‘One Million Arab Coders’ move aims to brighten region’s future
Supervised by the Dubai Future Foundation, the initiative has seen 1,058,265 people from around the world participate virtually in millions of hours of study and work
Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai Future Foundation, on Wednesday honoured the winners of the ‘One Million Arab Coders’ challenge, which featured a totalprizemoneyofus$1,350,000.sheikhhamdan said on his Twiter account: “We congratulate the winner of ‘One Million Arab coders’, Mahmoud Shahoud, the Syrian engineer, for his remarkable achievement.”
During the ceremony, the four best trainers in ‘Onemillionarabcoders’werehonouredwithaprize of US$25,000 each, for their exceptional efforts in empowering the participants with knowledge and expertise and helping them bring their projects to life. The winning coaches were Abdelmoumen Boumalia from Algeria, Rasha Bahbouh from Syria, and Mustafa Abdel Fatah and Abu Bakr Farouk, both from Egypt.
SOFTWARE EXPERTISE: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed launched the ‘One Million Arab Coders’ challenge in July 2021 with the aim of recognising and honouring the achievements of Arab talents in the field of programming and creating an opportunity for participants in the initiative to showcase their innovative projects, developed using programming skills and the experience gained during their participation.
The challenge saw a total of 257 projects submitted by the initiative’s graduates from 50 different countriesinvarioussectorsrelatedtoprogramming, technology and entrepreneurship in the areas of website and mobile application development. In order to qualify for the final stage and compete for the million-dollar prize, the nominees were selected according to a set of main criteria, including the project idea, the innovation quality, and ease of use.
JURY: The jury for the final round included Fadi Ghandour, Chairman of Wamda Capital; Bashar Kilani, Managing Director of Accenture Middle East; Dr. Abdul Latif Al Shamsi, Director of the Higher Colleges of Technology; and Ronaldo Mouchawar, Vice President of Amazon Middle East.
Supervised by the Dubai Future Foundation, the ‘One Million Arab Coders’ initiative has seen 1,058,265 people from around the world participate virtually in millions of hours of study and work, as well as tens of thousands of training workshops. Since its launch, 1,500 “Nano Degree” certificates have been awarded to distinguished participants and promising talents. The initiative featured more than 3,600 certified trainers from around the world.
SERVING HUMANITY AND THE FUTURE OF SOCIETIES: Led by the Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) and organised under the umbrella of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), ‘One Million Arab Coders’ is the largest initiative of its kind in the world. The initiative aims to teach one million young people from the Arab world to code and enable them to launch exceptional projects and programmes that serve Arab societies, drawing on the science and skills gained from their training.
The initiative embodies His Highness Sheikh Mohammed’s vision to empower Arab youth with the tools of the future to serve humanity and build a brighter future for the region. The challenge forms part of the UAE’S continuous efforts make a positive impact on the world.
PARTNERSHIPS FOR BUILDING CAPACITIES: The ‘One Million Arab Coders’ initiative is supported by the Hussain Sajwani- DAMAC Foundation, which focuses on supporting learning opportunities and developing skills to stimulate profitable social and economic participation, and empowering societies in the Arab world to achieve a sustainable future. The Udacity digital learning plaform also supported the initiative by offering educational content and training in necessary skills for future jobs. The list of partners of the initiative also included many international technology companies, including Microsot, Facebook, Oracle, Careem and others.
The initiative also provides the world with a pioneering model for promoting the development of programming skills. It was adopted in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which launched the ‘One Million Jordanian Coders’ initiative in May 2019.
The initiative was introduced with the aim of making Jordan a world leader in the field of programming. The ‘One Million Uzbek Coders’ initiative, launched through a partnership between the governments of the UAE and the Republic of Uzbekistan, was announced in November 2019, with the aim of providing Uzbek youth with an opportunity to acquire skills in programming, artificial intelligence and emerging technologies, to contribute to the development of innovative technology-based solutions and services.