Digital Health Innovation Hackathon “Healthon” concludes at KSU

Under the patronage of the Acting President of King Saud University, Dr. Abdullah bin Salman Al-Salman, the first Digital Health Innovation Hackathon "Healthon", launched by KSUMC, has been concluded. The three-day event was attended by the CEO of KSUMC, Dr. Ahmed Salah Al-Hersi, and a number of officials from KSU and KSUMC.

Eng. Mubarak Al-Shahrani, Chief Technology and Digital Transformation Officer and General Supervisor of the Hackathon, explained that organizing the Healthon comes as part of KSU’s efforts to promote a culture of innovation and creativity in addressing health challenges. The Hackathon had six main tracks, including smart healthcare solutions, IoT for chronic disease management, AI-powered predictive healthcare, empowering accessibility in healthcare, in addition to cybersecurity in healthcare, and big data in healthcare analytics.

The event targeted a number of audiences, most notably healthcare sector experts, healthcare practitioners, technologists, innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and university students majoring in healthcare, technology, and related business disciplines.

A comprehensive evaluation of the participating projects was conducted by a panel of experts in the fields of health, technology, research, and innovation. The results were then submitted to the competent committee for final review and announcement of the top three winning teams in all tracks. Cash prizes totaling more than SAR 600,000 were allocated, along with incubation and development opportunities for the winning projects through support programs, incubators, and public and private accelerators.

The hackathon was supported by 19 public and private entities, including the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, represented by the Center of Digital Entrepreneurship as the strategic partner, and the National Cybersecurity Authority, Digital Government Authority, Government Expenditure and Project Efficiency Authority, Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property, Saudi Health Council, Research, Development, and Innovation Authority, Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, Saudi National Institute of Health, and Mawhiba as success partners, Afaq Technology Company and Afaq Studio as strategic sponsors, Al-Ardh Al-Mutqan Company and Renad Al-Majd Company as platinum sponsors, Advanced Communications and Electronic Systems as the gold sponsor, and eHealth Company, Ingenious Business Company, and Al-Muzin Technology Company as silver sponsors.