Not programmed to win

The dismal performance at a recent programming contest could be indicative of Indian students’ inability to take global competitors head-on.

Updated on: Jul 16, 2013, 14:57:11 IST

Hindustan Times | By Vandana Ramnani, New Delhi

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Indian students are brought up on the engineering or the medical dream. Those who manage to find a seat in the prestigious IITs or medical colleges are considered the best of the lot. What happens then, when you see these talented youngsters finding themselves completely out of their depth at an international competition, pitted against some of the best young global tech talent?

The 37th annual world finals of the ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) held recently at St Petersburg, Russia, got tech brains around the world for some quick and creative thinking.

About 120 teams from across the globe, including five from India, had to solve computer programming problems under a strict five-hour deadline. They were selected from among three lakh students who cleared the regional levels in 91 countries spread across six continents.

The Indian boys were ranked 60, 76 and 94. This year's theme was big data - applying analytics technology to big data - a major economic growth engine and career opportunity worldwide.

When questioned about the ranking, the Indian teams said that even though they solved over a thousand problems, they perhaps did not practise well enough, did not have a structured training programme and needed to participate in more events at the national level to compete and assess themselves.

There is something else altogether, however, in doing well in contests where you have to battle it out with the best brains in the world. “By participating in a contest like this, participants learn raw programming skills, time management, risk management, visualisation, collaboration - skills that will continue to be nurtured if they are taken on board by companies,” says Doug Heintzman, director of strategy for IBM software group and sponsorship executive of the ICPC.

Teams from India

2013
Chennai Mathematical Institute
IIT - Bombay
IIT - Indore
IIT - Roorkee
International Institute of Information Technology - Hyderabad

2012
Chennai Mathematical Institute
IIT - Delhi
IIT - Kanpur
IIT - Madras
International Institute of Information Technology - Hyderabad

2011
DJ Sanghvi College of Engineering
IIT - Delhi
IIT - Kanpur
International Institute of Information Technology - Hyderabad

2010
DJ Sanghvi College of Engineering Team: Phoenix
International Institute of Information Technology - Hyderabad Team:TheKingsGambit
NIT, TrichyTeam:

CounterGambit

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vandana Ramnani
Vandana Ramnani leads the real estate vertical at Hindustan Times Digital, bringing over two decades of journalism experience across real estate, education, human resources, and foreign affairs. She specialises in India’s real estate sector, covering residential and commercial markets in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru, with in-depth reporting on regulatory developments, urban policy, housing trends, and interviews with industry leaders. Her work has also appeared in the Hindustan Times newspaper and HT Estates. Earlier, Vandana played a key role in establishing the real estate vertical at Moneycontrol (NW18 Group), shaping its editorial direction and market coverage. She has also written extensively on international education for HT Education, tracking global study destinations, policy changes, and student mobility trends, earning the Singapore Education Award 2009 for Best Media Coverage (Print). Her reporting portfolio includes human resources and employment trends for HT ShineJobs and PowerJobs, as well as lifestyle and interior design features for HT Premium Homes. Vandana began her career with the Press Trust of India, gaining strong editorial and reporting expertise. She was also selected for a prestigious fellowship at Fondation Journalistes en Europe in Paris, where she wrote for EuroMag. One of her notable reporting assignments included covering Germany’s capital relocation from Bonn to Berlin. Outside of journalism, Vandana is a passionate traveller, constantly seeking out charming hideaways across India and the lesser-known, offbeat corners of Southeast Asia.Read More

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