The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology kicked off yesterday, Monday, August 26, the “Engineer it with AI” competition, under the auspices of the Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Economy, Dr Nasser bin Rashid al Maawali.
Also in attendance were Dr Ali bin Amer al Shithani, Under-Secretary for Communications at the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology and Eng Khamis bin Mohammed al Shamakhi, Under-Secretary for Transport.
In a statement, Head of Development and Studies at the National Space and Advanced Technologies Center and Artificial Intelligence at the Ministry, Toua bint Abdullah al Dawood, highlighted the significance of building AI.
“AI can only develop through building capacities and supporting talents in this promising field. This can be achieved by providing an enabling environment, offering necessary support to innovators and developers, encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship, and enhancing cooperation between the public and private sectors to maximise the benefits of AI applications in various domains.” She added: “The competition comes at a time when the world is witnessing rapid developments in this field. The competition aims to discover and develop local skills, urging participants to make the most of this opportunity to showcase their abilities and creativity.” The "Engineer It with AI" competition, conducted in collaboration with Code Academy, promotes the use of generative AI to produce technical solutions for various sectors. A total of 100 individuals are participating, divided into 25 teams, who will compete for prizes worth over RO 10,000 over a course of 40 days.
According to the Ministry, the competition will go through three main phases including an intransitive training camp, followed by the development of technical solutions using generative AI, and a final evaluation and the conclusion of the competition.
The event included an introductory workshop detailing the competition’s timeline, informational sessions, along with an introduction to the Learning Management System (LMS) workshop, and team communication activities.
The competition is part of the Ministry’s efforts and the Government’s wider effort of boosting the contribution of the digital economy to the local GDP.
Earlier this year, the Under-Secretary of Communications and Information Technology at the Ministry, unveiled that the volume of investments within the Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector in Oman is expected to reach $250 million.
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