DEWA rewards winners of App Master Competition with generous financial awards

Environment

DEWA rewards winners of App Master Competition with generous financial awards

Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA) has honoured the finalists of its App Master competition, which it launched for university students in the UAE earlier this year. The competition was to develop a smart app for seven-year-olds and older to instil environmental values and promote a culture of rational energy and water use in society, in innovative and smart ways.

HE Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of DEWA, honoured the five top winners at a ceremony at DEWAs headquarters. Murshidul Chowdhury came in the first position. He received AED 50,000 and a job interview at DEWA. The second prize was awarded to the team led by Prateek Marathe who received AED 30,000. The third prize went to the team led by Subulekshmi who received AED 20,000. Ameen Abdulla Al Awlaqi came fourth, and the team led by Pedram Parvaz came fifth. The fourth and fifth winners won AED 10,000 each.

DEWA launched the Smart App competition in line with the UAE National Innovation Strategy launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make the UAE one of the most innovative countries in the world. At DEWA, we recognise the role of young people in supporting and implementing the sustainable development initiatives in the UAE. This competition encouraged university students to unleash their creativity in developing smart apps that encourage individuals to adopt a sustainable lifestyle. These young people have managed to develop innovative and interesting smart apps, said Al Tayer.

DEWA provides an environment that supports creativity and encourages innovative ideas to support its vision to become a sustainable innovative world-class utility. This contributes to achieving the vision of our wise leadership to make Dubai the most innovative city in the world, and the Dubai Plan 2021 to make Dubai a smart, integrated, and connected city that is sustainable with its resources. These efforts play an important role in reducing our carbon footprint and ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come, added Al Tayer.

The App Master competition supports DEWAs efforts to enhance its role in society and its strategy to promote creativity and innovation among students. The objective of the competition was to promote competitiveness and creativity among university students to develop an entertaining smart app that instils environmental values and promotes a culture of sensible use of energy and water. The competition saw a strong response from students across universities in the UAE. The ideas of most participating apps were creative, which emphasises the capabilities of university students in the UAE and their commitment to enhancing societys awareness on environmental and sustainability issues, said Moza Al Akraf, Acting CIO of DEWA.

Al Akraf noted that a special committee at DEWA evaluated the competing apps against a set of technical criteria it has developed. DEWA also involved a number of children in evaluating the apps in an interactive experience to ensure that the winning app relates to the target audience and achieves the set objectives.

The winners expressed their happiness that their apps reached the final stage. They thanked DEWA for giving them the chance to prove their capabilities in smart app development. They noted that it was an interesting experience full of challenges. The biggest challenge for them was to come up with ideas that appeal to both children and adults while encourage them to use resources sensibly in an attractive manner.