Hajj Hackathon breaks Guinness World Record for most participants

With 2,950 developers in attendance, the Hajj Hackathon in Jeddah officially broke the Guinness World Record for most participants in a software development jam in a Hackathon.

Guinness World Records announced that this week's Saudi Arabia-based event broke India's 2012 record for the most simultaneous participants in a software development jam in a Hackathon, which had a total of 2,577 participants.
"The most participants in a hackathon was achieved by Saudi Federation for Cybersecurity, Programming, and Drones (Saudi Arabia), in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 1 August 2018," read the Guinness World Records certificate.
Saud Al-Qahtani, the adviser to the Royal Court, and founder of the Saudi Federation for Cyberescurity, Programming and Drones (SAFCSP), which organised Hajj Hackathon, received the Guinness Certificate from Guinness World Records' Arbitrator, Ahmed Jabr, on Wednesday.
Technology legends Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Inc., and Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, joined the thousands of tech acolytes on Tuesday night at the official opening ceremony of the first Hajj Hackathon, held in Jeddah. Computer and information-technology enthusiasts from more than 100 countries made the journey to the first Hajj Hackathon, held at the International Exhibition and Convention Centre in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah.
The three-day gathering is ultimately charged with coming up with a way to employ technology to make the Hajj a more efficient and enjoyable experience for all involved.

In the statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA), Al-Qahtani, who is also supervisor general of the Center for Studies and Information Affairs in Saudi Arabia, extended his thanks and appreciation to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, for the great support for Saudi youth in all fields.
In the Hajj Hackathon competition, entrepreneurs and technology experts focus on areas such as crowd management, food, health, finance, traffic control, travel, housing, communications, and waste management, among others, seeking solutions to serve a pop-up city of about 2 million people. Entries will be judged based on creativity, design, simplicity, and impact.

SAFCSP is offering cash prizes to the top three finishers, amounting to a total of 2,000,000 Saudi riyals, to transform their ideas into application-based solutions. The first winner will receive SAR1,000,000. The second prize carries a reward of 500,000 Saudi riyals and the third 350,000 Saudi riyals. Additionally, 150,000 Saudi riyals will be given as a prize for excellence.

• Saudi Arabia

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