DSG organized Hackathon contest at IoT Expo yields smart projects for Dubai smart city

Dubai Smart Government Department (DSG), the strategic sponsor of the Internet of Things Expo (IoTx), held at Dubai World Trade Centre; organized a hackathon contest that came up with impressive results. A total of 36 contestants took part in teams to come up with solutions for the future of smart cities, under three domains: smart life, smart economy and smart tourism.   Marwan Bin Haidar, Executive Director of Planning and Development at DSG, inaugurated the competition by giving the signal for the teams to build their projects within the ten hours allocated to them At the end of the day, each team faced a jury to showcase their project and answer any questions. Head of the jury, Marwan Bin Haidar, announced the results of the competition awarding the smart waste containers project under the theme of smart life in first position. According to the project, sensors in the waste containers can send signals directly to the municipality, when full. An emergency device for natural disasters also under the theme of smart life came second. The second placed team showed a drone-like device that can relay vital information to the authorities for quick action in the event of disasters. The third place was won by a team that created a smart store app that would send alerts when food supplies or medicines were running out of stock and remind the concerned person of the expiry date of the products. H.E. Ahmad Bin Humaidan, Director General of DSG, inspected the Hackathon to encourage the teams, underscoring the importance of holding such competitions that stimulate continuous innovation and creativity amidst global competitiveness over smart transformation that seeks not only customer satisfaction but also engagement of the society in creating smart services. Praising the competition as an impressive experience that evoked a sense of challenge in them, the contestants valued DSG's role in sponsoring and hosting this competition, which demonstrates the smart government's ongoing interest in stimulating innovation and innovators in Dubai, as part of global innovation and smart city development.