The “Arab Code Week” (ACW), held under the theme of “Artificial Intelligence and Environmental Protection”, was concluded on October 07, 2022 with the announcement of winners from all participating Arab countries.
In his statement on this occasion, H.E. Dr. Mohamed Ould Amar, Director General of ALECSO, noted that the organization of the Arab Code Week “is at the heart of ALECSO’s endeavor to build new generations imbued with a passion for innovation and in tune with new technological advances.” He indicated that “the third edition of the Arab Code Week will be organized in accordance with a new vision in keeping with cutting edge technologies, including Metaverse and NFT'”. He recalled, in this regard, that “ALECSO has started to develop a platform using Blockchain technology, with the aim of publicizing the ACW events and activities and creating a new dynamic among participants for the sharing of content through the Organization’s virtual currency.”
The Director-General added that “the ACW is designed to help teachers, students and all those interested in programming sciences to unleash their skills and potential.” It also aims to “provide an exciting learning environment that helps to teach the basics of programming for all ages, especially young people. It thus offers them wide prospects to explore new disciplines, and provides an adequate environment for sharing experiences and spreading the culture of programming, which will help develop youth’s scientific educational skills that enhance creativity and excellence in technology, science, mathematics, engineering and arts.”
The Director-General stressed that “ALECSO is pursuing its efforts to keep pace with technological advances, by implementing groundbreaking projects in terms of artificial intelligence and its application in education. This will help meet relevant challenges and speed up progress towards achieving Goal 4 of the 2030 Agenda, given the key role of artificial intelligence in addressing current inequalities in access to knowledge, and in reducing technological gaps within and among Arab countries.” ALECSO, he added, “seeks, through its projects, to expand the use of AI technologies for promoting education, and more generally for achieving sustainable development.”
The ACW closing ceremony was organized by ALECSO, in collaboration with the Tunisian Association for Educational Initiatives and the Egyptian National Commission for Education, Science and Culture. It was attended by H.E. Mr. Fethi Sellaouti, Tunisian Minister of Education, and Dr. Ashraf El-Azzazi, representative of the Egyptian National Commission for Education, Science and Culture. It was also attended by various relevant actors, including educators, school directors, parents, national coordinators, trainers, and jury members.
The Arab Code Week is designed to spread the culture of programming, develop basic educational and scientific skills, and enhance technology-based creativity and innovation. The second edition witnessed wide participation, both in the main competition and in side events. Over two million participants from across the Arab World took part in the ACW activities which involved 6000 Arab schools and over 50000 teachers. Over 56700 activities were registered on the ACW platform.
