The competition will encourage high school students to develop software

Google has launched a global competition to encourage young software developers as part of the company's strategy to promote open source.

The Highly Open Participation Contest will give pre-university students a list of challenges submitted by 10 open source organisations. At the close of the contest, participants will be awarded $100 (£48) for every three tasks completed, up to a maximum of $500 (£242).

The scheme is open to secondary and high school students over the age of 13, and runs until 22 January 2008.