Hong Kong Students Shine at IOI 2024 with Gold, Silver Medals and Honourable Mention

Hong Kong students triumph at 36th International Olympiad in Informatics

A team of four students representing Hong Kong achieved excellent results in the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) 2024, winning one gold medal, two silver medals and one honourable mention. Representatives from 96 countries or regions from all over the world participated in this year's IOI, which was the 36th event and was held in Egypt.

The four students awarded at the IOI 2024 are as follows:

Gold medal: Wong Chun (Pui Ching Middle School)

Silver medal: Kwan Yung-ho (Diocesan Boys' School)

Siu Lok-yin (Wah Yan College (Kowloon))

Honourable mention: Choy Tsz-chai (La Salle College)

The Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, today (September 9) congratulated the team on their excellent performance in the competition. "It is very encouraging to see the remarkable achievements of the Hong Kong team in the IOI, which are the results of the students' persistent work and have demonstrated their problem-solving skills and computer programming abilities," she said.

"I wish to extend my gratitude to the school sector for partnering with the Education Bureau (EDB) in promoting STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) education in Hong Kong. The schools not only promote innovation and technology education and information technology in education through classroom teaching, but also provide various learning opportunities outside the classroom including project learning and participation in competitions so as to enable students to utilise their knowledge and skills in STEAM-related areas to solve problems, thereby nurturing their creativity, enriching their learning experience and broadening their horizons."

The IOI under the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is for secondary school students under the age of 20. It aims to promote coding education, nurture students' computational thinking and problem-solving skills, and is the most recognised worldwide computer science competition for secondary school students.

Since 1997, the EDB and the Hong Kong Association for Computer Education have jointly organised the Hong Kong Olympiad in Informatics (HKOI). Outstanding winners from the HKOI are selected as Hong Kong representatives every year to enter the IOI. They are required to attend a series of training programmes to better prepare for the international competition. In a tradition of passing the torch, many of the trainers are previous contestants of the IOI.

Hong Kong students triumph at 36th International Olympiad in Informatics Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

C&WDO receives report of loss of hirer data by facility management services contractor of Sai Ying Pun Community Complex

The Central and Western District Office (C&WDO) received a report of the loss of hirer data by a facility management services contractor today (September 16).

The C&WDO has engaged a facility management services contractor, Synergis Facility Management Limited (the Contractor), to assist in managing the Sai Ying Pun Community Complex Community Hall (the Community Hall) and handling the booking applications for use of the Community Hall and its facility from September 2022 to August 2025.

The Contractor reported to the C&WDO this morning that a staff member of the Contractor, who is responsible for handling the booking applications for use of the Community Hall and its facility, had lost a portable device (USB) during work on September 14. The device contains the name of organisation, date and time of the event, name and contact number of the contact person for 306 applicants. The data involved does not include any identity card number or other personal identifiers.

Upon receiving the report, the C&WDO promptly requested and accompanied the Contractor to report the incident to the Police and reported the matter to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data this afternoon. The C&WDO is contacting all the affected applicants to offer apologies and explain the incident. Meanwhile, a hotline (2852 3735) has been set up for persons affected to make enquiries. The C&WDO has also immediately suspended the Contractor from handling the booking applications for use of the Community Hall and its facility. The Home Affairs Department (HAD) has also informed the Property Management Services Authority to take appropriate follow-up action as the Contractor has failed to handle personal data properly as a licensed property management company.

The C&WDO sincerely apologises to the persons affected for any inconvenience caused and will follow up seriously to prevent reoccurrence of similar incidents . The C&WDO strongly condemns the Contractor concerned for the incident and has required the Contractor to submit a detailed report and take all necessary measures to prevent further leakage of the data involved. The HAD will not allow the Contractor to bid any other projects of the HAD until it has taken satisfactory measures.

Source: AI-generated images