DeG gives visitors a taste of Arduino technology at UAE Innovation Week

As part of its participation at the second edition of the UAE Innovation Week, the Sharjah Department of eGovernment, DeG, is giving workshops on programming language through a series of 'tech' workshops under the theme, ‘Education, Awareness, Innovation’, until 26th November at Expo Centre Sharjah.

At the centre of these stimulating workshops is the ‘Aurindo’ programme, an open-source microprocessor platform, which has been the cornerstone of thousands of programming projects spanning robotics, architecture, and even music. A team of experts from DeG are conducting a series of workshops in which they teach and encourage participants to tinker with technology and build a knack for technological innovations.

"Innovation has become an indispensable part of the functioning of various governmental institutions in the UAE, since President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan approved 2015 as the ‘Year of Innovation’, which was followed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai’s directive to hold UAE Innovation Week annually in November. Every day, we are developing new systems, facilitating world-class procedures and delivering premium services reflecting the highest safety standards, to ensure our residents and citizens have modern and technologically updated lives," said Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Sultan Al Qasimi, Director-General at Sharjah DeG.

"With each passing day, our lives are increasingly influenced by the impact of technology, where a great idea yearns to come to life. This is why we decided to dedicate our participation here at UAE Innovation Week 2016 to ignite and support those minds who, in essence, will be the architects of the future. By teaching participants the basics of how to use the Arduino platform, we are paving a way for them to bring their ideas to life, giving them the rights tool to transform their passion for innovation into real interactively designed products," he added.

He explained, "The Arduino platform is characterised by being simplistic, compatible with all operating systems, easy to find and download, and neutral in nature. Comparatively inexpensive, it provides a suitable budget for students as well as schools. It can function on most computer software systems, such as Windows, Macintosh OSX and Linux. It helps in exploring projects branching from a variety of fields, and consequently can bring unlimited innovative ideas into reality."

The concluding workshop will be conducted on Saturday, 26th November. This is a first-of-its-kind opportunity for students, technology enthusiasts as well as hardcore computer programmers in Sharjah and the UAE to step into a world of programming and prototyping in the most creative and fun ways.