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Omantel announces the winning team of its first virtual hackathon, the “Omantel Big Data Hackathon”

The winning idea, from two young Omanis, Ammar Al Badi and Khalad Al Badi, was selected from 170 ideas that were submitted the Omantel Big Data hackathon, which was held from January 26 to 29. The event was open to all ideas on big data for the telecommunication industry with a focus on five key areas: 1. data monetization 2. Predictive analytics 3. Customer engagement 4. Lifetime value prediction 5. Customer sentiment analysis.

Individuals or teams with shortlisted ideas received guidance and mentorship on product conceptualization, market research, solution prototyping, and pitch development in preparation for a pitch competition. Omantel also offered specialized mentorship from Omantel subject matter experts who mentored the startups on making their ideas more relevant to the company.

Final pitches were presented to a panel of judges that included Dr. Sultan Al Yahyai, an academic at Sultan Qaboos University, Co-founder of Code Academy, and Information Technology Manager at Mazoon Electricity; Ashraf Kheiri, Senior Proficient in Technology Strategy and Innovation at Omantel, and Yasin Aboudaoud, Managing Partner and Chief Development Officer of Brinc MENA. The judges, with vast expertise in technology startups and businesses, selected the winners and provided valuable feedback to the participants on their solutions.

The winning team received a cash award and free co-working space at Oman Innovation Labs for 3 months. They will also receive 2-hours of expert mentorship every month for 6 months from the Omantel Innovation Labs team.

Commenting on the achievement, Ammar Al Badi, a graduate from Dublin City University, Ireland, and Khalad Al Badi, a graduate from Fontys University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands, said, “We are extremely delighted to have been declared as the winning team. It was a valuable experience for us to bring our unique skillset to the table and to be recognized on this renowned platform. We express our gratitude to Omantel for providing us the opportunity to present our creativity and innovation.”

Speaking about the online hackathon, HH Al Sayyida Ghada Jaifar Al Said-Senior Manager Omantel Innovation Labs said, “We received an excellent  response to the event and some really innovative ideas on the topic. We congratulate the winning team on their idea and thank all the teams, the judges and mentors for making it a positive and memorable experience for everyone involved. We have already started working with the winners to bring their idea to life. This has been an encouraging start and we hope to have many such events in the future to create more opportunities across our technology focus areas.”

The event was one of the activities delivered by the Omantel Innovation Labs, the newly launched division within Omantel, which aims to promote Innovation and entrepreneurship in new and emerging technologies. In addition to the hackathon, the Omantel Innovation Labs is currently running a startup Accelerator, Incubator and multiple free workshops for the community on topics related to technology entrepreneurship and innovation.  

Omantel is the Sultanate’s first and leading integrated telecommunications services provider, enabling the digital society to flourish, allowing new ways of doing business and delivering a world of information, news and entertainment. While striving to ensure optimum customer satisfaction, Omantel plays a key social role to provide the required support and subsidy to all sectors of the Omani society.