A team of female students at Saudi Arabia’s Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University recently developed a blockchain-based bidding platform called Bidchain, which was named one of the top three projects in this year’s coding competition.
The coding competition Laraontheblock, dubbed “She Codes 2022,” was organised by the Saudi Ministry of Education in collaboration with Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University. The tournament is part of Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University’s larger mission of developing and assisting women in Saudi Arabia’s technological sector.
Besides collaborating with the government on the coding competition, university’s president Enas bint Suleiman Al-Issa disclosed at the award ceremony that his institution is arranging local and international partnerships, in addition to exhibitions and specialised forums for women.
One of the students behind the blockchain initiative expressed her delight with the award in one of the event videos provided by Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University. The unnamed student who spoke in Arabic noted that the bidding platform, which was built to alleviate problems in tender processes, is only the beginning.
While the blockchain-enabled Bidchain platform won bronze this year, two initiatives that used artificial intelligence (AI) took first and second place. Sonbul, the winning entry, is an edutainment software that teaches kids the “principles of saving and investment.” An app that uses AI to detect metastatic breast cancer in lymph nodes came in second place.
