Jeddah

RIYADH: The Hedayathon event — a hackathon organized by the Presidency of Religious Affairs in partnership with the University of Jeddah — recently concluded. Participants were asked to come up with ways to enhance services for visitors to the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque.

The Hedayathon aimed to foster innovation and harness scientific and technological capabilities to develop solutions that enhance religious services and enrich visitors’ experiences, according to a report by the Saudi Press Agency.

The event brought together innovators, developers, students, academics, startups, entrepreneurs, and people interested in outreach (da’wah) and religious guidance.

There were three winning projects. First place went to the Madaar team for their Maqam Platform project, which won SR30,000 ($8,000). Second place — and SR20,000 — went to the Tala team for Every Signal is a Recited Verse, an idea aimed at serving people with special needs. Echo Tech’s Sanctuary Translator — a project designed to develop legal translation — took third place, winning SR10,000.

Sheikh Abdulrahman Al-Sudais, president of Religious Affairs at the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque, stressed the importance of leveraging technology and innovation to develop religious services and make them accessible to visitors.

In remarks shared on the presidency’s X account, Al-Sudais said: “Serving pilgrims of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque is a tremendous responsibility. It requires intensified efforts and mobilized capabilities to facilitate their access to religious services, enabling them to perform their worship with ease and tranquility.”

Obaid Al-Mudhaff, the university’s president, said the partnership with the presidency represents a model of integration between field expertise, scientific research, and innovation, helping develop quality solutions to serve the Two Holy Mosques and their visitors.

Salem Areej, general supervisor of the Hedayathon event, said the initiative was launched not only as a tech competition, but also to use technology to better serve pilgrims.

The hackathon’s objectives included enriching visitors’ religious experience, developing religious translation solutions, maximizing communications and media impact, developing religious guidance tools, building platforms for teaching the Holy Qur’an and delivering scholarly lessons, answering worshippers’ questions, and facilitating access to religious services for people with disabilities.

Activities included panel discussions, an exhibition, workshops, and consultations.

The presidency also signed a memorandum of understanding with the Saudi Translation Association to enhance cooperation and develop multilingual religious content.

JEDDAH: The first Syrian Industries Exhibition recently concluded in Jeddah, bringing together more than 160 Syrian companies and factories, and attracting business figures, importers and distributors seeking commercial and investment opportunities in the Saudi market.

Held over four days at the Jeddah Center for Exhibitions and Events under the patronage of the Jeddah Chamber, the expo focused on business-to-business opportunities in supply, distribution, investment and partnerships.

The event facilitated meetings between Syrian manufacturers and Saudi businesses to establish partnerships, sign supply and distribution contracts, and conclude memoranda of understanding to support the entry of Syrian products into the Saudi market.

Agreements covered four main sectors: food, textile, chemical and engineering industries. The expo also highlighted investment incentives, facilities and regulatory procedures for establishing joint ventures between the two countries.

A knowledge program featured seminars and panel discussions on legal procedures, trade incentives, partnership mechanisms, and the shift from traditional trade to industrial investment and joint production.

Pavilions showcased food, textile, engineering and chemical industries, along with agriculture, tourism, culture and labor, highlighting opportunities for economic cooperation between Saudi and Syrian businesses.

The expo provided a platform to strengthen economic and trade ties, explore investment opportunities and build partnerships supporting economic development and shared interests.