VeriSign, Inc., a provider of intelligent infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunications networks, today announced that it is a premium sponsor of the 2005 TopCoder Open (TCO).

As part of its agreement with TopCoder, VeriSign is sponsoring two initial single-round matches, occurring on July 7 and September 27, 2005, as well as the final rounds. In the initial matches, participants will be faced with a coding problem they must solve using either Java, C++, Microsoft Visual C#.NET or Microsoft Visual Basic.NET. Winners will proceed to the next round, and the onsite finals will take place on October 12 - 14, 2005 in Santa Clara, CA.
 
"With rapid advances in technology occurring everyday, companies are looking for the next generation of leaders to author the code that will provide the backbone for advanced applications," said George Haddad, senior vice president, VeriSign Human Resources. "VeriSign is pleased to be a premium 0sponsor of the 2005 TopCoder Open, which will pit the finest professional and academic minds against each other in a spirited competition that seeks to identify the individuals who will lead that charge."

The TCO is the premier event for competitive coding, bringing together professional and collegiate programmers competing for international ranking and a $150,000 overall prize purse distributed between Algorithm and Component Design and Development categories.