The UAE Government recently announced
the launch of global emerging technologies startup competition GovHack Series
in 8 major cities around the world.
The GovHack Series contest aims to find the world’s most
creative tech startup solutions to help solve global challenges facing
governments Taking place from May until December 2018, the GovHack Series will
first take place in New Delhi, followed by Tokyo, Santiago, Jakarta, Washington
DC, London, Berlin, and Cairo.
“Launching the GovHack Series in eight major
international cities is a new milestone, and a new achievement registered by
the GovTech Prize in its mission to inspire individuals, governments and
private entities around the world to innovate and deliver future-ready ideas,” said
Mr Mohamed Bin Taliah, Assistant Director-General for Government Services
Sector, and Assistant Director-General for Corporate Services Sector at the
Prime Minister’s Office in the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future.
“The objective is to motivate young minds, students and
government employees from around the world to develop smart government
initiatives, and propose technological solutions to address the most pressing
global challenges. The Prize also propels the most innovative of these ideas to
an international stage, presenting them at the World Government Summit,” he
added.
The GovHack Series reflects the UAE Government’s support to innovation
in emerging technologies, which, in turn, strengthens the UAE’s status as a
platform for forecasting the future of strategic sectors, and an incubator for
creative ideas from around the world.
The competition is part of the GovTech Prize, which has been
running for its 6th year. The GovTech Prize works throughout
the year to search for the best tech government solutions developed by
governments and individuals, upon which are awarded at a ceremony during the
World Government Summit.
The GovTech Prize is organised in partnership with the World
Government Summit, Dubai’s Area 2071, world-leading business and government
consultants McKinsey & Company, and in collaboration with the
Washington-based start-up networking platform Union.
A series of roundtable discussions will be hosted during the
competition to address the Series’ 4 main themes: (1) Governance and
Resilience, (2) Environment and Well Being, (3) Economy and Society, and (4) Future
and Progress.
(1)
Governance and Resilience looks for find
start-ups that leverage emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI)
and blockchain to aid governments in addressing issues of collecting, analysing
and utilizing large flows of data while preserving privacy and security.
(2)
Economy and Society looks for solutions that
embrace future and hi-tech solutions such as big data to help streamline
decision-making and analysis, and improve quality of life.
(3)
Environment and Wellbeing looks for start-up
solutions that tap into the potential and advantages of circular economics to
create new products and services that wield positive ecological and citizen
well-being.
(4)
Future and Progress looks for startups that work
on disrupting the way we learn and acquire skills to cope with the incoming
disruptions in the labour market.
Start-ups taking part in the competition will be evaluated
by a panel of experts, based on criteria such as creativity, impact on society,
sustainability, scalability, feasibility, and prospects for commercialisation.
Winners from each of the eight cities will be awarded a
USD10,000 prize, as well as a chance to compete for the USD100,000 grand prize
at the final event, taking place in Dubai, on the sidelines of the World
Government Summit in February 2019.
Winners will also have the opportunity to collaborate with
their governments to implement their technological solutions, and
will be invited to participate in a 90-day business incubator programme in
Dubai’s Area 2071.
