July 14, 2004

eStar and eChamp, two innovative IT-based fun competitions organized by Dubai eGovernment in association with HUMANSOFT, are attracting a large number of participants at Modhesh Fun City's eZone at Airport Expo Dubai, as part of Dubai Summer Surprises 2004.

eChamp is a competition that tests the IT knowledge of youngsters under the age of 18, using Microsoft applications, such as Word and Excel, in addition to Internet browsing. Exams are held at Modhesh Fun City to choose one top scorer each week. eStar resembles eChamp in terms of the format, but is targeted at participants above 18 years of age. The ten best performers for each competition then compete in the final at the end of DSS.

So far, two eChamp and two eStar winners have been chosen in the first two weeks since the start of DSS. They were gifted free e-learning computer courses at HUMANSOFT.

"HUMANSOFT is pleased to join hands with Dubai eGovernment to offer an interesting range of fun and e-learning programmes to involve the community in IT initiatives, as part of our ongoing joint efforts to create unique projects for individuals as well as government and private organizations," said Nadeem Younis, Country General Manager of HUMANSOFT Group. "We are positive that such events will serve to further enhance awareness of Dubai eGovernment in the region."

"Dubai Summer Surprises presents an ideal opportunity for Dubai eGovernment to spread IT knowledge and literacy among the public and visitors from different parts of the region as well as showcase our eServices. Our collaboration with HUMANSOFT will enable us to offer enjoyable IT-related shows during DSS. It is also worth mentioning that among the other strategic projects we have launched in association with HUMANSOFT are eLearn (which provides e-learning courses for the public) and eEmployee (which trains employees of the government sector on the International Computer Drivers License (ICDL) START courses)," said Marwan Al Naqi, Head of Dubai eGovernment Committee for DSS.

Both HUMANSOFT and Dubai eGovernment have assigned dedicated teams to be present at eZone in order to ensure fair competition as well as quality control, thus leading to the success of Dubai eGovernment's participation in DSS 2004.

Dubai eGovernment has created two other IT events for DSS. One is eFamily, a show organized in association with Dubai TV and targeted at families residing outside the UAE. Those families who wish to visit Dubai during DSS are required to sign in and register electronically on the dedicated website. Every week one family is selected electronically and flown to Dubai.

The other is Bayt El Khebra in which companies and organizations organize joint programmes to showcase different eGovernment eServices to the public, in a lively format in order to involve members of the community.

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© Press Release 2004