• H.E. Eng. Majed Sultan Al Mesmar: “The UAE Hackathon is an important annual event in the field of innovation. It is renewed in form and content to incorporate lessons from the past and developments of the present, to be closer to the picture of the future that we envision.”

UAE:  The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) announced in a press conference held this morning with the participation of a number of federal and local government entities, national universities, business incubators and media representatives -announced- the launch of the 6th edition of the UAE Hackathon under a new slogan "Today's Challenges...Tomorrow’s Solutions".

The practical stages of the UAE Hackathon 6.0 started at the end of January with the submission and registration stage, followed by the second stage, which contains intensive training for the teams according to the challenges they participate in, then the third and final stage, the evaluation stage, in which the teams are divided according to their location in the seven emirates of the country and the selection the top three teams from each emirate.

Commenting on the UAE Hackathon 6.0, H.E. Eng. Majed Sultan Al Mesmar, TDRA Director General, said: “The UAE Hackathon is an important annual event in the field of innovation. It is renewed in form and content to incorporate lessons from the past and developments of the present, to be closer to the picture of the future that we envision, in line with the directions of the UAE and its wise leadership.”

H.E. Al Mesmar added: “As usual, the UAE Hackathon is the result of joint efforts of the various concerned parties, and we are always keen to enhance this cooperation. We thank the participating entities for their loyalty and tireless efforts to make this annual event a success, which has become synonymous with innovation, creative ideas and projects that simulate the needs of the future.”

Al Mesmar emphasized that successful solutions nowadays are the result of innovation and creative thinking. There is nothing better than the environment of a hackathon to generate and discuss ideas, and turn them into projects that can be implemented in a realistic way.

The hackathon continues in its successive sessions until the beginning of March, when a closing ceremony will be held on the 7th of March that includes announcing the top 3 winners in each emirate, as well as the hackathon champion.

The 2023 edition of the UAE Hackathon is different, as it is characterized by a number of developments. This year, the winning ideas will be transferred to business incubators of the participating national universities, who will sponsor the ideas’ owners and train them to turn their ideas into practical projects. Additionally, for the first time, a part of the hackathon-related activities will be devoted to encouraging applied research, and we have allocated a prize of AED 100,000 for the winning research in the areas and challenges of the Hackathon.

The UAE Hackathon 6.0 includes a "tracks" system to help all participating groups achieve the best results. These include the track of school students between the ages of 11-18 who have not yet reached university, the track of university students between the ages of 18-25 or slightly older who do not yet have a long professional experience, and the track of startups and entrepreneurs, which targets experts from various fields with strong technical expertise, enabling them to develop high quality and implementable solutions.

The UAE Hackathon 5.0 (2022) Report showed outstanding results represented in using 2,633 data sets, and the development of more than 30 inspiring ideas and 100 feasible ideas. The number of participants in UAE Hackathon 5.0 reached 2162 individuals, 254 teams, 46 mentors, 22 coaches, and 23 judges. The percentage of females reached 57% and males 43%.

The UAE Hackathon reflects the meaning of partnership and joint effort between government, academia, companies and members of society. It is organized by TDRA in strategic partnership with government entities, national universities and the private sector to emphasize that the culture of innovation is an integral part of the process of building capabilities in the UAE.

-Ends-

About TDRA: 

The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) undertakes the task of supervising the telecommunications and digital government sectors in the UAE in accordance with the Telecommunications Law issued by Federal law by Decree No. (3) of 2003 and its amendments, and in accordance with Decree No. 23 issued on September 27, 2020, amending some provisions of Federal Law by Decree No. (3) of 2003 regarding the regulation of the telecommunication sector, and adding the “digital government” to the functions and name of the authority.

TDRA’s regulatory role is to ensure the provision of distinguished telecommunications services, develop the telecommunications sector, ensure the interests of the parties, apply the relevant policy and regulatory frameworks, develop human resources, and encourage research and development, to ensure the UAE’s leading regional and global position in the telecommunications sector.

In the field of enabling digital transformation, TDRA is responsible for supervising the federal digital government under Law No. 3 of 2011. Since then, TDRA has become responsible for digital transformation at the national level through two strategic goals: enhancing the smart lifestyle, and Leadership in smart technological infrastructure in the UAE.