NBO Hackathon Challenges Fearless Thinkers To Change the World

Over 200 school and university students, computer programmers, developers, designers and coders competed in the National Bank of Oman (NBO) Annual Hackathon. During the 24-hour lockdown, participants were challenged to find solutions that embrace the future of banking, support making cities more sustainable, safe and smart in addition to creating trusted experiences. Teams pitched to a panel of distinguished judges and were evaluated based on 4 main criteria: business value, innovation, user-friendly experience, and prototype readiness. The bank also broadened the award categories to include a ‘School Student Challenge’ in addition to the ‘College Student Challenge’ and the ‘Professionals Challenge’.

With the majority of participants under the age of 25 years old and a larger number of registrants, the 2018 hackathon was like no other.  Al Sayyid Wasfi bin Jamshid Al Said, Acting CEO of NBO, said, “The hackathon provides us with a unique opportunity to stay connected with the next generation of users, whilst being offered a fresh perspective on the role of technology in our daily lives. To stay ahead of the curve, we need to remain agile, resourceful, and learn fast.”

In the School Student Challenge Team iWays won the first prize of OMR 1,500 with their solution which provides traffic congestion insights by leveraging existing radar cameras and street lights.

The College Student Challenge -which was open to youth under the age of 25 who are pursuing academic degrees in Oman- was won by Team D & D who took home a cash prize of OMR 2,000. They wooed the judges with their solution which creates sign language to text conversion and vice versa, to allow the hearing impaired to converse. The judges were impressed by both the business and social use of the application.

In the Professional Challenge, eligible for IT professionals and start-up firms, Team Banky won the first prize of OMR 2,000. Their service provides loan offerings using blockchain technology. Following the Q&A session, judges saw the potential of the service in the future as part of an integrated approach to data gathering and the loan provision process.

The Acting CEO added, “It is so exciting to see so much talent all under one roof, our roof. Platforms such as this mobilize collective intelligence and unleashes the skills, creativity and passion of forward thinkers. It allows us to reimagine the future of banking. This inspirational round the clock experience plays an instrumental role in exploring new horizons in our evolving industry and advancing the way in which we think, work, and serve our customers.” 

The NBO hackathon is part of the Bank’s commitment to support the spirit of innovation and empowering Oman’s young and talented minds. In addition to rewarding cash prizes, the winners will have the opportunity to explore internships and potential employment opportunities with NBO and its technology partners.