GovThon 2025 Concludes with Winners Honoured
The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, represented by the Unified Government Services Portal, celebrated the conclusion of the Services Challenge (GovThon) and the awarding of the winners, after 3 days filled with competition, innovation, and teamwork. The awards ceremony was held at the Youth Centre under the patronage of His Excellency Dr. Ali bin Amer Al Shidhani, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology for Communications and Information Technology.
The competition was strong, with 58 participants working in 12 teams. They shared ideas and worked together to make digital government services easier and better to use. At the end of the hackathon, 4 teams were awarded. First place went to the “Gov Sense” team for a smart government idea that uses artificial intelligence to predict user needs and complete services with one click through a secure digital wallet and e-authorisation. Second place went to the “Istibaq” team for their digital twin idea, which uses data safely and effectively to help set priorities. Third place was awarded to the “Qanoon Tech” team for creating a smart legal helper that explains laws in a simple and clear way, while fourth place was awarded to the “Murshid” team for their smart government assistant idea that helps combine artificial intelligence technologies with citizens’ knowledge and experience.
The judging panel brought together experts and leaders in digital technology and innovation from various entities. The panel included Salima Al-Salmani, Director of the Digital Transformation Programme at the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones, Dr. Faisal Al-Busaidi, Director-General of the Information Technology Directorate at the Ministry of Education, Aiman Al-Salmi, CEO of the Telecommunications, Digital Technology and Communications Infrastructure Group, Alya Al-Shanfari, CEO of the Youth Centre, Fatma Al-Lawati, Head at the Innovation and Financial Technologies Department at the Central Bank, and Imran Younis, Head of Service Design at Nortal, the company responsible for implementing the Unified Government Services Portal.
The hackathon also included several workshops to help participants improve their skills and develop their ideas. These included the “Unified Government Services Portal Design Library” workshop, the “From Idea to Prototype” workshop, the “Critical Thinking” workshop, the “Digital Accessibility” workshop, as well as the “Building Applications and Projects” workshop.
The Services Challenge (GovThon) 2025 is organised as part of the Ministry’s efforts to support innovation and digital transformation, in line with the goals of Oman Vision 2040, by empowering national talents to develop more efficient and easy-to-access digital government services.
