Al Rustaq: The South Al Batinah Design Hackathon, hosted by the Governorate's Office in conjunction with the University of Technology and Applied Sciences in Al Musannah, began on Monday at the Wali of Al Rustaq's Office.
Under the topic "An Urban Design with the Identity of Place," the two-day event aims to design and develop an integrated tourism project for "Khor Al Qareem in the Wilayat of Al Musannah," combining the area's environmental and cultural identity with modern technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).
The hackathon is in line with the national strategy for sustainable tourism and smart urban development, which supports Oman Vision 2040. More than 125 students from 25 educational institutions, both within the Sultanate of Oman and abroad, are participating in multidisciplinary teams that include urban planning, architecture, civil engineering, and interior design.
The program consists of training workshops and consultative sessions led by professionals to help participants improve their talents and design ideas. On the final day, a judging panel will choose six projects for evaluation based on innovation, sustainability, environmental and cultural integration, space efficiency, and AI utilization.
The top three winning teams will get valuable prizes, with the first-place project being executed in Khor Al Qareem. The South Al Batinah Governorate will own the rights to the three shortlisted projects and reserves the right to execute or alter them for the public good.
This hackathon serves as a platform to enable Omani youth to demonstrate their innovative abilities in design and urban planning while also engaging them in creating sustainable urban and tourist environments that reflect community aspirations and adhere to national sustainable development principles.
