Climate Change Hackathon (Climathon)

Under the auspices of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and with the honoring presence of Dr. Amr Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Egypt Informatics University (EUI) concluded Climathon2022, which began on 28 August, to devise technical solutions and produce prototypes of creative ideas, to reduce the risks and negative impacts of climate change on the planet through the use of information technology. Climathon 2022 was held as part of Egypt’s hosting of the 27th session of the Conference “COP 27” in Sharm el-Sheikh from 6 to 18 November 2022 under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

The university was honored to welcome a group of esteemed officials from the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, headed by Eng. Ghada Labib, Deputy Minister of Communications for Institutional Development, Dr . Iman Ashour, Director of the National Telecommunications Institute, Eng.Mohamed Nasr, Deputy Minister for International Informatics. Dr. Abdelmoneim Al Sharkawy, President of the National Academy of Information Technology for Persons with Disabilities, Mrs. Samah Aziz,
Director of the Central Department of International Relations, Eng. Ahmed Hussein, Head of the Public Administration for implementing Engineering Projects for the Central Department.

Several leaders from the entities of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Universities also attended, including Prof. Mahmoud Saqr, President of the Academy of Scientific Research, Prof.Walaa Sheta, Chief Executive Officer for the Science, Technology, and Innovation Funding Authority, Prof. Moawad Al-Khouli, President of New Mansoura University, Prof. Ashraf Haider Ghaleb, President, Misr
University of Science and Technology, Prof. Hesham Farouk, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research for Digital Transformation and Prof.Mohamed Ahmed Amer, Executive Director, Innovators Support Fund, as well as deans
of various faculties to which the participating teams are enrolled.

Representatives of the embassies of the participating teams, H.E. Ambassador Datakarran Gobourdhun, Ambassador Mauritius in Cairo, Mr. Nikansthing Jagarnath,Adviser to the Embassy of Mauritius in Cairo. Mr.  Abdullah Yusuf Al-Harahshah, Jordanian Cultural Attache in Egypt, also participated. Esteemed members of the Board of Trustees of Egypt University of Informatics attended, on the top which was Prof. Sherif Hammad, former Minister of Scientific Research and Professor of Computer and Systems Engineering, journalist Karam Gabr, Chairman of the Supreme Council for Media Regulation, Prof. Saeed Megahed, Professor of Robot, Dynamics and Control at the faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, and Dr. Mohamed Hammadi, Former Chief Technology Officer at Sky Group, Europe’s leading media and
entertainment company.

Eng. Hossam Megahed, Chief Executive Officer of Etisal Company, also was present at the event. Representatives of the hackathon sponsors, headed by Dr. Abdou Alwan, Vice-Chairman of Egypt Post, Mr. Herve JM. Marchet, Education Lead, Africa and the Middle East, Amazon Web Services, and Eng. Nour Al-Din Zaki, Regional Director of Intel Egypt.

The activities of Climathon2022, headed by Dr. Amani Eissa, took place over more than a month under the auspices of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, in cooperation with Amazon Web Services AWS, where the awards worth 1 million
pounds in addition to many other prizes were offered by the sponsors of the Climathon2022; Egypt Post, Intel, and ITIDA.

The competition, in which more than 1500 students representing 50 Egyptian, Arab, and African universities from 33 countries participated in 4 themes of climate change (Sustainable Cities, Communities Empowerment, Clean Energy, and Water Stewardship), also featured an Egyptian startup competition on climate change and sustainable development. In addition, the projects involved went through three evaluation stages, the last of which was on Thursday, 29 September 2022. H.E, Dr. Amr Talaat, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, stressed that EUI was born large, with its science, activities, and its members.

The participation of this number of Arab and African countries in this hackathon illustrates the university’s standing and academic importance. Talaat congratulated all the teams participating in the competition: “I congratulate the winners in this competition; however, everyone who participated in it is a winner.”

