Yemen is full of young people with innovative ideas and the potential to change their communities for the better. But they need support, resources, and the right opportunities. That’s where the Arabia Felix Hackathons come in.
Arabia Felix Hackathons are inclusive, agile events that encourage multidisciplinary collaboration, and have shorter innovation cycles suitable for meeting Yemeni youth’s pressing peacebuilding needs. They’re also an opportunity to create new products that will help to advance the society!
The Arabia Felix Hackathons are designed to foster innovation, creativity, and collaboration through an immersive environment that encourages idea sharing. They also give participants an opportunity to test ideas for validity and viability. Compared to traditional innovation processes, hackathons have some distinct advantages.
The Arabia Felix Hackathons provide participants with an opportunity to build a culture of collaborative innovation and generate ideas for social impact. Everyone is encouraged to participate in shaping their own future! They enable participants to build problem-solving skills that are applicable to many areas of their lives.
The first Arabia Felix Game Jam Hackathon was organized by the namesake Arabia Felix brand in 2019 and it was the first of its kind in Yemen.
A game jam is a competition where teams are challenged to make a mobile game from scratch. Tons of aspiring programmers, game designers, artists, and others in game development related fields gathered to try their luck.
With over 25 applications coming in from 4 different governorates, the 2019 Arabia Felix Game Jam Hackathon brought forth more than enough creative ideas under the “Coexistence in Yemen” theme.
The objective of the first Hackathon was met: numerous mobile games were created, inspiring the Yemeni youth to become changemakers in their communities with apps by tackling topics such as peacebuilding, human rights or gender equality.
Arabia Felix Hackathon 2019 – Documentary