The 2023-2024 National Primary and Secondary School Information Technological Innovation and Practice Competition (NOC Competition) Jiangsu Provincial Selection was held in Chongchuan district, Nantong, Jiangsu province, on May 18-19.

Over 3,700 students from 680 schools across the province participated, competing both online and in-person in 14 different events. Notably, 45 percent of the participants were lower-grade students, with the youngest competitor being just seven years old.

The competition featured the competitive track and the artificial intelligence (AI) track, encompassing 14 projects. The competitive track included challenges like humanoid robot tasks, smart car challenges, and smart dining robots. The AI track featured events such as smart driving, enjoy AI, AI young engineer, and smart sports competitions.

Over the two-day event, all projects were successfully completed, and more than 100 outstanding students were selected to represent Jiangsu in the national finals in July.

The NOC Competition is an educational platform that utilizes information technology to promote AI science among young students and inspire technological innovation. Since its inception in 2002, the competition has been held annually and has been consistently included in China's Ministry of Education's "white list" of recommended events.

Students compete in the competition. [Photo/WeChat account: chongchuanonline]