Chairman of the International Committee

Τhe International Committee (IC) of IOI met in Athens March 18-20 to do our annual review of the venue for the upcoming IOI. It was a special treat to tour the building we will be using while it is being built. As you may know, this year, the housing, the dining, and the competition itself will be in one large four storey building that will serve as the Media Village for the 2004 Olympics. What impressed me most about this building was the use of marble throughout – floors, hallways, steps, everywhere.
And since it is being built for the Olympic media people, the rooms come in pairs with a shared bathroom between them. This means each contestant, team leader, deputy leader, and guest will have his/her own room and share a bathroom with one person.

Once the IOI is over, the partitions between the rooms are coming down and the building will be converted to offices. So the facilities this year will be as good at it gets – brand new, marble floors, and very private.

During our three-day stay, we had the pleasure of a guided tour to the most famous “Sacred Rock” in all of Greece – The Acropolis. Having seen the Parthenon only in pictures and post cards it was a dramatic moment, after climbing many stone steps, to emerge and see this magnificent building, perched on the highest point of the Acropolis. No person with a camera can resist capturing this moment. It will certainly be one the highlights of IOI 2004 in Athens.

We had many opportunities to sample Greek food during our stay. Every morning we had a breakfast buffet in the hotel which was just amazing in its variety and quality. We ended our last day with dinner at a classical Greek restaurant picked out by our host Spyros and his wife and daughter. As you can imagine, it was a marvelous dining experience with four exquisite courses plus wine and music.

I am looking forward to returning to Athens in September along with you, the IOI community, where we can all enjoy a classic Greek IOI 2004.

Thank you George Doucas, George Pofantis, Katerina Georgouli, Michael Hatzopoulos, and Spyros Bakogiannis for all the work you are doing getting ready for IOI 2004.

Don Piele

From the desk of the Executive Director

Τhis issue of IOI News contains the outcomes of a very successful meeting of the International Committee that took place in Athens. For me it was one of the most constructive yet. In many ways it can be said that our organisation is moving forward. I want to highlight one issue that I believe indicates this. Since 2000 when the position of Executive Director was first established, we have asked participating countries to contribute to the running of the affairs of IOI. This has been most successful and has enabled us to put in place systems and structures to provide regular and efficient service to a wide range of our members.

At the most recent meeting we discussed the way ahead and it was agreed that greater emphasis needs to be placed on using our resources to develop IOI. One of the ways to do this would be to call on you - the family of IOI - to tell us what you want from us. How we can be of greater assisance to you? Here is an opportunity for each and every one of you to give serious thought to this issue and come forward with an idea or a firm proposal. I wait to hear from you.

The other burning issue is that of Fundraising. Our commitment, since October 2000, has been to assist our current participating countries and to extend the benefits of IOI to those who are not able to be involved. This will require funding beyond that contributed by the Registration fees and my appeal to all of you is to assist by identifying those individuals in your countries who could be invited to become members of our Board of Patrons.

This select group will be limited to 10 Individuals who have made a contribution in the field of Information Technology and would like to be associated with the ideals of IOI. You can help us by giving me the contact information. I will follow up and do the rest. Look forward to hearing from any of you who can assist.

Lionel Hartmann - Executive Director of IOI

Chairman of IOI 2004, Spyros Bakogiannis, his daughter
Maria and wife Vassiliki are part of the team waiting
to welcome you to IOI 2004 this year.

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