Ammon News - Under the patronage of HRH Prince Hussein bin Abdullah II, Crown Prince of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, and as part of the strategic partnership between the UAE and Jordan in the field of government modernisation; the Jordanian Government honoured winners of the 2nd edition of the "Crown Prince Award for Best Government Service Application.", WAM reported.

The second edition of the award, launched in July 2020 as part of the government’s knowledge exchange programme, received 122 participations from 25 Jordanian universities submitted by 228 students. Out of those participations, 85 apps were evaluated, focusing mainly on health, environment and business environment, in addition to other vital sectors.

The first place went to the "Nabad" app, which provides an integrated platform for health facilities and blood donors, and monitors blood and organs donation needs. "FarmJo," an app contributing to enhancing the efforts of Jordan in achieving food security, won second place, while the "Dawai" app, which provides a comprehensive digital pharmacy enabling patients to review medicines and communicate with doctors, won third place, according to WAM.

Winners of the "Crown Prince Award for Best Government Service Application," initially launched in April 2019, were honoured during a virtual ceremony attended by an array of ministers and officials from the governments of the two countries.

The award crowns the efforts of joint teams from both countries, which worked together to complete the knowledge workshops, evaluate the apps, and ensure the selection of the best ideas, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, in which many governments transitioned towards virtual platforms.

To encourage and motivate university students to provide innovative solutions via smartphone apps, the award focuses on empowering students to contribute to developing simple government services around the clock that exceed customers’ expectations.

During the ceremony, Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Teleworking Applications, said that the strategic cooperation between the UAE and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan confirms the close relations between the two countries that are based on integration and common perspective.

He added that the partnership and the award further embody the vision of the UAE’s leadership on the importance of sharing the best government experiences and reflects the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, on enhancing knowledge partnerships globally to create a better future, by empowering university students and preparing them to lead the future.

AlOlama hailed the efforts of H.H. Crown Prince Al Hussein, which attracted distinguished students from Jordanian universities, and acted as an incentive for them to present new ideas for achieving positive change and developing government work.

From his part, Ahmed Al Hanandeh, the Jordanian Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, said that the second edition of the award is an extension of the success of the first. It has gone through several stages administered by joint Jordanian-Emirati teams, who worked on developing promotional campaigns in 35 universities and evaluating 122 apps.

He added that the award reflects H.H. Crown Prince Al Hussein’s keenness on promoting creativity and innovation in Jordanian youth and their ability to register great achievements. He extended his gratitude to the UAE for its commendable efforts that lead to the success of the initiative.

The second edition of the award received apps for projects in various fields, primarily, The University of Jordan, the Hashemite University, Princess Sumaya University (PSUT), and Al Balqa Applied University (BAU) made up 50 percent of the total number of participations. In addition, 50 percent of the applications focused on the health and business environment.

The winning apps were evaluated and selected based on four main criteria: efficiency and effectiveness (35 percent), ease of use (30 percent), innovation (25 percent), and overall impression (10 percent). The award included 10 categories, such as tourism, agriculture and food security, education, health, social affairs, transport, business environment, youth, security and crisis management, and refugees.

The total value of the prize amounted to AED500,000 (100,000 Jordanian dinars), of which 50,000 dinars was awarded to the first prize winner, 30,000 dinars to the second prize winner, and 20,000 dinars to the third prize winner.