Intel and Arab Science and Technology Foundation to award finalists of Arab Universities Technology Business Plan Competition'

To be held at the University of Sharjah, Men's Colleges,the event is to honor the five finalist teams of the 'Arab Universities Technology Business Plan Competition' launched in July 2006.

Of the five finalist teams, two will be fully sponsored by Intel to participate in the Intel+UC Berkeley Entrepreneurship Challenge to further compete with other students from around the globe.

'Entrepreneurship is instrumental to a developing economy and is a key part of Intel's Digital Transformation Initiative launched last year. At Intel, we believe that wealth and a high majority of jobs are created by small businesses started by entrepreneurially minded individuals, many of whom go on to achieve prosperous businesses. People exposed to entrepreneurship frequently express that they have more opportunity to exercise creative freedoms, higher self esteem, and an overall greater sense of control over their own lives,' said Bassem Nassir, Intel Higher Education Manager Middle East, Turkey and Africa.

'As a result, we believe at Intel that fostering a robust entrepreneurial culture will maximize individual and collective economic and social success on a local, national, and global scale. It is with this in mind that the 'Intel+UC Berkeley Entrepreneurship Challenge' came to life: to prepare forward thinkers to succeed in an entrepreneurial economy.'

'The Arab Science and Technology Foundation is proud to support this challenge in order to promote the spirit of innovation across the Arab world, and to offer the opportunity for a group of Arab entrepreneurs to see their dreams become reality,' said Dr. Abdalla A. Alnajjar, President of Arab Science and Technology Foundation.

'We believe this competition has led to the nurturing of the entrepreneurial spirit amongst its many participants, particularly the finalists whom we are honoring today'.

'Arab Science and Technology Foundation, through its various programs, seeks to increase Arab investment in Technology and mitigate the migration of qualified Arabs to the developed world by building an atmosphere of excellence, innovation, research and technological development that in turn will promote entrepreneurship in the Arab world and generate jobs for the people of the region. The First 'Arab Universities Technology Business Plan Competition', organized by Arab Science and Technology Foundation and Intel, is an initiative in the same direction.'

The five finalists chosen from across the Arab world, namely Egypt, Jordan and Palestine presented business plans that exemplified the true spirit of innovation and forward thinking.

About the Finalists and their Projects

PyramidTech
Dr. Ahmed Abou-Auf, American University in Cairo (AUC), Egypt
PyramidTech's idea is to develop low-cost three-dimensional (3D) range cameras targeting both the automatic guided vehicles (AGV) and ground vehicles markets. The combined market size is at least $800 million. The founders were part of the team who pioneered this innovative technology in the US and achieved high academic figures in related technology areas.

Kindisoft
Ammar Mardawi, Princess Sumaya University for Technology (PSUT), Jordan
Kindisoft introduced a unique and powerful Adobe Flash reverse-engineering protection solution, secureSWF. The product aims to protect the intellectual property of more than 2 million flash developers suffering from code theft since 1998. With the revolutionary Adobe Flash upgrade (Flash v9, scheduled in mid 2007) an enormous increase in the need for our protection solution is predicted.

OpenTechnologies
Jamil Alkhatib, Birzeit University, Palestine
OpenTechnologies is a start-up based on the open source hardware concept and its adoption of new generation of computer platforms based on configurable computing. The platform provides high performance and low cost system suitable for research and educational institutes users, specially in the developing countries. The business model is based on the hobby based OpenTech project that acts in the global market since 2000.

International Mobile Service Partner
Osama Abandeh, Jordan University of Science and Technology (JUST), Jordan
We are seeing mobiles as Internet connected computing mobile devices. Our network enables more messaging, more voice communication features, and more information services at a lower cost to mobile phone customers. This network is powerful infrastructure to find your mobile if you lost it, manage your mobile remotely, and is perfect solution for building security channels through mobiles.

Microbial Additives
Prof. Helmy El-Zanfaly , NRC, Egypt
The microbial additives are the application of biotechnology in the field of environment (at home, industrial, agricultural, and waste treatment plants levels). The products will include local, selected, and adapted high active strains that will significantly help to make the environment much healthier. The environmental problems are similar in all Arab Countries, so through the establishment of the Microbial Bank, we will have an opportunity to reach a regional market that serves approximately 200 million persons.

Intel's sponsorship of this competition is a component of Intel's Digital Transformation Initiative for the Middle East, a comprehensive, multi-year program designed to develop a more competitive IT workforce capable of driving innovation and economic growth in the region. The program is designed to build on already significant IT activities in the region and increase the company's investment in four key areas: local entrepreneurship; education; digital accessibility; and specialized technical competencies.