The Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Foundation, Misk, concluded on Sunday the second edition of the Saudi Coding Initiative, reported the Saudi Press Agency.
The event, which was launched on September 2, 2018, concluded with a ceremony in Riyadh that the saw the handing out of awards for winners of coding competitions.
Targeting all parts of the Kingdom, the initiative saw the participation of users from 139 countries and 192 cities and villages from across Saudi Arabia, bringing the total beneficiaries to 1 million since the project’s launch.
The Initiative toured 10 Saudi cities, organized a number of workshops and training courses to teach logical and analytical thinking and problem-solving techniques and allow society members to acquire 21st century skills.
A total of 1,025,971 participants attended distance courses. Women accounted for 52 percent of participants, while 2 percent of all participants were above the age of 65.
Executive Manager of Misk Innovation Deemah Alyahya welcomed the partnership between the public, private and non-profit sectors, saying: “This partnership has brought new skills and opportunities to a wider array of people than ever before.”
“Together we are demonstrating that coding skills can and should be brought within anyone’s reach, and together we are empowering people with knowledge, skills and coding confidence they need for a bright future in the Knowledge Economy.”
“In doing so, we are driving the digital transformation of the Kingdom and ensuring its place on the global frontline of innovation.”
The Saudi Coding Initiative is one of the Misk Foundation's projects that aim at bolstering technical knowledge. It is one of the largest interactive training programs being implemented in the Kingdom.
The second edition of the Initiative took place in partnership with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology and Saudi Telecom Company (STC), with the participation of 71 schools, universities, government and private sector institutions, as well as a number of digital, social, technical and cultural initiatives.