Ooredoo has announced Qatar’s first 5G virtual hackathon, in partnership with universities and technology leaders.
The Ooredoo 5G Hackathon is designed to give the brightest thinkers and innovators a platform through which entrepreneurial ideas can be developed, the company has said in a statement.
It aims to develop Ooredoo’s entrepreneurship programme, lead and develop 5G and ICT innovation, and educate local institutions on Ooredoo’s 5G investment and market potential, the statement notes.
Educational partners include Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s College of Science and Engineering, and Qatar University’s College of Business and Economics and College of Engineering.
Business partners are Ericsson, Microsoft, Qatar Business Incubation Centre, Thales, Mada, Oracle, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy – Challenge 22, Google Development Group - Doha, Qatar Financial Centre, WISE Accelerator, Zoom and Seventh.AI.
The 5G virtual hackathon, to be held from November 12-14, is set to host hundreds of university students, industry professionals, startups and Ooredoo employees.
Participants will develop solutions across four focus areas: Smart X, including smart energy grids and energy management, health, ports and logistics, transport and agro tech; sports tech with eSports, wellness and coaching and Challenge 22; media and entertainment, including Ooredoo tv, advertising and content, gaming, Fintech and digital challenges for a vertical market; and EduTech with corporate learning, STEM innovations, post-Covid-19 and environmental awareness.
Each of the four winning teams will receive a pre-seed investment of up to QR25,000 to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and run a validation sprint.
Winning teams will be integrated into the Lean Start-up Programme (LSP 14) to further validate and develop their MVP and pitch at the Final Demo Day in December.
Winners will also have the opportunity to be incubated by Ooredoo’s Digital & Beyond Incubator and gain access to additional funding and in-kind support of up to QR250,000, as well as getting the opportunity to fast-track to piloting of their MVP with Ooredoo ecosystem partners.
Ooredoo CEO Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulla al-Thani said, “5G is a rapidly evolving mobile technology that can supercharge Qatar’s nationwide digital transformation economic diversification. Our 5G virtual hackathon aims to develop our entrepreneurship programme, continue our 5G leadership and educate local institutions on the potential of 5G.”
Prospective participants can learn more about the 5G virtual hackathon, and also learn more about use case examples from partners, at a series of awareness sessions from October 11 to November 10.
“Our 5G hackathon will support business and innovation by enhancing our ICT leadership and developing new 5G service capabilities. We will also share insights with Qatar’s local institutions on how 5G can transform the market, and identify talents to join our entrepreneurship programme,” he added.
Participants can learn more about the 5G virtual hackathon and register by visiting https://www.ooredoo.qa/5g-virtual-hackathon . Registration closes on November 1, with the virtual hackathon going live on November 12-14.
It aims to develop Ooredoo’s entrepreneurship programme, lead and develop 5G and ICT innovation, and educate local institutions on Ooredoo’s 5G investment and market potential, the statement notes.
Educational partners include Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, Hamad Bin Khalifa University’s College of Science and Engineering, and Qatar University’s College of Business and Economics and College of Engineering.
Business partners are Ericsson, Microsoft, Qatar Business Incubation Centre, Thales, Mada, Oracle, Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy – Challenge 22, Google Development Group - Doha, Qatar Financial Centre, WISE Accelerator, Zoom and Seventh.AI.
The 5G virtual hackathon, to be held from November 12-14, is set to host hundreds of university students, industry professionals, startups and Ooredoo employees.
Participants will develop solutions across four focus areas: Smart X, including smart energy grids and energy management, health, ports and logistics, transport and agro tech; sports tech with eSports, wellness and coaching and Challenge 22; media and entertainment, including Ooredoo tv, advertising and content, gaming, Fintech and digital challenges for a vertical market; and EduTech with corporate learning, STEM innovations, post-Covid-19 and environmental awareness.
Each of the four winning teams will receive a pre-seed investment of up to QR25,000 to develop a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and run a validation sprint.
Winning teams will be integrated into the Lean Start-up Programme (LSP 14) to further validate and develop their MVP and pitch at the Final Demo Day in December.
Winners will also have the opportunity to be incubated by Ooredoo’s Digital & Beyond Incubator and gain access to additional funding and in-kind support of up to QR250,000, as well as getting the opportunity to fast-track to piloting of their MVP with Ooredoo ecosystem partners.
Ooredoo CEO Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdulla al-Thani said, “5G is a rapidly evolving mobile technology that can supercharge Qatar’s nationwide digital transformation economic diversification. Our 5G virtual hackathon aims to develop our entrepreneurship programme, continue our 5G leadership and educate local institutions on the potential of 5G.”
Prospective participants can learn more about the 5G virtual hackathon, and also learn more about use case examples from partners, at a series of awareness sessions from October 11 to November 10.
“Our 5G hackathon will support business and innovation by enhancing our ICT leadership and developing new 5G service capabilities. We will also share insights with Qatar’s local institutions on how 5G can transform the market, and identify talents to join our entrepreneurship programme,” he added.
Participants can learn more about the 5G virtual hackathon and register by visiting https://www.ooredoo.qa/5g-virtual-hackathon . Registration closes on November 1, with the virtual hackathon going live on November 12-14.
