Microsoft Bahrain and the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) have partnered for Imagine Cup 2015 Pan-Arab finals, a top technology competition targeting graduates aged between 16 and 26 years old.

The event will take place in Bahrain between May 31 and June 3.

The strategic partnership agreement was signed by Kamal Bin Ahmed Mohammed, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications and acting chief executive of the EDB and Sherif Tawfik, general manager, Microsoft in Bahrain and Oman.

“We are pleased to support  the Pan Arab Finals round of Imagine Cup 2015 in Bahrain as it falls in line with our aim to develop young talent, and encourage more students to build on their ICT capabilities,” said Kamal Bin Ahmed Mohammed.

The Pan Arab Finals round of Microsoft Imagine Cup 2015 will host over 30 teams from different Arab countries, in addition to the three winning teams of the Imagine Cup Bahrain local finals which will be held late April.

Each team will be competing for the Imagine Cup Pan-Arab semi-final winner title, and a chance to represent the Arab World in the Imagine Cup Worldwide Finals that will take place in Seattle in July.

Sherif Tawfik, general manager for Microsoft in Bahrain and Oman, said: “Throughout the years, the Bahraini youth have demonstrated a high level of dedication, creativity and innovation while representing the Kingdom in the Imagine Cup competition and achieving impressive results on a regional and international level; bringing the Pan Arab Finals to Bahrain is our act of acknowledgment of the local talent.”

The Bahrain local round of Imagine Cup 2015 will kick start on February 22; the team will conduct roadshows visiting different universities around the Kingdom raising awareness of the Competition and encouraging more students to register and team up.

“I look forward to seeing more students in Bahrain partaking in this global competition with unique innovative ideas for solutions that change the way we live, work and play while growing the skills they need to pursue a future in technology,” Tawfik added.

Imagine Cup is a cornerstone of the Microsoft YouthSpark initiative, the Microsoft’s commitment to creating opportunities for 300 million youth by 2015.

Students partaking in Imagine Cup competition often participate in other YouthSpark programmes such as DreamSpark and the Microsoft Student Partner (MSP) program to help build their skillset, further develop their projects and help bring their ideas to life.

DreamSpark, also a part of the Microsoft YouthSpark initiative, provides professional developer tools and resources to students at no cost; students participating in Imagine Cup utilize the resources available to them through DreamSpark to help further develop their projects on Microsoft Platforms.

Since its inception in 2003, a significant number of Arab teams made their way to the first three winners in the Worldwide Finals: In 2014, two Arab teams won recognitions at the Worldwide Finals: Butterfly Team from Bahrain won the third place in the Innovation category, Team Illogic from Egypt won the third place in the Games category. – TradeArabia News Service