MUSCAT, SEPT 8
The Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology announced the conclusion of the first phase of the Oman Drone Competition last week.
The competition and training programme is part of the Ministry’s Makeen initiative to enhance the skills of cadres of the local digital economy, and is conducted in collaboration with the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).
Speaking to the Observer, Dr Said al Abri, Assistant professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at SQU, highlighted the aim of the competition. "Our objective is to train and qualify either senior college students or recent graduates who don't have a job, with the intention of helping these graduates and students the opportunity to create their own business in this very developing field." He added, "Drones have so many applications in Oman, and the market is actually growing. So we want to qualify these participants to create an industry here in Oman." According to Dr Al Abri, the use of drones is widespread in Oman. “Drones have already proven to be applicable here in Oman. They have so many applications, starting from entertainment, like in media, drone shows, or just personal videography. But they also have many applications in industry, for example, in the oil and gas industry for inspection, as well as in agriculture, security, patrolling, and self-defence." The first phase of the competition included 120 trainees, split across six batches of 20 each. According to Dr Al Abri, the intensive training programme covered various aspects about drones: including applications, regulations, assembly and configuration and drone flying.
The next phase of the competition, which begins in October, will integrate the use of artificial intelligence. The use of AI will enable drones to operate autonomously without human intervention, both in flying and in processing the data they collect. This will in turn, result in an advanced post-analysis that will make a wide range of applications possible, he explained.
Following the AI integration stage, the competition will progress with an intensive camp for the qualified participants, followed by a final stage at Sultan Qaboos University in February next year.
Launched in 2021, the National Initiative for the Rehabilitation of Digital Cadres 'Makeen', has trained around 5,000 individuals in the fields of information technology.
The initiative includes five main tracks: the technical boot camps track, the advanced nano-degree track, the professional specialised qualification track, the technical competitions track, and the technical certificates support track.
Last month, the initiative launched a tech certificate reimbursement initiative, which will allow individuals who acquired specialised technology certificates to be suitably compensated.
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