Saudi Arabia to host the biggest ‘Hackathon’ in the Middle East

JEDDAH – The Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones announced the opening of registration for "Haj Hackathon”, an event that promises to attract leading programmers from around the world to innovatively leverage technology to enrich and enhance the Haj experience for pilgrims, Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported on Friday.

This initiative is just one of the Kingdom's many efforts under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 to provide the nation’s youth opportunities to become global leaders in technological development.

The Haj Hackathon will be held in August in Jeddah and is expected to attract more than 3,000 developers. Google will offer mentorship and training for participants of the Hackathon.

The Hackathon offers prize awards to the top three participants valued at SR2,000,000 to transform their ideas into businesses. First place will receive SR1,000,000, second place will get SR500,000 and third place SR350,000. In addition, SR150,000 to be awarded as a prize for excellence. – SPA