KUWAIT CITY, Dec 1:  Sheikh Fahad Yousef Saud Al-Sabah, the First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and Minister of Interior, emphasized on Saturday that cybersecurity is a crucial pillar for ensuring societal stability and safeguarding the data of individuals and institutions.

Sheikh Fahad made these remarks during the closing ceremony of the Kuwait Hackathon 2024, a competition organized by the National Cybersecurity Center in collaboration with CODED company. The ceremony was attended by Minister of State for Communications Affairs, Omar Al-Omar, and the Acting Head of the National Cybersecurity Center, Dima Al-Sumait.

Sheikh Fahad highlighted that the competition aims to foster a spirit of creativity and competition among Kuwaiti youth in the cybersecurity field. This initiative contributes to enhancing their digital skills and prepares them to protect Kuwait's cyberspace. He stressed that such events are not only competitions but also catalysts for creative thinking and innovation.

He expressed his pride in the participants who showcased remarkable abilities and potential to help build a secure and prosperous digital society. Sheikh Fahad also extended his heartfelt thanks and appreciation to the sponsors and supporters who played a role in the success of the competition, recognizing them as partners in empowering national talent. He commended the efforts of the organizers, teams, and volunteers, whose contributions were pivotal to the event's success. He assured that the State of Kuwait will continue to support such groundbreaking initiatives that aim to nurture, protect, and promote national competencies.

During the ceremony, the First Deputy Prime Minister honored the winning teams. The first place was awarded to the team "Rax.mov," the second place went to "COD SHADOW," and the third place was given to "BOOMSec."

Ahmed Marafi, CEO and co-founder of CODED Academy, also spoke at the ceremony. He highlighted several training programs launched by CODED, including "Code Juniors" for children aged 7 to 13, the "Kuwait Codes" initiative, "X Academy for Teaching Programming and Entrepreneurship" for high school students, the "Unicode" initiative for university students, and a "Data Science" camp focused on data science and artificial intelligence. Marafi noted that the first edition of the Kuwait Hackathon had attracted numerous enthusiastic participants.

He expressed his gratitude to Sheikh Fahad for his support and attendance, as well as to Minister Omar Al-Omar. Marafi emphasized that their presence reflected the Kuwaiti government’s belief in its youth.

The competition, which concluded its activities on Saturday, was held under the patronage of the First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense, and Minister of Interior. Its aim was to inspire competitive spirit among Kuwait's ambitious and creative youth in the cybersecurity sector. (End)