Tashkent: The 38th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI 2026) opened yesterday in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with the participation of Saudi Arabia's national informatics team and teams from around 100 countries.

According to Saudi Press Agency, the competition runs from August 9 to 16. Representing Saudi Arabia in this edition is a four-member team of high school students who underwent training and preparation under the supervision of the King Abdulaziz and His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Mawhiba), in partnership with the Ministry of Education, as part of the Mawhiba International Olympiad Program.

IOI 2026 marks Saudi Arabia's eighth participation in the competition. In its seven previous appearances, Saudi students won 11 international awards, including seven bronze medals and four certificates of appreciation.

The students underwent a comprehensive training and qualification program that included intensive training camps and selection competitions to assess their abilities and identify top performers. They also took part in simulation competitions designed to develop their problem-solving and strategy-building skills, leading to the selection of the national team for the Olympiad.

The IOI aims to identify young talent in informatics and develop their logical thinking, problem-solving skills, and ability to build effective software solutions. It encourages students to specialize in computer science while fostering communication and the exchange of expertise among students, specialists, and informatics teachers from around the world.