in5, a startup incubator founded by TECOM Group, has announced the complete judging line-up for the 27-hour ‘Blockchain Challenge’ hackathon – powered by Oracle, the global leader in innovative cloud technologies and key contributor to the regional digital transformation journey.

The judging panel includes Ammar Al Malik, Managing Director of Dubai Internet City, Joost Volker, Business Development Director (EMEA) for Cloud Platform at Oracle, Jens Lusebrink, Principal Sales Consultant at Oracle, Afzal Ibrahim, Vice President for Research and Development at the Group Digital Office at Emirates NBD, and Petar Stojanov, Managing Partner in Ebtikaar.

Hosted in collaboration with Dubai Internet City as a strategic partner and Emirates NBD as an enterprise partner, the hackathon will run from 27 to 28 September, 10am to 5pm, at in5 Tech.

The challenge is in line with the Dubai Blockchain Strategy that seeks to transform 50 per cent of government transactions by 2020 and aims at identifying local talent and providing them with support to create innovative solutions.

“As a provider of the industry’s most comprehensive and enterprise grade blockchain platform, we are committed to supporting the implementation of the UAE’s Blockchain Strategy 2021 to help the country succeed in building the digital economy,” said Joy John, Cloud Platform Leader, Middle East and Africa, Oracle. “The in5 Blockchain Challenge Hackathon is a great opportunity for tech entrepreneurs to showcase the real-life implementation of blockchain. We will further extend our support to this initiative by offering the first three winners an opportunity to join the Oracle Startup Program to further develop their prototypes with Oracle Blockchain Cloud.”

Deloitte’s Global Blockchain Survey 2019 revealed continued strong investment of US$5 million or more in new Blockchain initiatives over the next 12 months. Furthermore, 53 per cent of the survey respondents said that blockchain technology has become a critical priority for their organisation in 2019.

Participants of the Blockchain Challenge will be challenged to build and present functioning prototypes in teams, leveraging blockchain technology. Teams that successfully solve the real-time challenge stand a chance to win valuable prizes.

All participants are required to attend a pre-event workshop on 18 September from 3pm to 5pm at in5 Tech. The workshop, which is free and open to anyone interested, will introduce the competition and showcase unique techniques to leverage Oracle cloud services, including the Hyperledger Fabric based cloud platform that can be used to build the participants’ Blockchain projects during the hackathon. Those who register for the challenge will also have the opportunity to be placed in teams during the workshop.

Launched by TECOM Group to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in Dubai and the wider region, in5 facilitates the process of starting and growing a start-up through its incubation programme by providing business set up, creative workspaces, mentorship, training and workshops, as well as access to investors. The incubator also has a membership programme open to students, freelancers, professionals and entrepreneurs providing access to in5 innovation centres and various benefits.

To register or for more details on the ‘Blockchain Challenge’, please visit: infive.ae/blockchainchallenge/