The Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge, ADEK, has joined forces with startAD, the Abu Dhabi-based global accelerator anchored at NYU Abu Dhabi, NYUAD, and powered by its partner Tamkeen to launch the inaugural edition of the YouthTech Competition.

The competition, which will be held virtually, is aimed at young innovators in the UAE who are passionate about developing tech-enabled solutions for some of the greatest global challenges across the themes of education, the economy, infrastructure, and society. The UAE’s innovators can register until 8th August at youthtech.ae with the competition scheduled to commence on 17th August.

The competition is part of "Abu Dhabi Inspires", a programme that promotes agile thinking and supports bright minds to invent, develop and launch tangible ideas that will have a positive impact on people now and in the future.

Over four weeks, participants will receive training that will equip them with the skills to transform their concepts into entrepreneurial projects. The competition encourages youth to work on solutions that envision remote education tools, enable economic activity virtually, design infrastructure projects to benefit communities, and foster social collaboration online.

The competition does not require a prior background in entrepreneurship, but successful applicants should be able to show interest and curiosity in entrepreneurship and innovation. A total cash prize of AED25,000 will be distributed among the winning participants to assist in realising their start-up concepts. The top teams will also have the opportunity to further advance their innovations through startAD programmes.

Majid Al Shamsi, Higher Education Business Development Division Director at Abu Dhabi Department of Knowledge and Education, ADEK, said, "One of our key objectives is to foster a culture of entrepreneurship amongst the youth. When evaluating partners for this initiative, startAD was the obvious choice because they share our vision on the importance of empowering young talent to develop innovative ideas that will impact the future. Our entrepreneurial ecosystem is critical, and the opportunities that this initiative presents will challenge the youth and provide them with the tools to translate their ambitions into reality in four vital sectors, education, economy, infrastructure, and society."

Research Professor of Engineering, Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship at NYUAD, and Managing Director of startAD, Ramesh Jagannathan, commented, "We are inspired by the enthusiasm of the UAE’s youth to explore opportunities to imagine and shape a better world during these hard times of the pandemic. This period has shone the spotlight on the important role of technology in improving the quality of our everyday personal and professional life."

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