Conferences & Missions

Mada AlecsoApps Awards Ceremony

Saturday, 4th Nov. 2017, the AlecsoApps Award final ceremony was held in the beautiful city Yasmine Hammamet, Tunisia. As part of Mada, we organized a special award for the best mobile application for people with disabilities.

I participated in the “AlecsoApps Award” closing ceremony of the 3rd Alecso Grand Prize for Arab Mobile Applications during the 3rd and 4th of November 2017 in Hammamet, Tunisia.

The Mada-AlecsoApps Award for Persons with Disabilities was equally awarded to Abdelkareem Khoey from Morocco for its application “Smart Face” and Mohamed El Kallal from Tunisia for its application “Handy Access”, with a prize of $ 5000 for each winner.

Mohamed Kalel, Winner of AlecsoApps Award
Mohamed Kalel, Winner of AlecsoApps Award
AbdelKarim Khoey, Winner of AlecsoApps Award
AbdelKarim Khoey, Winner of AlecsoApps Award

The award is part of a partnership between MADA Assistive Technology Center in Qatar and the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO). The award aims to improve the living of people with disabilities through smart applications that provide services that will facilitate their lives.

Mada Center was represented by Mr. Salem Al Marri, Director of Public Relations and Partnerships, and Dr. Achraf Othman, Senior Research Specialist and Member of the Jury. The closing ceremony was an opportunity to meet with many representatives of international organizations and representatives of ministries and young developers from various Arab countries.

The ceremony was opened by Mr. Fathi Al-Muthannani, Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Mr. Anwar Maarouf, Minister of Communication Technologies and Digital Economy of Tunisia, Dr. Saud Hilal Al Harbi, Director General of the Arab Organization for Education, Culture and Science, and Dr. Mohammed Jemni, Director of the Information and Communication Technology Department of ALECSO.

MADA AlecsoApps Award Opening Ceremony
MADA AlecsoApps Award Opening Ceremony

The closing ceremony included the announcement of the winners of the AlecsoApps Awards, a high-level ministerial forum on information and communication technologies, a series of seminars and workshops, as well as two exhibitions, one devoted to presenting the productions of the contestants, the other devoted to professional developers and local and international companies specialized in information and communication technology.

MADA AlecsoApps Award Opening Ceremony
MADA AlecsoApps Award Opening Ceremony

The competition, which witnessed a high turnout in its first year with 116 participants from 17 Arab countries, passed through three major stages. In the first phase, nominations for the prize were opened in March, and applications were accepted until July through the site dedicated to the competition. In the second phase, the jury evaluated the applications received from different Arab countries, so that the best application was selected. In the final stage, winners will be honored during the closing ceremony of the Grand AlecsoApps Award Prize for Best Smart Applications in the Arab World.

The competition is part of the innovation program designed to encourage and stimulate private institutions and companies working in the technology sector through providing expertise and financial assistance to meet the needs of users with disabilities through the provision of assistive technology in Arabic and to create a leading national market in this field. To expand the use of Arab Assistive Technology for users with local disabilities or from various Arab countries.