C(4F)₂ Hackathon was concluded on March 27, held within the framework of the agreement of cooperation between the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) and Dell Technologies.
The Hackathon focused on developing Artificial Intelligence (AI)- based solutions and innovations to facilitate traffic flow and reduce the waiting time of vehicles in the streets, thus contributing to reducing CO2 emissions and protecting the environment.
The closing ceremony, held via videoconference, included announcing the hackathon results. It was attended by officials from MCIT and Dell Technologies. The hackathon prizes amounted to $12,000, in addition to other valuable prizes and certificates, granted to all the participating teams.
During the Hackathon, the teams competed to develop innovative solutions to specific challenges, in a short period of time. They were allowed to choose their preferred approach to develop a solution to the problem. The judging criteria of solutions included applicable in real-life, relevant and innovative. The final pitching skills also counted.
The Hackathon included two tracks, one for students and one for working professionals and specialists in AI. Fifty six teams qualified for the Hackathon, 28 of which made it to the three-day final round.
The winning teams in the student track included:
- Tuta Absoluta, from the University of Science and Technology at Zewail City, won first place, receiving a $3,000 prize. The team consists of four students led by Moamen Khaled Gaafar, with members including Mohamed El Shafei, Alaa Samy El Agamy and Fatma Moanes.
- FAHEM, from the American University in Cairo (AUC), won second place, receiving a $2,000 prize. The team consists of five students led by Mohamed Ahmed Ghanem, with members including Fady Adel Dawood, Habiba Bassem Gamal, Ahmed Lethy Mohamed and Eslam Adel Soliman.
- Past Glory, from Alexandria University, won third place, receiving a $1,000 prize. The team consists of five students led by Ahmed Adel Salama, with members including Ahmed Ayman El Ziady, Mohamed Ibrahim El Sayed, Hamza Hassan and Mahmoud Kamal.
In the professional track, the winning teams included:
- Elves Hackers won first place, receiving a $3,000 prize. The team consists of five members led by Ahmed Shaher Batal, with members including Hossam Wafa, Kamal Hosny, Youssef Sobhy Rashed and Hany Fekry.
- Corridor Crew won second place, receiving a $2,000 prize. The team consists of three members led by Mohamed Abdel Hady, with members including Doha Adel and Ahmed Youssef Mokhtar.
- The Datacated won third place, receiving a $1,000 prize. The team consists of five members led by Ahmed Alaa, with members including Ziad Shaaban Mahran, Kholoud Khaled, Maged Shalaby and Moamen Amgad.
The Hackathon helped the participants put their skills and experience into practice. Such a competition contributes to developing participants' skills, innovation and understanding of the AI system.
Moreover, organizing the Hackathon in Egypt proves that the country stands out from other markets in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, in terms of the availability of skilled people, capable of adopting AI technologies to provide services, and in terms of fostering talents and innovators who are interested to keep up with the global development.
Egypt made great strides in the field of AI, which encouraged international companies, like Dell Technologies, to spot skilled people through the first-of-its-kind hackathon. Dell was keen to open the hackathon free for everyone, including students and professionals, to help innovators achieve their ambitions. The company also made available experts and mentors to support the participants, and held discussions and seminars to enrich their knowledge and help them exchange experiences.
The Hackathon was joined by a large number of Egyptian engineers, developers, data scientists and business analysts in relevant fields, such as computer science, big data and Machine Learning (ML); as well as specialists in augmented learning, improvement models, developers and entrepreneurs.
The participating teams consisted of a maximum of five members, including at least one member who specializes in programming and one in data analysis. The number of teams who applied to join the Hackathon reached 431, with a total of 1,710 participants.
