The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), in collaboration with the National Program for Happiness & Wellbeing, held the first virtual forum for future projects, through which TRA reviewed the prominent ideas and projects that resulted from the “UAE Hackathon 2020 ..Data for Happiness and Wellbeing” in the presence of TRA’s strategic partners, the projects incubators, and several owners of the distinctive ideas that were presented in the seven hackathons at the national level.
This forum is a continuation of the efforts and support provided by TRA and its partners to the participants in the UAE Hackathon. These efforts included the training camp in the support and enablement phase, and the mentoring phase, which lasted for two months (July and August) in the form of virtual lectures, seminars, direct contact and communication, with an outstanding group of mentors and supervisors.
During this forum, ideas and projects were presented through 12 virtual rooms and discussion panels, in addition to special rooms for each team to provide more details about their projects to a group of investors, entrepreneurs, and business incubators. This constitutes a big opportunity for these ideas to be invested in or incubated in order to become successful companies that contribute to the UAE development and achieve the main goal of the UAE Hackathon, in addition to providing solutions to the big challenges facing the world and the UAE due to the current circumstances.
Commenting on this forum, H.E. Salem Al Housani, Acting Deputy Director General for Information & E-Government Sector, said: “This forum tells the success story of the UAE Hackathon and the innovative and creative ideas that became startups and successful projects. Our mission in TRA does not stop at collecting innovative ideas and creative projects, but rather continues to transform these ideas into projects on the ground, projects that support the civilization movement in the UAE. The search for creative people is half the work, and the other half is to support these creative people and secure the conditions for their success. Today, through this forum, we are working to bring together minds with potentials, creative people with investors, which is the combination that leads to an innovative and productive project.”
The forum was preceded by virtual counseling and mentoring lectures through TRA Virtual Academic, covering a variety of topics to put the participants on the right path to achieve the desired success, by providing them with the necessary skills to develop an integrated business plan starting from the business model outline, the marketing plan and the financial plan to study gains and losses, in addition to understanding and analysis skills for the implementation of the project, basic knowledge of the process of designing the relationship diagram between the product and the user, the use of the diagram to reach innovative solutions and proposals, the design of the project to suit the needs of the user, and most importantly, the modification of the projects and outputs of the participants to suit the current situation.
TRA revealed that some teams were distinguished during the training period, as more than 12 teams were able to form their emerging companies ready to serve the community in several areas, including transportation, health, environment, community service, development of public facilities, traffic problems, smart cities, sustainability, family and children, services of senior citizens, Emiratisation and human resources, and employing artificial intelligence in the service of citizens.
Innovative projects
The “Hafela – The Bus” team presented the idea of providing innovative, customized, integrated, and qualified buses to transport employees from their homes to the workplace, thus contributing to reducing parking space and reducing carbon emissions by a large percentage. This bus has innovative features that allow the employee to register entry on the biometric system when boarding the bus and starting their work on the bus. A number of private sector companies have shown great interest in using the professional bus if it is applied.
The “Alpha” team designed an application that maintains the link between the mother and the newborn infant during his time in the incubator, as the baby can hear the mother's voice during feeding times, which gives him a sense of reality and the mother can also watch her child on her mobile phone at home. A patent for the idea has been filed and a prototype project is already available for implementation.
The “Pivotal Matrix” team has employed AI and machine learning as a basic drive in the system to discover distortions in the city such as waste, broken trees, and others, by installing cameras on public buses and garbage trucks, and sending the information gathered on the deformities to the competent authority or entity, to deal with the situation according to its priority. This project has been already adopted by Abu Dhabi Government, and work is currently underway to develop it to be effectively used in the coming period.
The “Greeb” team, who won the second place in Dubai Hackathon, aims to provide a better life to UAE senior citizens by designing a platform that reduce the gap between senior citizens and youth in the field of national identity and technology. “Fight for Right” project, which won first place in Sharjah Hackathon, presented an innovative mechanism to educate children about the laws and Convention on the Rights of the Child by developing a game that enables children to learn about their rights in a fun and positive way.
AUE EMP project, which won the first place in Ajman Hackathon, provides an employment platform for people of determination that supports them during their search for work in the private sector. The A4S project presented a solution to the rainwater problem in Ras Al Khaimah through a data-based system, to alert the concerned authorities about locations where rainwater may collect, and the expected damage, in order to take the necessary measures.
The “BUEYE” team, who won second place in Sharjah Hackathon, uses the Internet of Things and data in an innovative technology initiative capable of creating an interactive digital twin for any product or building to empower the user (for example: governments, companies/institutions) with advanced technological capabilities to maximize revenue, profits and institutional efficiency using practical application of artificial intelligence.
The “Al Shuweihi” project relies on the use of the Internet of Things and data to diagnose diabetes based on AI (DM A.I.D), which is based on machine learning and learning from data. The Expo 2020 project offers a solution to make the Expo an unforgettable experience for all its visitors, through a smart cloud program to record and analyze visitors’ data and posts in an interactive and automatic manner.
Many local and federal government entities as well as private entities are currently studying and evaluating these projects, including the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation, Abu Dhabi Municipality, Dubai Police, Expo 2020, Ras Al Khaimah Municipality, Ajman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Sharjah Child Friendly Center.
Two new initiatives
Two new initiatives were also launched within the UAE Hackathon program, namely, the Happiness Wallet, which will provide an opportunity for all the creative ideas participating and winning in the Hackathon to communicate directly with all entities and investors interested in supporting and sponsoring ideas and investing in them. This initiative helps owners of creative ideas present their projects and ideas in a detailed, coordinated and safe manner for the supporters and investors interested in learning about these ideas to support, sponsor and invest in them.
The second initiative is the Hackathon Community, which will contribute greatly and effectively to increasing communication and interaction between all participants in the Hackathon, including innovators and creators, members of jury, trainers, mentors, as well as all the parties involved and supportive of the Hackathon through the hackathon website, social media platforms, activities, periodic events and weekly newsletters to maintain continuity of communication and interaction in the Hackathon community, which will greatly contribute to enriching the environment of innovation and creativity and achieving maximum benefit from all innovative initiatives, events and competitions.
The UAE Hackathon 2020 witnessed the participation of more than 3130 participants from 60 nationalities, representing 350 teams, who participated in seven hackathons held from 2 to 27 February throughout the Innovation Month in the seven UAE emirates, starting in Abu Dhabi and ending in Dubai, where 112 inspirational ideas qualified for the closing ceremony on March 3, which was held virtually at the Ministry of Possibilities, where the 21 winning teams of top three places from each emirate were announced, in addition to the winning team in the EXPO2020 Challenge and the winning team in the WSIS Challenge.