Dec 01, 2004 Newsletter

The 2005/6 calendar of events online at http://www.uaechallenge.com/calendar.htm
The new categories are online at http://www.uaechallenge.com/faqcategories.htm
For the new rules of who can enter, visit http://www.uaechallenge.com/faqrules.htm

2. UAE Finalists in Rome Global Junior Challenge
The UAE was very successful in achieving the second highest number of finalists (behind Italy) from any country in the world in the recent Rome Global Junior Challenge. Two projects came from the Higher Colleges of Technology (Abu Dhabi Women's College and Ras Al Khaimah Women's College). This was an outstanding success for these projects, the authors, their organizations and the UAE. Other projects came from Zayed University, the MOE and the Fujairah Educational Zone.

To reach the finals of an international competition, which received well over 600 projects from 70 countries is truly remarkable. It clearly shows the high quality of work being done here in the UAE and that this work is of an international standard.

The UAE challenge offered limited financial support to the four finalists who managed to attend Rome and display their projects. Thousands of people got to see these projects and learn about the UAE. Our congratulations to all the finalists and best wishes for their future.

More information about the Rome Challenge and UAE finalists can be found online at the following links
http://www.uaechallenge.com/press/rome2004finals.htm
http://www.hct.ac.ae/newsevents/archive/0410/global_ital.htm
http://www.gjc.it/2004/en/index.asp

3. California Challenge 2005
A new international challenge "The California Challenge" has opened. The aim is to accelerate the use of ICT for the economic benefit of citizens, businesses and cities. There are seven categories (including education) and prizes will be awarded to the 1st and 2nd places in each category. Entry is free. The award ceremony will be held at Stanford University in California, USA from August 17-21, 2005.

To read more about the California Challenge, visit http://www.uaechallenge.com/features/The_California_Challenge.pdf
The California Challenge website (still under development) is online at http://www.TheCaliforniaChallenge.com

4. Stockholm Challenge Entries Open
Entries are open for the next international Stockholm Challenge, to be held in Stockholm, Sweden in May 2006. The six categories are Public Administration, Culture, Health, Education, Economic Development and Environment. The previous Stockholm Challenge was attended by the winners of the 2004 UAE Educational IT Challenge (this was part of the prize package for winners). The project "UAE Math" by Ahnaf Abbas from the UAE was a finalist in the 2002 Stockholm Challenge.

Entry is free and we would encourage project authors to enter both the international California and Stockholm Challenges.

More information is online at http://www.uaechallenge.com/features/stockholmoct27_2004.htm
Visit the Stockholm Challenge Website at http://www.stockholmchallenge.se/
Visit the UAE Math website online at http://www.uaemath.com/index2.html

5. Upcoming IT Challenge Events
We expect to open online registration of project entries early in 2005. Please regularly check the website at http://www.uaechallenge.com for the latest information.

If you have any questions, please email us at
uaechallenge@hct.ac.ae

Robert Brown
Program Coordinator, UAE Educational IT Challenge