By Ibrahim Olukotun
Lagos. April 11, 2013: Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile- Ife Nigeria has urged its students to register for the Google Code Jam 2013, the annual competition for software programmers.
The annual event from search giant Google brings together professional and student programmers from all over the world to solve tough algorithmic puzzles is entering its tenth anniversary this year.
The nation’s leading varsity gives requirements for eligibility including that applicant must have attained 18 years at the time of the final round and applicants must not be in Google’s employment or have relations working in the company, among others.
Meanwhile, this year’s star prize has been increased to $15,000 to spur creativity among participants. Qualification round will kick off tomorrow, according to Google.
The competition consists of four online rounds, culminating in the world finals slated to hold at Google’s office in London, United Kingdom in August 2013. Also, the winner has automatic qualification for Code Jam 2014 finals to defend his title.
OAU has in recent times has been leading in many areas including the latest ranking released by the Cybermetrics Labs, owners of the ‘Webometrics Ranking of World Universities Initiative’, regarded as the leading assessors in university rankings worldwide, that placed the university as the best in Nigeria and 14th in Africa.