The Sharjah Entrepreneurship Center (Sheraa) has announced the top three winning teams in the Khorfakkan chapter of the Startup Sharjah hackathon that concluded yesterday at the University of Khorfakkan. The hakathon was in partnership with Crescent Enterprises and in collaboration with the University of Khorfakkan, Emirates Schools Establishment, and Sharjah Youth Council.
Held in September 16-18, this year’s edition of the hackathon saw the participation of over 150 youth, divided into 14 teams. The hackathon equipped school and university students with 21st century skill sets that helped them build solutions to real-world problems posed by the competition’s corporate partners. This year’s edition of the hackathon targeted the development of sustainable solutions in the ports and logistics services sectors.
The first place was won by the Octainer project. The second place went to Al Seef project. The third place went to PortSecure project. The winning teams received cash prizes to support the development of their projects and real-life applications. The winners also received the opportunity to join Sheraa’s specialized programs for further development of the idea and possibly turning it to viable business.
Through the hackathon, participants were introduced to the design thinking process based on six stages: Understand, Observe, Point of View, Ideate, Prototype, and Test.
During the hackathon, representatives from Gulftainer, which operates the Sharjah Container Terminal, Khorfakkan Container Terminal, and Al Hamriyah Container Terminal, and Momentum Logistics, a fully integrated third-party logistics provider, delivered a presentation on the integral role of supply chains in the logistics industry, and outlined various operational aspects and administration of the Khorfakkan Port. After the presentation, participants brainstormed solutions to transform the port’s operations to become more agile and sustainable.
Competing teams of UAE youth created prototypes, building on the information shared during the presentation and tested their ideas to ensure it could be implemented to achieve the set goals.
