Hong Kong Olympiad in Informatics is a programming competition for secondary school students, organised by the Education Bureau and the Hong Kong Association for Computer Education and co-organised by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and City University of Hong Kong. The competition focuses on problem-solving, algorithms, data structures and programming techniques. It is also the preliminary selection contest for the International Olympiad in Informatics Hong Kong team.
The competition comprises the Heat Event and the Final Event. In the Heat Event, contestants will have to complete two written papers of 50 and 40 minutes’ duration respectively. In the Final Event, they will take a 3-hour practical test in which they have to write programs to solve the given programming tasks.
Individual prizes include Gold, Silver and Bronze medals, Honourable Mentions, as well as the Best Young Contestant and the Best First-Time Contestant (Junior Group). Grand School Prizes are awarded to the four schools with the highest points. Medalists will be invited to join the HKOI Training Team for intensive training. They will also be eligible to participate in the Team Formation Tests in which delegations are selected to represent Hong Kong in external competitions.