Mayor of the host town Burgas, Bulgaria: the International Olympiad in AI gets together the students that will change the world

In just three days, Burgas will become the capital of the world’s best students in artificial intelligence. On August 10th, the city will host the First International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence. The global tournament was created by five Bulgarians who chose the seaside city as the first host of the prestigious competition. High school students from six continents in 44 teams will compete in wo rounds – scientific and practical, to determine the most knowledgeable and creative among them.

Today, we introduce the mayor of Burgas, Dimitar Nikolov, who tells us why he accepted without hesitation the invitation to host the event.

Dimitar Nikolov, Mayor of Burgas – the host city for IOAI:

Mr. Nikolov, why did you accept the offer to host this first-in-the-world olympiad for students in artificial intelligence?

Burgas has always aimed to impress with its modern thinking and willingness to progress, to capture the pulse of each new day. Hosting the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence is yet another educational and technological initiative that the city warmly embraces. 

There was no room for hesitation because our city has always sought out and supported meaningful causes to find their welcoming host. It is an honour and a calling for us to be the first city in the world to host an artificial intelligence olympiad. 

A global event will be born in Burgas. Subsequently, it will be held in different places around the world every year, gathering the best students in this field. I am happy that the name of Burgas will remain in the olympiad’s history of the as the first host, and everyone who participates in it now and in the future will know where it all started.

Tell us when and where the olympiad will take place in the city?

The opening on August 10th will be held at the “Adriana Budevska” Theater. This is one of the city’s brightest symbols and is part of its magnetic essence.

The two competition days – August 11th and 13th – will take place at the “Alexander Georgiev-Kodzhakafaliya” Primary School and the “Academic Nikola Obreshkov” High School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences –  a school where many of the best students in Bulgaria started out. The two buildings are next to each other and will offer students from around the world the opportunity to enter classrooms where history and future intertwine.

On August 12th, there will be a large conference and several innovative workshops on artificial intelligence held at the International Congress Center Burgas. Within the building’s super-modern environment, guests from over 37 countries will be able to work and share knowledge just metres from the sea. The location is emblematic for the city, which is why the closing ceremony for the First International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence will also be held there on August 14th.

What would you like to say to the students from around the world who will come to Burgas this summer?

For me, Burgas has always been a city of bold dreamers who leave their mark. Therefore, I believe that the guests of this event are students who will soon begin to change the world.

About IOAI

The International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence (IOAI) is a STEM-focused competition aimed at inspiring, developing, and promoting the best students in AI globally. Each year, IOAI will highlight different AI fields; this year, the focus is on Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning, and Computer Vision. 

As an AI Olympiad, IOAI will actively engage in discussions with the general public about the ethical aspects and the future of AI, primarily through its practical round. The founders also aim to involve a local celebrity each year to promote IOAI and together with the students to inspire broader community dialogue about AI.

The 1st IOAI will be held in Burgas, Bulgaria August 10-14, 2024 under the Patronage of the President of Bulgaria.

Founders

The olympiad is founded by the LERAI Foundation of five Bulgarians: Lora, Elena, Rosi, Alex, and Iva.

• Lora Dineva is dedicated to education development with over ten years of experience organizing national linguistic events, including preparing teams and hosting the International Linguistics Olympiad. She holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and economics and is currently pursuing a master’s in artificial intelligence for business and finance. Professionally, Lora applies AI to improve efficiency and innovation in the government and financial sectors.

• Elena Marinova has a 25-year career in the IT sector as a co-founder of Musala Soft, now part of the IT business of the KKCG group. She is a leader in business excellence, innovation, and STEM education development. Elena is on the boards of companies, IT associations, and NGOs. As a public figure, she speaks and writes about leadership, technological trends, innovation, and education. Elena holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a master’s in strategic management. She is the co-founder of the oldest private programming competition, CodeIT.bg (2000), and the European Junior Olympiad in Informatics (EJOI, 2017).

• Rositsa Dekova is an associate professor at the University of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Her passion for linguistics began in high school when she won national computer linguistics competitions. This passion continues in her academic and research career. Rositsa holds two master’s degrees in linguistics and software engineering from the University of Plovdiv and a PhD in linguistics from NTNU, Trondheim. Over the years, she has actively participated in organizing linguistics and computational linguistics competitions and conferences. She is a member of the organizing committee for two international linguistics olympiads (2015, 2023).

• Aleksandar Velinov became interested in scientific competitions in school and won the national linguistics competition in the 12th grade. As a student, he began teaching linguistics and has been leading classes in all major schools in Sofia for over 20 years. Alex works in the IT sector but maintains his hobby, leading the Bulgarian national team almost continuously since the first International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) in 2003. Alex has organized IOL twice (2015, 2023) as chairman and has been a member of the IOL international board since 2015.

• Iva Gumnishka is a former competitor and gold medalist in mathematical linguistics from IOL. She is the founder of Humans in the Loop, a social enterprise processing data for artificial intelligence, and a board member of ForHumanity, which works in the field of AI system auditing.

Sponsors and Partners

The International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence is organized under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Bulgaria, with institutional support from the Ministry of Education and Science and the Municipality of Burgas.

The Platinum sponsor is Google.

The Gold sponsors are Vivacom, MBZUAI. 

Silver sponsors are Jane Street, Ontotext, SoftUni and Leading Coding. 

Bronze sponsors are Musala Soft, Team-GPT, Anthill, DiaDraw, Non-Trivial, Sofia Tech Park, Wiser, Print.bg, FlagFlag.bg. 

Organizational partners are the Natural Sciences Olympic Teams Association, Elektrick.me, Neutral Frames, Hotel Primoretz Burgas, Pobeda, Harmonika, Sindeo, MNKnowledge, Arcana Labs. 

Academic partners are MBZUAI, Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski”, INSAIT, MIT, University of Copenhagen, Sharif University of Technology, University of Oxford, Technology Innovation Institute, University of Houston, PPMG “Acad. Nikola Obreshkov”, Burgas, OU “Alexander Georgiev-Kodzhakafaliata”, Burgas, and PKPI Burgas.