INFOPROG 2016 – The IT experts of the future
The INFOPROG IT competition was organized for the twentieth time this year in the high school of Fülek, with the participation of hundreds of Hungarian high schools and students within the Carpathian basin.
The finals of this unique initiative was conducted following two correspondence rounds with the combined help of the Infotér Association, the e-Talentum Nonprofit Ltd, the Rákoczi Alliance and National Council for Telecommunications and Information Technology. The event was supported by Fornax as well.
The contestants competed in programmer and user categories and in other areas too. Judges picked the best students, who received study grants and IT equipment, and the schools left with prizes as well. The contest was also the finals of the national championship of Hungarian high schools of Slovakia. In the past twenty years more than 2000 students prepared by almost 250 teachers participated in the Inforprog finals from 50 different Hungarian language high schools on the other side of the southern and northern borders and from Transylvania.
The conference on Friday was also a meeting for the IT developers of the present and the future, for government organizations and NGOs, and for business enterprises, and the attendees were presenters and guests from various areas involved in finance IT.
The goal of the organizers is to encourage students to choose a career in IT, as there are about 10-20 thousand unfilled positions in the Hungarian IT labour market, and the gross monthly salary in infocommunication is the second highest among the industries.
At the event the point was made that IT means a career, easy job search and a comfortable income, and all this was supported by data. Unfortunately despite the advantages of the sector, skewed and negative stereotypes still exist in the society about an IT career. The organizers intended to make this industry more acceptable not only for the participating students, but also for their environment, hoping that more and more people will choose an IT major when applying for higher learning. Furthermore the long term goal is that every Hungarian speaking high schooler in the world has the option to participate in the contest.
A further goal of the conference and workshop is to increase financial awareness among young people, as a child of 14 can now open a bank account, and although our financial services are on par with those of European banks, our youth is lagging behind in terms of a conscious, responsible financial mind-set.
Start-up companies also gave presentations at the event, providing further incentive to students, showing them that while leveraging and enhancing their skills an original idea can help them to build an astonishing career.
