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The first round of the Arabic Content Competition took off in Manama, Bahrain on October 28th, 2013 at the ITU Arab Regional Development Forum, and the first round winners have been announced. The Arabic digital Content Competition aims to encourage young social entrepreneurs with new ideas for Arabic Digital Content, mainly in fields related to e-commerce, social media, education, mobile apps, and cultural heritage.

The winners of the first round will get their prizes during the World Telecommunication Development Conference in Dubai, UAE from March 30th to April 10th. The prizes are equal to $5000, $3000, and $2000 for the 1st place winner, 2nd place winner, and 3rd place winner respectively.

The Winners:

The 1st place winner Mr. Mohammed W.Imad hails from Palestine, and he is working on Shogly: an online e-commerce platform for digital  products that targets designers, painters, artists, writers, and coders who wish to sell their work online for the price they choose per download, while keeping their intellectual property. The website is still under construction, but you can watch the startup video below for more information.

In 2nd place Mr. Muhammad Zidat also from Palestine, and he is working on Rahhal, creator of an Arabic mobile weather app that recommends what clothes to wear and what stuff to bring while travelling. The application uses a smart algorithm  which is constantly being tested and optimized, so that the app can continuously give better, more precise suggestions to travelers in the Arab world, and Muhammad is also planning to add features that travelers would benefit from, such as recommendations on spots and shops to visit, and events to attend. In the future, Rahhal might also suggest clothing shops that sell the clothes needed for a trip.

In 3rd place comes Mr. Chehab Mustafa-Helmy from Egypt, creator of a web-based directory of websites with important apps, services, and tools. The website also entails tutorials that explain the best ways to use the internet for different purposes such as learning, science, business, employment, etc…

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of Bahrain sponsored this competition in partnership with the UN-ESQWA, the Information Technology Institute  in Egypt and ArabNet.