Technology

Groups Green Jam, B.A.S.S. and iBins, swept up to success today in Dubai, at the UAE finals of Microsoft's Imagine Cup 2017, a global modern technology competition that aims to provide instructional, entrepreneurial and employment possibility for young people by obtaining critical skills.

Held under the Smart Cities theme, the student contest for up-and- coming pioneers took place at Armani Hotel Dubai in Burj Khalifa on 18th April. This year's edition was funded by global programmer Emaar Properties, with the UAE Ministry of Education as Education Partner.

Team Green Jam from the American University of Dubai took top place for their project Green Jam, which was targeted at increasing Dubais goal of being one of the worlds most lasting cities, through a benefit system for recycling practices for UAE Citizens. Second reward was won by Team B.A.S.S, of University of Wollongong for their project Smart Signal. The project is a smart city initiative to ease website traffic problems dynamically. Smart signal can assume for itself, and make its own judgments regarding what constitutes high website traffic. This implies that a signal with larger traffic would certainly get a longer duration of staying green as compared to its counterparts with less web traffic. Group iBins from Dubai Women's University received 3rd place for their project iBins, an IOT based Smart Bin solution capable of keeping track of the fill- level at routine intervals to inform the staff ahead of time, simplicity upkeep and assistance maintain a fresh, clean and sanitary environment. Group Green Jam taking top place, will take place to fulfill the region's top talent at the Visualize Cup MEA semi-finals in Lebanon in May, on a course to take on the very best young innovators in globally finals, in Seattle in July.

" The UAE has a well-established reputation as one of the world's leading lights for entrepreneurship, with a highly competitive knowledge-based economic situation," stated Michael Mansour, Chief Innovation Officer, Microsoft Gulf. "Visualize Cup represents a cornerstone of Microsoft's dedication to empowering the young people these days to end up being skilled pioneers of the future. It is only through partnership and the ideal combination of technologies that the next generation could use their imagination, passion and knowledge to develop remedies that could alter the way we live, work and play"

Eight finalists including My Group, B.A.S.S, Side Quest, iBins, AAWC Smart Irrigation, Scourge's Mercenaries, I'll Order and Green Jam were shortlisted to complete in Dubai. Prize money awards for this year's competition, which marked the 15th year of the Imagine Cup were: $15,000 for initially, $10,000 for 2nd, and $7,000 for third place winners.

The team of judges for the UAE finals to choose the winners consisted of Marc Robinson, Director Digital Transformation, Emaar Properties; Robert Lonsdorfer, Chief Information Officer, Emaar Properties; Steven Taylor, Chief Advertising Officer, Emaar Properties; Moayad Naim Abdulraheem, Senior Software Engineer, Ministry of Education; Khalid Younus Kalbat, Area Manager-- Innovation and Entrepreneurship Division, Ministry of Education; James Morgan, Director of Financial Services for Middle East and Africa at Microsoft and Vimal Sethi, Strategic Transformation Lead, Microsoft MEA.

Veresh Sita, Chief Digital Officer, Emaar Properties, said: "Our support for Envision Cup underlines our dedication to nurturing innovation and young people skill in the nation. Sharpening the abilities of our youth and encouraging them to be innovative is central to the development vision of the UAE's management. With digital transformation of companies as a leading concern, investing in the IT skill of youths will certainly assist nurture the future generation of imaginative technology business owners. Imagene Cup serves as a superb platform that advertises the brightest young trendsetters and highlights compelling actionable ideas that support the Smart City vision of the UAE."

Microsoft's Imagine Cup challenges entrants, who need to be 16 years or older or signed up as a permanent student, to work together in teams and submit creative ideas in the area of innovation. Rivals need to establish the principles from square one and protect their usability and market draw to a panel of judges.

More than 100 proposals were received by Microsoft from UAE entrants. This year, Microsoft's Azure cloud platform was a mandatory tool for all the sent projects. The Picture Cup forms a critical part of Microsoft's YouthSpark program, a global CSR effort launched in 2003, aimed at supplying chances for more than 300 million youngsters all over the world.

With stops at leading UAE universities; over 5,000 pupils were reached this year through the Think of Cup roadshows carried out by Microsoft in February and March. The presentations produced awareness among trainees and urged involvement in the competitors, with ideas that will certainly sustain the UAE government's vision for smart cities. Interested students were able to attend intensive training sessions to plan for entry of concepts. The sessions covered contest regulations and standards, and notified rivals about the procedures of conceptualisation, design, development and testing, which help bring about one of the most viable solutions.

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