“Together Apart” Hackathon is Launched to Boost Innovation in line with Egypt Vision 2030

• The Together Apart Hackathon will identify innovative and commercially viable solutions to achieve comprehensive, sustainable, and balanced regional development in the country.
• The hackathon will focus on the three sustainable development dimensions of Vision 2030: economic, social, and environmental.

Under the patronage of Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, The Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA) in collaboration with Ericsson announces the launch of their joint “Together Apart” Hackathon.

The hackathon consists of two engagements: inspirational panel discussions and the hackathon competition. The discussions will take place virtually on the 18^th of November 2021, in the presence of industry and thought leaders, and is open to the public with the objective to inspire the wider Egyptian ecosystem.

Taking place between the 9^th and the 11^th of December, the hackathon competition which will bring together the qualified participants with teams contributing with solutions inspired by and aligned with Egypt Vision 2030.

Registration is available for the panel discussions and the hackathon competition via this link.

The Together Apart Hackathon, aligned with Egypt’s Vision 2030 agenda, will improve livelihoods, and contribute to the sustainable and economic growth of the country by working with entrepreneurs, professionals, academics, and university students from across Egypt to identify innovative and commercially viable solutions taking inspiration from the Vision and deep diving into the following five themes:

1. Quality of Life-Health care and wellbeing
2. Quality of Life- First rate education system
3. Integrated and sustainable environment
4. Mobility for all
5. Competitive and diverse economy

The hackathon aims to develop ideas, revolving around Industry 4.0 digital technologies and 5G, to stimulate innovations in the three sustainable development dimensions of Vision 2030, namely, economic, social, and environmental.

A total of five winning teams will be chosen - one winning team from each focus area in Egypt Vision 2030. The five winning teams will receive support in developing and scaling their solutions. One team will receive the grand prize to visit Ericsson’s headquarters in Sweden to pitch the team’s solution and interact with the entrepreneurial community.

Eng. Amr Mahfouz, Chief Executive Officer of the Information Technology Industry Development Agency says: “The hackathon presents an outstanding example of how the public and private sectors can cooperate to foster innovative ideas and develop commercially viable solutions that not only advance livelihoods but also boost sustainable practices across the country. With the hackathon aimed towards achieving Egypt’s Vision 2030, we will support it in every way and continue our efforts to work alongside the private organizations to help our entrepreneurs and creative youth develop their ideas and enable them to act as a force for change in the Egyptian society.

As improving the quality of life and standard of living are key elements under the social dimension of Vision 2030, participants will focus on creating innovative and viable solutions that are aimed at increasing the accessibility and inclusivity of healthcare and education in the country. With technology being viewed as an enabler to improve the livelihoods and income levels of different demographics in society, the Together Apart Hackathon encourages participants to efficiently harness the potential of new technologies to elevate standards of living across the country.

The economic dimension of the hackathon will focus on Egypt’s aim to achieve knowledge-based economic growth and will center around digital transformation, increasing employment rates, promoting entrepreneurship, increasing the economy’s resilience and competitiveness, and also achieving financial inclusion in the country.

About 70 per cent of the new value created in the economy of the next decade will be through digitally-enabled business models. With this in mind, the hackathon will also explore the opportunities enabled by the digital economy in areas such as e-commerce and virtual experience to ensure digital inclusion.

With Egypt’s Vision 2030 focusing on preserving the rights of future generations to a safer and more efficient future, the hackathon will explore opportunities within mobility that are sustainable, scalable, and inclusive that will help tackle global environmental challenges.

Eva Andren, Country Manager of Ericsson Egypt says: “We are thrilled to work with ITIDA; the executive IT arm of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology in launching the Together Apart Hackathon in Egypt. Through the hackathon, we aspire to develop nations’ local talent and instil in them a creative mindset to approach and formulate solutions to problems facing the country. By aligning the hackathon to Vision 2030, we aim to accelerate the development of new technologies and solutions in the nation and strengthen Egypt’s innovative capabilities while also improving the livelihood of its residents. We believe the results of the hackathon will guide Egypt in achieving its sustainable and balanced regional development growth as per Vision 2030 and contribute to the overall economic and social development of the country.”

With Egypt witnessing unprecedented growth rates in the entrepreneurship and tech start-ups ecosystems, the hackathon will inspire innovations that assist it in its digital transformation journey and help the country meet the sustainable development objectives of Vision 2030. The outcome of the hackathon will improve the overall standard of living contributing to the existing body of scientific research and assist Egypt on the road to becoming a knowledge-based economy.