The One Million Arab Coders annual ceremony celebrated the initiative’s first batch of graduates and top achievers at the VOX Cinema in Mall of the Emirates on Monday, with over 22,000 people around the Arab world completing the programme this year.
His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, honoured 130 graduates out of the 250 top achievers who attended the ceremony by taking a memorable group picture with the audience.
Speaking at the ceremony, Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid said that coding is a key skill in a knowledge-based economy. “Coding is the language of the future, and one of its key tools. It creates opportunities for future generations,” he said. “New technologies are the fastest way to create new opportunities for our youth.”
The One Million Arab Coders initiative is the largest programme of its kind that seeks to train one million young Arabs in computer programming, in order to empower and equip them with the necessary tools and technological insight to face the challenges of the future.
It has reported 1.1 million applicants from around the Arab world since it was launched in October 2017.
Khalfan Bel Houl, CEO of Dubai Future Foundation, told Gulf Newsthe foundation is hosting an open-day after the ceremony for all registered participants at the initiative, which will gather some of the world’s leading companies in innovation such as Facebook, Microsoft, and Google.
The open-day event aims to facilitate a wide range of career opportunities for participants who are equipped with the skills to effectively contribute to the digital economy and the future of their communities.
“We can consider around 350,000 of those registered at the initiative to be ‘computer literate,’ whereas out of 22,000 graduates, 250 have achieved the ‘Nano degree’ which is equivalent to a BA in computer science. Today, only 130 of them were able to attend the ceremony,” said Bel Houl.
He pointed out that initiative includes around 3,700 tutors from large companies around the world, 10 global partners, and 1,000 scholarships for advanced courses in coding.
Coder Abdul Kareem Rasheed from Saudi Arabia, said he joined the programme in January and has enjoyed the experience so far.
“I work in IT and I started training at the programme two months ago. I specialise in data analysis and have found the training to be a great way to learn new information as well as overcome challenges,” he said.
Aiming to get the Nano degree, Rasheed said he tries to study for at least an hour a day and is eager to improve his skills.
Meanwhile, graduate Mohamad Samir from Egypt, a web developer, joined the programme in January when he learnt that it was offered in the Arabic language.
“I work in web development back in Egypt, and I was able to apply the knowledge I learnt at the programme in my daily job. The training was a great experience and I took a lot from it that will benefit in future,” he said.
The second edition
The initiative’s second edition was launched on April 4, 2018, and features three stages.
The first stage includes registering to join in one of two categories — Arab students or tutors. The second stage requires applicants to complete several three-month virtual coding programmes. The top 1,000 students to be selected will receive certificates and enrolled in the Coder Challenge.
In the third stage, the top 1,000 coders will compete in the Coder Challenge. The top 10 students in the challenge will be announced at the end of the competition.
The first-place winner will receive a prize of $1 million (Dh3.67 million) while the remaining nine will be awarded $50,000 each. The top four tutors, decided through student votes, will win $200,000 each.