Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 02-08-2018

A Saudi Arabia Hajj Hackathon organized by the Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones in Jeddah, has broken the Guinness World Record for the most number of participants – 2,950 from over 100 countries.

The previous Guinness World Record for simultaneous Hackathon participants was done by India with 2,577 participants in 2012.

Thousands of software developers and computer and information-technology enthusiasts took part in the Hajj hackathon in Jeddah which started on 31 July, 31 and ends 3 August.

The competition focuses on improving Hajj services in food sanitation, finance, transportation, accommodation, communications and crowd management for the estimated two million pilgrims who travel to Saudi Arabia each year.

This year the Hajj Hackathon attracted tech companies from around the world with support from Google.

Steve Wozniak who founded Apple with the late Steve Jobs says the hackathon is useful and productive.

“One of the most powerful points of being here is to help the community … as the country has one of the greatest missions: Hajj.”

Saudi counsellor in the Royal Court, head of the Kingdom’s Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming and Drones Saud Bin Abdulla al-Kahtani expressed gratitude to King Salman Bin Abdulaziz and Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman for their continuous support which led to this prestigious achievement.

“The Kingdom entering Guinness Records through Hajj Hackathon, confirms the ambition of the Saudi youths that their country is a gate for technology in the region,” referring that this achievement comes in parallel with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.”

The event is offering cash prizes to the top three participants, amounting to two million Saudi riyals (R 7 million) to transform their ideas into application-based solutions.

 – Agencies 

Twitter: @FaizelPatel143