The Minister of Communications and Information Technology explained that this hackathon sends critical messages of research and innovation and the need to meet the challenges facing our societies, so the Ministry is working to create technology solutions for communities and nations while addressing climate change, preserving the environment and creating solutions is the following message. Talaat noted that Egypt’s
hosting of the climate summit confirmed the State’s interest in the issue.

Talaat said, “The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology is interdependent in all sectors of the country, directing all the Ministry’s capabilities to create a better and clean environment in all activities. We are currently using fibers to reduce thermal emissions, in addition to working with mobile companies to reduce environmental pollution, and the same thing we do with the Ministry of Environment.

Civil society had a responsibility to meet that enormous challenge.
Dr. Reem Bahgat, President of the Egyptian University of Informatics, confirmed that the university is always keen to stay aligned with the age of digital development.

Therefore, EUI organized the Climate Change Hackathon Competition to serve as a platform for practical solutions to this crisis and to address it by harnessing technology science to stop its repercussions. Bahgat explained that the competition relied on students’ innovations to advance the field of climate improvement in Egypt and the world, which makes EUI keen to help them develop these ideas into concrete reality and present them at the World Climate Summit in Egypt next November.

Dr. Amani Eissa, President of the Organizing Committee for Hackathon and Head of Business Development at EUI, praised the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology for its vital role in supporting innovations, research projects, and practical competitions to improve the quality of life under the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Dr. Amani Eissa explained that the organization of Climathon 2022 came from the pivotal role of EUI as an educational and research institution adopting innovative initiatives. She noted that all participants are talented and passionate about learning as leaders capable of bringing about change and growth in Egypt’s technology sector while tackling climate change with their innovations.

Mr.Herve JM Marchet, Education Lead, Middle East and Africa at Amazon Web Services, confirmed that there are real solutions to tackle this phenomenon by adapting technology in this direction.

The Scarab team of students of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of October for Modern Sciences and Arts won first place in the “Water Stewardship” theme. They created a prototype for the unit of water generation from the air; Access Denied team of Polytechnics Mauritius University students won second place by providing an innovative solution to solve the water crisis by reusing water resources again, such as
rainwater.

The third place went to the Water Cache team of students of the Princess Somaya University of Technology in Jordan, who created a water management and consumption forecasting system to reduce the loss of good water.

In the “Clean Energy” theme, ASC from students of Misr University of Science and Technology won first place with a solution to address environmental waste to preserve the environment and deal with the challenges of climate change through the development of A.I., IoT, data science, and biotechnology technologies. The second place was won by the Earthians team of students of Mansoura University, who devised a solution to invest in roads to produce clean energy by creating a smart road and using solar energy in street lighting and smart pedals. MUSTIANS team of Misr University of Science and Technology students won third place and devised a solution to preserve the environment and deal with the challenges of climate change by transforming existing buildings into eco-friendly buildings.

In the “Sustainable Cities” theme, the Go Green team of students from the Princess Somaya University of Technology, Jordan, won first place with their “Save the Blue” project aimed at reducing the waste of usable water. ZRMS team of New Mansoura University students won second place; they focused on using solar energy for electricity production, turning ordinary road networks into eco-friendly smart road networks
based on a clean energy source. Third place went to the Oxidizers team of Zagazig University students, who created a shared transportation system that serves new sustainable cities using machine learning and artificial intelligence.

In the “Communities Empowerment” theme, the Together team of Zagaziq University students won first place and created a mobile app to help raise awareness and understand the minor human impacts of climate change. The second place was won by the Egypt Sustainable Minds team of students from October University for Modern Sciences and Arts and Egypt University of Informatics, who created the project
“Integrated Air Quality System” to reduce heat warming emissions and increase awareness of the importance of carbon footprint calculation and help reduce carbon emission by changing lifestyles. The Elite team of Zagaziq University students, who have devised a consumer application to follow bills and control consumption, won third place.

Sun Pave won the best startup. SUNPave is an innovative UK-patented solar panel technology that matches traditional tilted P.V. panels’ energy yield with single-axis tracking.