Mohammed Bin Salman Nonprofit City (Misk City), the world’s first nonprofit city, and stc group, an engine of digital transformation, announced today the conclusion of the Metathon competition, aimed at discovering and supporting promising Saudi talent in technology, and exploring innovation in emerging technologies, according to a press release by stc.
The competition, said the release, was held in partnership with iot squared, a leading IoT solutions provider, SCCC, the first hyper-scaler in KSA, and community partner Saudi Data Community, a leading enabler and facilitator of data communities in the region.
According to the release, over 10,000 talented Saudis participated in the competition; 70 from 14 teams were shortlisted. The teams presented immersive use cases and virtual experiences in education, retail, tourism, and virtual events/concerts.
The experiences were built on Saudi first National Metaverse Platform, hosted on SCCC.
The competition concluded with a Demo-Day at "The City Hub" where a Metaverse expert judging committee evaluated the teams-developed Metaverse experiences over the last three months.
Misk City, established by the Mohammed Bin Salman Misk Foundation, serves as an incubator for promoting innovation and creativity. The Metathon competition "reinforced Misk City's central role as a thriving destination that supports innovation, entrepreneurship, and nurtures future leaders", said the release.
stc group, it added, "enabled this competition by empowering teams in multiple ways, from leveraging its digital library to providing access to valuable learning resources, active consulting and guidance from ‘emerging technology’ experts. stc also provided access to an integrated virtual community for effective collaboration throughout the competition. The group’s subsidiaries represented by iot squared and SCCC provided a supportive and inclusive environment to hone the skills and unleash the innovative potential of Saudi talent".
stc group and Misk City share a vision to create an enabling environment for innovation and excellence through the Metathon Challenge, said the release, adding that the challenge enables talent to explore top metaverse experiences and gain valuable expertise for the future development of Misk City.
It also helps discover promising talent in emerging technologies, empowering these people to contribute to sustainable growth in the digital field.
