TAIPEI, Taiwan - Acer announces that as the Official Sponsor for IOI 2018, it is the sole supplier of notebook PCs for contestants and staff, in addition to servers, to run contest management systems and language translations for the event held from September 1 to 8. In total, Acer provided 450 Aspire notebooks, Altos servers, and on-site technical support to successfully power this year’s International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in Japan.

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“Aligned with the IOI’s objective of bringing the discipline of informatics (computing science) and IT to the attention of young people,” said Richard Lai, Corporate Sustainability Officer, Acer Inc. “Acer is excited to be part of this initiative that promotes scientific and cultural exchange among young computer scientists who are the innovators of tomorrow, and to foster more innovation and ideas for the future in informatics and IT.”

At the IOI 2018, Acer will also host the Knowledge Fair, during which an expert from Acer’s Value Lab (Acer’s research and development center located in the Taipei head office) will interact with students in an information session on the latest trends in artificial intelligence and discuss various ideas - further deepening this scientific and cultural exchange.

“As an ICT company, Acer is proud to play an integral role in this world-class science competition,” said Bob Sen, Managing Director, Acer Japan Corp. “Our long-term mission of breaking barriers between people and technology is also our inspiration to test technology to the limits, pushing it across existing boundaries.”

Promoting learning through technology is one of Acer’s core values, and the company has a tradition of participating in educational initiatives with a focus on knowledge sharing through computing. Efforts include being a partner to the City of Zurich’s Computer Science Competence Center in promoting digital learning in schools since 2017; and building a long-standing relationship with the Chilean government and a primary supplier for its programs to increase technology access for students since 2012. Initiatives like the “Connected for Learning” program brings PCs to 7th grade students in public schools, while the “I Select My PC” program delivers computers to economically vulnerable students from private schools throughout Chile.

The IOI is one of the five international science Olympiads, and one of the most prestigious computer science competitions in the world. The number of participating countries has continuously increased with more than 900 participants from 85 countries attending this year for the IOI 2018 in Tsukuba, Japan.