The student team of King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) took home first and second place in the Third National Programming Competition. The conference witnessed the participation of more than 55 teams totaling 200 students from nearly all Saudi universities. The teams were presented with a minimum of eight programming issues they needed to solve. Following KFUPM in third place was the King Faisal University team.

The competition aimed to enhance creativity, teamwork, and innovation in building new programs, as well as testing performance under pressure. Central to the competition was the display of a competitive spirit that would raise the level of software capabilities in problem-solving and assessment in computer colleges. This competition was also formed to prepare students to compete at all levels in domestic and international competitions.

The competition followed the rules of the International Collective Programming Competition (ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest - ICPCI). The system employed in the management and evaluation of teams is one of the most popular systems used in local and international competitions such as ICPC-ACM and PC2. This competition is considered one of the most important indicators of talent in programming and is essential to the development of human capital in the field of information technology. The world's largest tech giants like Microsoft and IBM are known to compete in annual international competitions to attract exceptional young talents.