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Ammon News - Amazon announced Sunday that it will be launching the second edition of its Amazon Teckathon event for undergraduate and postgraduate university students in Jordan.

A virtual three-day event, Amazon Teckathon, is set to take place from July 26-28th, 2022 and will see participants once again collaborate to design, code, and develop creative software solutions designed to have a real-life impact on improving everyday life within their communities.

An opportunity to showcase their skills and abilities while engaging in healthy competition, Amazon Teckathon is open to all university students in Jordan with a passion for technology and software development. Entrants will pitch their projects to senior engineers and managers from Amazon, who will evaluate submissions based on software implementation, as well as idea and presentation, as top talent comes together and unlock the challenge.

Entry is currently open to individual students or teams of up to three through the official Amazon Teckathon website: www.amazonteckathon.com, with registration open until June 20, 2022.

Amazon Teckathon participants will receive support for Amazon internship applications, and be in for a chance to win prizes, including scholarships in the form of cash contributions towards their education for the top three winning teams. The top three winning teams will be respectively awarded scholarships worth USD 10,000 for first place, USD 7,000 for second place, and USD 5,000 for third place, to be divided equally among members.

Amazon will also recognize winners across two special categories, including ‘Best Customer Centric Solution for MENA Customers’ and ‘Best Gender Inclusive Team,’ with team members from each recognized team winning their own Kindle devices.

Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Ahmed Hanandeh stressed the importance of supporting initiatives, competitions, and events aimed at encouraging Jordanian university students to develop creative software solutions with real-life impact.

Al-Hanandeh pointed out that Jordan’s greatest resource has always been its human capital and its highly skilled youthful population, capable of competing globally with its passion for technology, proving itself on regional and global levels.

He also thanked Amazon for supporting Jordanian talents from universities in Jordan, by launching a virtual Hackathon event for the second time, highlighting their ability to innovate through technology and software solutions.

Ronaldo Mouchawar, Vice President of Amazon Middle East and North Africa (MENA), said: "We are very excited to once again encourage some of the brightest minds in Jordan’s tech community to come together, demonstrating the synergy between innovation and customer-centric thinking during this year’s hackathon. We saw exceptional innovations come out of our first hackathon event last year, such as the first-place winning idea, which saw a machine learning-based solution to support individuals with speech impediments in using voice-activated technologies. We are truly looking forward to nurturing more students once again this year as we give them the opportunity to innovate on behalf of customers just like we do at Amazon."

Mahmoud Obeidat, Country Manager of Amazon in Jordan, commented: "The exchange between our teams at Amazon and incredible young local talent from universities across Jordan during these events is always inspiring. Jordan has a very strong technology landscape, with a breadth of local talent and skills, and continues to play a key role for the Amazon business in the MENA region."

During the Amazon Teckathon, participants will be given three development days to work on their projects, starting from the actual software solution, including back- and front-end development, and closing with a 5-minute presentation for the committee. The showcase should include artifacts such as source code documentation and detail of the technology behind the solution, in addition to the final product to be accessed by the judging panel.

Teams will be shortlisted by July 7, 2022, ahead of the competition, with three top winning teams selected and announced in August 2022. Amazon Teckathon criteria include factors such as originality, real-world impact, product feasibility, and overall presentation.