FIRST Global Challenge kicks off with 1,500 students

The FIRST Global Challenge 2019 in Dubai, the third edition of the annual international robotics competition, kicked off at Festival Arena yesterday with the participation of more than 1,500 contestants from 191 countries. This year’s theme – “Ocean Opportunities” – focuses on creating robots to clean up the oceans through eliminating waste and pollutants.

A number of senior officials and executives attended the first day of the competition with local and international media covering the event that is taking place outside the Americas for the first time after the United States and Mexico hosted the first two editions. The choice of Dubai as the host of this year’s competition reaffirms its global leadership status in the empowerment of youth through the development of technology and innovation, and aligns with the values of the UAE’s Year of Tolerance.

Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence and Deputy Managing Director of Dubai Future Foundation (DFF) stressed the importance of hosting this event as part of the UAE’s journey in shaping the future and keeping pace with the rapid technological developments driven by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) across the board.

Mr Al Olama said: “Robotics is one of the most important fields of scientific competition among the world’s largest economies. The UAE’s interest in this vital domain stems from the economic and scientific opportunities associated with robots in diverse areas of life, in addition to the country’s keenness to contribute to finding solutions to anticipated challenges that may face the world in the future.”