The UAE Drones For
Good Award, launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE
Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, within the activities of
the second UAE Government Summit last February, announced the results of semi-finals
of the first phase of the local version of the competition, which ended in early
September.
The participants, qualified
for the semi-finals, were from different
segments of society, including the active participation of students and
national educational institutions, as such a competition played a greater role
in utilizing the potential of students and creators in the innovation of
products and services designed to facilitate the human’s life, as well as the distinguished
participation of individuals and private companies, which proved the existence
of distinguished young national energies capable of creation and innovation.
The preliminary
round of the competition, which is in line with the directives of the State for
the peaceful utilization of drones, witnessed the registration of more than 300
posts, while 16 of them were qualified for the semi-finals of the competition,
including Khalifa University and New York University Abu Dhabi, and the
selection process for the participants qualified for the semi-finals was according
to precise criteria focused on the innovation in the provision of the service,
the possibility of application, and the added value they provide to humans.
Such qualified participations were also marked by the diversity of sectors.
Saif Al Aleeli, the
Project Manager of UAE Drones For Good Award, clarified that the posts have met
real needs and introduced new practical concepts related to the government
services sector commensurate with the Government’s trends towards the
continuous development of services.
It is noteworthy
that the posts related to the sectors of civil defense and infrastructure made
up the largest proportion in terms of the number of posts, followed by the
sectors of environment, health, logistics and tourism respectively, and the
award competitions continue within the preliminary round of the international
version until the first of next October, while the semi-final competitions of
the local version were launched on September 15th, and they will end
on October 15th, where competitors of this stage will compete for 5
seats in the finals, and the best 3 posts will be directly qualified for the
finals of the international competition,
whose award is worth one million US Dollars.
18/09/2014