An all-women team of Saudi computer developers has won first prize in the Hajj Hackathon, with their real-time translation App.
The competition took place in the city of Jeddah and concluded on Friday 3rd August. Its aim is to create high-tech solutions which enable visitors to Saudi Arabia to have an enjoyable, efficient and pleasant experience while visiting the country, particularly during the annual Hajj pilgrimage, when over 2 million visitors are expected between 19th and 24th August.
According to the Saudi Gazette, the all-women team created an instant translation app which they named “Turjuman”, meaning translator in Arabic. The app is intended to facilitate communication between pilgrims from around the world when they attend the Hajj pilgrimage.
It also scooped the women a massive first prize pay-out of a million Saudi riyals (US $267,000).
Rawan al Matrafi told the audience “I said goodbye to my family and told them that I will be coming back to you with the one million [riyals],” as she received the award along with her other team members.
Saud al Qahtani, adviser to the Saudi Royal Court, and founder of the Saudi Federation for Cyber Security, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP), which organized Hajj Hackathon, said the achievement of the all-women team is “an indication of the continuing success and excellence in the process of empowering Saudi women.”
The Hajj competition brings together entrepreneurs and technology experts who are focussed on areas such as, food, health, traffic congestion, crowd control, housing, communication and so on. There is a judging panel of eight members, which this year included Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder.
The second and third places in the competition went to an all-male team for their ‘Hajj Wallet’ app, and to an Algerian mixed team for a ‘Roaa’ or ‘Visions’ app, respectively.
The Turjuman app was innovative in its approach to translation due to a quick response (QR) codes on instruction signs which can then be translated and read in the pilgrim’s own language. There is also no need for an internet connection, which means this app can be used anywhere and anytime.
The Hajj Wallet app enabled the pilgrim’s phone to become their money wallet during the pilgrimage, through cash or credit card deposits, meaning there was no need to carry multiple items, and security is increased.
Finally, the ‘Visions’ app from the Algerian team allows users to track progress while on pilgrimage, meaning family members can be monitored, their location mapped, and photos shared.
50 teams competed in the initial stages of the competition, with 10 chosen as finalists for the three day event at Jeddah’s International Exhibition and Convention Centre. Almost 3000 developers from Saudi Arabia, the Gulf, and the rest of the world took part in the challenge – breaking the previous Guinness World Record for the most participants in a software development contest.
