Cognit, the joint venture established between Mubadala and IBM Watson to be the exclusive provider of Watson technology in the MENA region, and Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have announced a joint hackathon, in celebration of the nationwide Innovation Week 2016, being held between Nov. 20 and Nov. 26. 
UAE Innovation Week, part of the UAE’s National Innovation Strategy, is a week-long initiative for the nation to embrace and promote the country’s position as a global innovation hub. Throughout the week, partnerships and collaboration between the government, private sectors and the public, are encouraged to foster innovative thinking. 
The Cognit and Etihad hackathon will take place at Etihad’s state-of-the-art Innovation Centre, and will feature the skills of over 30 talented computer science and engineering students — both female and male. The students were selected from leading Abu Dhabi based universities, including the Institute of Applied Technology, Higher Colleges of Technology, Khalifa University and New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). 
Competing over a three-day period, the students will be guided and evaluated by IBM Watson chief developer, Sam Richard, from IBM’s headquarters in New York, United States. An innovator and renowned expert in his field, Richard will also be on-hand to mentor and coach the students and offer world-class knowledge sharing experiences during the hackathon. 
Amal Al-Jabri, general manager, Cognit, commented: “Cognit was launched exactly one year ago, during UAE Innovation Week 2015 and I am proud to be able to celebrate along with the rest of the nation to promote the ICT talent and continued ICT transformation in our nation.” 
Robert Webb, chief information & technology officer, Etihad Aviation Group, added: “Etihad has been a true pioneer in the investment and advancement of transformative technology, including IBM Watson, not just within the aviation industry but the business environment.”

Source: Arab News