UAE students win big in ports, logistics hackathon

This year’s hackathon took place from September 16th to 18th, with more than 150 youth participating in 14 teams. Hackathons provide schools and college students with a 21st-century skill set to help them build solutions to real-world problems posed by the competition’s corporate partners. This year’s hackathon aims to develop sustainable solutions in ports and logistics services.

First place went to Project Octaina, an advanced scanning technology that facilitates the digitization of the port activity recording process through the use of Near Field Communication (NFC), a short-range wireless connection technology. Each container is attached with a smart label containing all the data that will be read by scanners attached to the port cranes. With the automatic verification of container contents, the customs clearance process is smoother and faster.

Second place is the Al Seef project, an integrated system that provides stakeholders in port operations with a comprehensive solution to manage information flow, combat resource waste, avoid document discrepancies, track prices and vessels, and provide more accurate ETA. The team’s proposed digital solution efficiently manages the flow of information between all stakeholders, enables real-time tracking of shipping lines and trucks, provides price transparency, enhances documentation processes with verified updates, and helps manage customer expectations.

In third place is the PortSecure project, a startup that provides port access to its software based on a membership model. The software predicts inefficiencies in port activities and provides new applicable standard operating procedures (SOPs) to help ports be faster and safer.

The winning teams received cash prizes to support the development of their projects and real-world applications. The winner also has the opportunity to join Sheraa’s dedicated program to further develop the idea and potentially turn it into a viable business.

Najla Al Midfa, CEO of Sheraa, said: “Our Startup Sharjah product launch at Khorfakkan is a testament to Sheraa’s commitment to making entrepreneurship an accessible and foundational skillset for young entrepreneurial talent in Sharjah and the UAE. With the support of our partners, we Will continue to invest in the undeniable potential of our ambitious youth to build sustainable solutions to challenges that impact lives around the world.”

She noted that the hackathon emphasizes the social impact of a project, not just its business value, with the goal of developing businesses that have a positive impact on local communities and the wider economy. The CEO said that the projects led by the Khorfakkan Hackathon competition team demonstrated a high level of understanding of the challenges and needs of the industry as well as local and global communities.

Badr Jafar, CEO of Crescent Enterprises, said: “With the lack of entrepreneurial talent in our region, we should encourage young problem solvers to take more calculated risks when creating solutions and embrace success or failure with the same dynamism. At Crescent Enterprises , youth empowerment and local entrepreneurial development are core elements of our corporate citizenship strategy. This is in line with the Government of Sharjah’s efforts to create an enabling business environment that will enable the emirate to become an important regional innovation hub and develop a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

He added: “Crescent Enterprises is proud of its longstanding partnership with Sheraa, who will continue to build an inclusive and sustainable entrepreneurial platform in the UAE and the wider region.”

Ahmed Al Shammaa, Vice-Chancellor of Horfakhan University, said: “We are delighted to partner with Sheraa, which aims to promote positive thinking among the younger generation. Such immersive events are vital to our University as they contribute to the realization of our vision and goals focused on enhancing students’ intellectual, personal and professional skills.”

He added: “Horfakhan University is committed to providing our students with a strong foundation through research and innovation to ensure that our graduates can support Sharjah and the UAE on their journey to build an internationally competitive knowledge-based economy.”

Through the hackathon, participants are introduced to a design thinking process based on six stages: understanding, observation, perspective, ideation, prototyping, and testing.

During the hackathon, representatives of Gulftainer, which operates Sharjah Container Terminal, Khorfakkan Container Terminal and Al Hamriyah Container Terminal, and Momentum Logistics, a fully integrated third-party logistics provider, spoke about supply chain in logistics and gave an overview of Horfakan Port’s All operational aspects and management. Following the presentation, attendees brainstormed solutions to make the port’s operations more flexible and sustainable.

Tim Haas, Chief Operating Officer, Gulftainer said: “Gulftainer is delighted to support the Khorfakkan chapter of Startup Sharjah Hackathon, which encourages innovation and instills entrepreneurship among our future trailblazers. Our region is fully positioned as a global logistics hub through continuous education With guidance and guidance, our young people will remain at the forefront of emerging technology, using it to develop solutions to global supply chain challenges and support economic sustainability.”

The competing teams of Emirati youth created prototypes based on information shared during the presentation and tested their ideas to ensure they could be implemented to achieve the stated goals.

Guided by wise leadership, the largest city in the eastern region of Sharjah has undertaken several mixed-use developments, the most recent of which is the University of Horfakhan, hence the decision to host a hackathon in Horfakhan.