ACTA Announces Details Of Arab Youth Anti-Corruption Hackathon Launch

Doha, August 16 (QNA) - The Administrative Control and Transparency Authority (ACTA) held a press conference to announce the details of the launch of the "Arab Youth Anti-Corruption Hackathon", which will be organized from Sep. 10 to 14, in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), and Microsoft Qatar. Arab Youth Anti-Corruption Hackathon initiative aims to seize the energy and potential of youth to innovate and develop technological solutions for corruption-related problems that affect their communities, as it combines between digital innovation and social entrepreneurship. The "Coding4Integrity'' initiative "Arab Youth Anti-Corruption Hackathon" provides an opportunity for Arab youth from 18 to 30 years old to expand their knowledge of corruption-related topics and enhance their social, leadership and technical skills. On this occasion, Director of Public Relations and Communication Department at ACTA Eid Saeed Al Hajri said that the Hackathon highlights the efforts of the State of Qatar and the UNODC in combating corruption and promoting transparency, in addition to enhancing the spirit of innovation and creativity in areas related to the effective fight against corruption, and the effective role of Microsoft in supporting such efforts globally. He considered this conference as an essential platform for providing updates on the developments of the Hackathon, the efforts made by the participating teams, and the upcoming stages that the Authority is currently preparing for, as the launch of the Hackathon comes in response to the growing interest in the field of digital innovation as an incentive for youth action against corruption. He emphasized the involvement of the relevant national authorities in this event, which will contribute to achieving the desired goals of the initiative, noting that the Arab Youth Anti-Corruption Hackathon was launched in 2021 with the aim of investing the energies and capabilities of young people to innovate and develop technological solutions for corruption-related problems, which negatively affect their local communities. Al Hajri pointed out that the "Hackathon" represents a valuable opportunity to promote a culture of integrity and combating corruption in the Arab region, expressing their enthusiasm to cooperate with their partners in success, to achieve common goals by hosting the "Hackathon". For her part, ACTA's Media Spokesperson for Hackathon event Fayza Sinan Al Kaabi said that the registration process witnessed a great turnout, with a total of 1299 participants, representing 17 Arab countries. She explained that 119 participants were selected at the end of the final confirmation stage and the formation of the team, including 60 young women, pointing out that the participants were distributed in 26 Hackathon teams. Al Kaabi indicated that there are 15 participants from the State of Qatar, a number that clearly shows the interest of Qatari youth in learning about the anti-corruption mechanism and using their skills in computer programming to proactively support the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), as the Hackathon participants will be asked to develop an idea or solution based on information and communication technology that addresses one of the challenges related to combating corruption and promoting integrity in the Arab region. ACTA's Media Spokesperson for Hackathon also discussed the challenges of transparency in public procurement processes, encourage whistleblowing and establish mechanisms to protect whistleblowers, protect sports from corruption, report corruption related to water management, enhance the ability of the private sector to confront corruption, and innovation in education. She noted that the first-place winning team will have the opportunity to present its work on the sidelines of the 10th Conference of the States Parties (COSP) of the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), as the first three teams will receive cash prizes as follows: QR 150,000 for the first place, QR 100,000 for the second place, and QR 50,000 for the third place. UNODC Regional Representative for GCC Region Hatem Fouad affirmed that the UNODC is always ready to continue efforts in the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) through activities that are grounded in the transformative power of education and the meaningful empowerment of youth. He said that this event marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, indicating that the Hackathon series is a creative project that focuses on youth, and relies on education, digital innovation and social empowerment via the flagship initiative of the UNCAC, which aims to leverage the diverse and innovative skills and attitudes of young people to advance anti-corruption measures using technology. 

The UNODC Representative for the GCC region expressed his aspiration to know about the creative ideas that these youths will come up with and how they can be implemented in national and regional anti-corruption strategies, thanking the ACTA partners for their tireless efforts and contribution to making this one of a kind event. The hackathon will consist of two phases. The first phase is the online "Bootcamp", which will be held for five days during Aug. 27-31. Participants will be provided with some relevant training, including technical training and expertise in the anti-corruption field. Furthermore, the ACTA, UNODC, and a number of local and international partners will provide customized training aimed at preparing participants in the Arab Youth Hackathon to combat corruption. The second phase will include the launch of the "Coding4Integrity" competition youth anti-corruption hackathon series, which will be hosted by Qatar during Sep. 10-14. ACTA, in partnership with UNODC and Microsoft Qatar, will give the chance to the winning teams to continue developing the suggested technological solution with support from the partners of the Arab Youth Anti-Corruption Hackathon, which seek to use information and communication solutions within their efforts to combat corruption. Microsoft Qatar will provide direct support to around 150 young programmers from the participating countries, especially in the areas of mentorship and technological innovation, encouraging youth to participate in anti-corruption efforts, in addition to increasing youth employment opportunities and promoting innovation and technology. Young participants, who will work in coding teams, will develop technological solutions related to one of the six challenges of the "Arab Youth Anti-Corruption Hackathon" initiative, which include transparency in public procurement and the promotion of integrity of public procurement processes, whistle-blowing promotion and protection by innovating the reporting of corruption and the safeguard of whistle-blowers, safeguarding sports from corruption by using technology to detect match-fixing on and off the field of play, reporting corruption linked to water management by safeguarding a valuable resource from corruption, strengthening private sector resilience to corruption through a gender-sensitive approach, and innovating education by ensuring the digitalization of educational systems upholds values of integrity, ethics, and transparency. Coding4Integrity Arab Youth Anti-Corruption Hackathon, slated for September in Qatar on the margins of the 20th anniversary of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC), is considered one of the most important elements of the Global Resource for Anti-Corruption Education and Youth Empowerment (GRACE) initiative of UNODC with the support of the State of Qatar. The hackathon aims to seize the energy and potential of youth to innovate and develop technological solutions for corruption-related, in addition to increasing youth employment opportunities and promoting innovation and technology. Microsoft team has designed the hackathon program and the various areas of challenges and contexts. In addition, the Top 3 winning teams may receive the opportunity to enter the Microsoft Start Up Garage business development program to benefit from the mentorship of world top tech industry experts and further develop their winning solutions. Microsoft's participation in the hackathon comes to provide the latest technology and artificial intelligence solutions to enable developers and organizations to develop, use, and benefit from the capabilities of advanced technology and artificial intelligence in solving many of the most pressing challenges around the world. Through the hackathon, Microsoft also seeks to introduce participants to entrepreneurship and encourage them to establish their own projects to promote innovation from Qatar to the world. (QNA)