Press Briefing on ICPC World Finals Dhaka held

06 November 2022 (Sunday), the Press Briefing on International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) Word Finals Dhaka was held at the auditorium of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC), ICT Tower, Dhaka. The 45th edition of ICPC is hosted by the University of Asia Pacific (UAP) with the support of ICT Division of Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC).

The Hon'ble State Minister for the ICT Division of Bangladesh Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak MP addressed the ‘Press Briefing’ program to the television, print and online Media as Chief Guest while Dr. William B. Poucher, President of the ICPC Foundation and ICPC Executive Director was also present and addressed the session.

Among others, Prof. Dr. Qumrul Ahsan, Vice Chancellor, UAP; Mr. N M Zeaul Alam PAA, Senior Secretary to ICT Division; Dr. Michael J. Donahoo, Deputy Executive Director, ICPC; Mrs. Vicky Zhang, President, Corporate Communications of Huawei; Mr. Andrei Ivanov, Vice President, Research and Education of JetBrains; and Mr. Ranajit Kumar, Executive Director, BCC also spoke on this occasion.

In his speech, the Hon'ble State Minister, Mr. Zunaid Ahmed Palak, MP said that this event is a great opportunity to highlight our capabilities in ICT. At the same time, it is also an opportunity to establish contact with the current leadership of the future ICT leaders of our country. Mr. Palak also invited all the foreign guests to experience the beauty and hospitality of Bangladesh.

The President of the ICPC Foundation Dr. William B. Poucher said that ICPC is a competition for the universities of the world. Our mission is to uplift every class to build on our strengths of a better world for future generations. He also pointed out we want to create opportunities for everyone. For this, such events like ICPC are very important. I am very excited about this event being held in Bangladesh.

The Vice-Chancellor of UAP Prof. Dr. Qumrul Ahsan expressed heartfelt gratitude to ICPC Foundation, BCC and the ICT Division. He said ICPC is the premiere global programming competition being the oldest, largest and the most prestigious contest, which is considered as the "Olympics of Programming Competitions". He also said that it is the greatest honor for UAP to host this prestigious competition as it is the first time that something of this magnitude has been hosted in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) was honored as the champion in Asia West region in the 44th ICPC World Finals last year. This year, talented contestants from around 137 teams from 70 countries are participating in the final round of this contest. Apart from 200 ICPC Regional Contest Directors, more than 1000 foreign guests including officials are already arrived in Bangladesh for the occasion. ICPC Regional Directors will participate in different symposiums and seminars. This year's "ICPC World Finals Dhaka" is starting from November 8, 2022 at the International Convention City Bashundhara (ICCB) located in Bashundhara, Dhaka. The main element of the contest of Problem Solving Part will be held on 10 November where the participants will solve the problem within 6 hours using their skills and talent. The champion of the event will be announced at the closing ceremony on 10 November 2022.

This year, a total of 8 talented teams from - Bangladesh are participating from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), University of Dhaka, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), Rajshahi University of Engineering & Technology (RUET), North South University (NSU, American International University- Bangladesh (AIUB), Jahangirnagar University and University of Asia Pacific (UAP) are participating in this global contest from Bangladesh. The ICT Division organized a special training in the month of October of this year for the final phase of the contest.