IT Challenge

What is it?

If you thought that IT divisions in banks were pretty boring places, think again. At Standard Bank, we use the latest technologies to develop and maintain systems that support our global business. In fact, we were recently awarded Bank of the Year Africa 2009 and are ranked number 223 on the Forbes Global 2000 top companies list. And, with over 40,000 people around the world, we’re continuing to expand globally.

Our CIB IT division runs an IT Challenge every year, which gives you a great opportunity to experience our exciting and varied global investment banking environment and a taste of the range of IT career opportunities we offer. It’s a highly demanding, dynamic and constantly challenging environment. This means we have plenty of opportunities for enthusiastic and skilled individuals to make their mark.

So, go on – prove you’re up to the challenge.

What does the IT Challenge involve?

Our IT Challenge is a test of your problem solving skills and teamwork. A panel of Computer Olympiad Trust experts set the questions, judge the results and decide the winners. Working in a team of four, you’ll need to tackle a series of hypothetical problems within a set time – there’ll be five questions over four hours during your heat and six hours in the final. Each question is progressively more challenging and, to date no team’s ever completed all the questions correctly within the allotted time!

What’s happening in 2010?

We’re holding heats at a number of universities across South Africa on Saturday 13 March 2010, with the final and a prize-giving dinner at Standard Bank’s global headquarters in Johannesburg on Thursday 15 April 2010.

To join a team, you’ll need to be studying full-time for a degree at one of the participating varsities. If your team wins the heat at your university, you and a supervisor will join us in Johannesburg for the final. During the heats, answers to the problems are submitted via the competition software to be marked by the judges.

Who can join a team?

You’ll need to have a team of four people, including at least one member of the opposite sex and one member from a historically disadvantaged background. All the teams must be full-time students in any year and studying for a degree in any discipline. You’ll have access to a single Linux-based machine and will need to make sure that at least one member of your team’s comfortable with programming using any one (or any combination) of these languages:

Java
Python
C++

To add to the competitive pressure, our International and South African IT divisions will also enter teams. But don’t worry – they aren’t eligible to win any of the prizes.

What’s up for grabs?

First place:

Each winning team member wins a Dell Notebook, as well as R150 000 sponsorship for their university.

Second place:

Each team member wins a 22" widescreen LCD Monitor, compliments of Dell.

Who won previous challenges?

The challenge has been run for four years. The University of Cape Town walked off with first prize three times; the University of the Witwatersrand took top spot in 2008 and, more recently, Stellenbosch. The second placed team in 2005 was from Standard Bank, from Wits in 2006, Stellenbosch in 2007 and 2008, and Cape Town in 2009.

So, how do I enter my team?

To enter, you need to contact your department representative at your university. These are:

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University – Dr Dieter Vogts
Rhodes University – Dr Karen Bradshaw
Stellenbosch University – Mr Steve Kroon
University of Cape Town – Dr James Gain
University of Kwazulu-Natal – Mrs Rosanne Els
University of Pretoria – Mrs Linda Marshall
University of the Western Cape – Mr James Connan
University of the Witwatersrand – Dr Jason Cohen
University of Limpopo – Simon Ramalepe

My team has made it to the final – now what?

If you win the heat at your university, you’ll go on to the final at our head office in Johannesburg. If you’re from a university outside Johannesburg, we’ll fly you in and pay for you to spend the night before the final and the following night at a hotel.

On the day, you’ll be transported to our offices to take part in the competition and the prize-giving dinner that evening. If you live in Johannesburg, you’ll need to make your own way home after the dinner. If you’re from out of town we’ll fly you back to your home town the following morning.

What types of questions can you expect?

Some questions, like question 1 in the sample questions, are in parts – you’ll only get part B once you’ve submitted a correct solution to part A. But both parts count equally in weighting. Part B does bear some relationship to part A, so forward thinking can be useful. You should also remember that the challenge involves not only solving each problem, but more importantly, working as a team and maximising the use of available resources.

Sample data in the question is there to help, but the judges test all aspects of the question specification separately. This means your solution can fail according to the judges’ data even though it may work on the sample data provided in the question.

Questions may not all be set at the same level of difficulty. And heat questions may be slightly easier than those in the final. You’ll also face an interactive question in the final that isn’t covered in these samples.

We’re only testing the specification in the questions, so read them carefully.

We’ll set the timing clock at the start of the competition and won’t restart it for parts B when they are given out.