"We are looking forward to an exciting competition again in 2004," said David Saedi, CEO for Certiport. "Last year's participation was exceptional. We expect this year's event to create even more enthusiasm among students who want to prove their skills and enjoy the success of Microsoft Office Specialist certification. Our goal is to raise awareness and provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate their updated desktop computing skills and achieve career success."

Last year's competition attracted nearly 50,000 student entrants from around the world and produced 33 national champions, ages 15 to 36 years old. In May 2003, national champions participated in a final competition to confirm their world-class abilities to use Microsoft Word and Excel. The competition attracted entries from students in 42 countries including Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, the United Kingdom, and the Unites States. Last year's world champions travelled from Ireland and Italy to Microsoft's Redmond headquarters to celebrate their achievement.