YouthTech is a virtual competition that is being conducted by Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) in partnership with startAD for youngsters between the ages of 18-29.
startAD is an Abu Dhabi based global accelerator initiative by New York University, Abu Dhabi to encourage entrepreneurship and innovation in the capital. The accelerator helps entrepreneurs develop their projects from ideation to commercialization into the market.
The particular competition is part of Abu Dhabi Inspires, “a programme that promotes agile thinking and supports bright minds to invent, develop and launch tangible ideas that will have a positive impact on people now and into the future.”
Interested participants can send in their applications till August 8th on youthtech.ae. The proposal should be 500 words and outline the tech based solution to a problem participants aim to remedy in response to Covid-19. The four week competition is expected to begin on August 17th where selected participants will receive expert training and guidance on their individual projects.
You don’t need to have a fully laid out project; just a strong idea or proposal that has the potential to be progressed into a viable business venture. The competition is your opportunity to avail resources and infrastructure you need to equip your ideas with the footholding it needs to enter the market. What’s more is that you will all learn how to deal with the open market and promote your product to sustain the enterprise with partner collaborations.
Majid Al Shamsi, Higher Education Business Development Division Director at Abu Dhabi Department of Knowledge and Education (ADEK), said: “One of our key objectives is to foster a culture of entrepreneurship amongst the youth. When evaluating partners for this initiative, startAD was the obvious choice because they share our vision on the importance of empowering young talent to develop innovative ideas that will impact the future.
Our entrepreneurial ecosystem is critical, and the opportunities that this initiative presents will challenge the youth and provide them with the tools to translate their ambitions into reality in four vital sectors, education, economy, infrastructure, and society. This will encourage the youth to continue innovating despite the challenges and build the future that will serve our society. We look forward to witnessing innovative ideas being turned into impactful projects over the coming weeks.”
Get those pens to paper and start drawing up your blueprints as there’s AED 25,000 up for grabs for the winning projects at Youthtech. If you’re lucky, you may also be assisted by startAD to help shape up your project and give it the competitive edge it needs in the market. While you don’t need prior background, the selection panel does look for relevance in these uncertain times.
So the question you need to answer is – why is investing in your project a timely solution ?
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