, wishing them success in this fundamental undertaking. Amongst the official guests were the ambassadors from the participating countries as well as representatives from the institutions and businesses who supported the event.

“It is exciting to be here with you, because I believe in the success of the European Junior Olympiad. I am confident, that it will build on your previous achievements. Today, this Olympiad goes from an idea to becoming a reality. Like every beginning, it starts with expectations and brings your hopes for victory. I believe that with each passing year, it will connect more and more teams from Europe, and perhaps, from other continents.” said Rumen Radev, President of the Republic of Bulgaria.

In her speech, Mrs. Gabriel showed her enthusiasm for the Olympiad as well: “Whatever the technology and society would see, what we must not lose out of focus is our humanity. This is what I see in you - minds, talents and people - all questing new challenges. You're all winners, keep the memories shared together and those connections close. From today onwards, all participants in this Olympiad have a new mission – you are the ambassadors of the future!”

The contribution to education, information and the future digital society was not missed by Mr. Valchev’s greetings as well. Another very special and interesting guest was Mario Bakalov - pilot of the world’s largest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380, who wished many happy and safe landings to all: “The fascination to fly has been there all my life. All of you - you have a goal. You came here to be the best and meet new challenges, and i know the next days will be hard. I encourage you to fight, to follow your goals and to never give up. Many people have told me I would not succeed. Prove that you're the best team, act as an individual but also as a strong team. I admire you.“

The Initiative Committe of eJOi 2017 is: Biserka Yovcheva, CEO of A&B School of Informatics, Alexey Hristov, Chairman of the Management Board of The Natural Sciences Olympic Teams Association in Bulgaria, Elena Marinova, Chairman of the Development Board of the Natural Sciences Olympic Teams Association and President of Musala Soft, and Krassimir Manev, President of the International Olympiad of Informatics (IOI) 2014 – 2017. eJOI’s four initiators didn’t hide their great excitement about the realization of the Olympiad, and together with the Patrons, announced the official start of this year’s competition.

Teams from 22 Council of Europe member states arrived in Sofia to take part in eJOI. Being a host, Bulgaria is the only country to participate with two teams whilst all others compete for medals with one four-person team.

eJOI has two competition days – the 9th and 11th of September – taking place at the Sofia Tech Park. Results can be followed live on the eJOI website. The climax of the competition will be the final at 13:00 on September the 11th (Monday) in the John Atanasoff Forum, Sofia Tech Park. Participants’ emotions will peak as they learn their rankings seconds after the competition ends, sharing victory and disappointment with their team leaders.