BrazilDevogame challenges Saudi students to crack the cyber code
Digital transformation powerhouse Devoteam is on the verge of launching the sixth edition of its Devogame in France and Saudi Arabia, with cybersecurity this year’s overarching theme.
Held for the first time in 2015 in France, the Devogame is an annual competition that challenges tech-savvy students from engineering and business backgrounds to solve a pressing challenge in the business landscape. With the total worldwide cost of cybercrime breaking through the barrier of $1 trillion this year (according to McAfee), not surprising is that the 2021 edition focuses on cyber mitigation and resolution.
In Saudi Arabia, the Devogame is organised in partnership with and under the patronage of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. Students from engineering colleges, business schools and universities across the Kingdom are invited to participate in the competition by registering on the Devogame website.
Commenting on the importance of the ‘serious game’, Saudi Arabia’s Deputy Minister for Future Jobs and Digital Entrepreneurship Ahmed Al-Thunayan said: “Through this partnership, the ministry seeks to give students in the country the space to present their creativity, refine their skills, develop their capabilities, and motivate them to innovate, thus contributing to advancing the development process in the Kingdom in line with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030.”
Last year, over 700 Saudi students participated in the competition, which focused on social innovation. This year, Devoteam is aiming to raise the bar even further, said Osama Ghoul, Executive Vice President of Devoteam in the Middle East. “There is a lot of young talent in our region, and the Devogame will enable us to meet these talents and support them in their professional and personal development.”
During the competition, teams consisting of two to three students will compete with their peers from other leading universities, across three phases. In the first phase, students will be asked to implement a cybersecurity solution to address a familiar use case in the cyber world: data theft.
In the second phase, which will be held at the premises of Devoteam’s Middle East headquarters in Riyadh, students will together with their team members work on a ‘secret mission’ (and hence not much information can be shared at the time of writing). Finally, in round three, teams will be requested to present a final case in a shark-tank style pitch to a jury consisting of several high-profile leaders and cybersecurity experts.
The Devogame competition runs from October 11 to November 25, 2021.
