100 ideas to make it to finals of NYPSD tech fest
Hundred innovative ideas will be selected at the tech fest, which is part of National Youth Program for Skills Development, at a ceremony presided over by Sayyid Khalid bin Hilal al Busaidy, Minister of the Diwan of Royal Court, at Oman Conferences and Exhibition Center on December 14 and 15.
In a press conference held on Wednesday at Wahat Club, Dr Ali bin Qasim bin Jawad al Lawati, Adviser for Studies and Research at the Diwan of Royal Court and Head of the Programme, said that the programme was inaugurated with the blessings of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos.
“The programme includes two sections. The first of which is dedicated to youths aged between 15 to 17. The participants will be trained on software, robots, logical thinking, digital media and digital citizenship. In the second section youths aged between 18 to 29 are trained on the 4IR ethics, skills and knowledge to boost performance at work”. KHALFAN AL RUZAIQI
Al Lawati said 1,000 Omani youths participated in the first phase which was on e-learning in collaboration with Udacity international platform, in digital marketing, data science and software. The participants at the programme have to provide ideas for technology based projects that can be turned into emerging projects or technology-based ventures. The programme received more than 600 good ideas for future emerging projects. He noted that the participant will take part in lectures and workshops to develop their ideas. They will present their ideas before arbitrators and assessors.
“The success rate of participants (the first stage of the programme) stood at 74 per cent,” he said. This achievement reflects seriousness and keenness of Omani youth to excel in all fields. The selection for the next phase will be conducted through a competition among the participants, which will be held from December 14-15. From this competition, 100 innovative ideas will be designed and developed in cooperation with Google.
The ideas will be presented directly to the jury of 70 Omani and international technical experts for evaluation.
“This competition is the largest gathering of ideas for technical projects in Oman , and this cooperation with Google will be the first of its kind in the Sultanate,” Al Lawati said.