DP World recently opened its doors to students from the top universities in UAE and India to reimagine global supply chains and create new technology-driven solutions in its first-ever innovation challenge, THE BIG TECH PROJECT.
DP World challenged the university students to design and build prototypes of their proposed trade solutions, under the expert guidance of mentors from DP World’s Global Technology team.
After receiving dozens of entries, four finalists have now been selected, with three from India and one from the UAE. They will be flown on an all-expenses paid trip to Dubai in November to present their solutions to DP World’s THE BIG TECH PROJECT jury.
The grand finale will take place at the end of November where the finalists will compete for DP World’s first-ever Student Innovators title. All finalists will be given guaranteed internships at DP World and Macbook laptops, while the winner and runner up will receive cash prizes as well.
“By digitising a traditionally analogue industry, DP World aims to make trade smarter, to keep it flowing, increase visibility and minimise disruption. This is how trade networks fit for the future are built. Initiatives like THE BIG TECH PROJECT will help us accelerate this trend by tapping into the creativity of some of the brightest young minds in India and the UAE. I am excited to see the solutions these student innovators have devised to solve real world problems,” said DP World Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem.
The four finalists are from:
| University | Solution |
| Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence, Abu Dhabi, UAE | A 3D visual guidance equipment maintenance and inspection system for port terminal equipment. |
| International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Bangalore, India | Leveraging the metaverse to give students a real-time understanding of daily life in different careers, help them make informed decisions. |
| IIIT Bangalore, India | VR experience for Dragonmart where customers and wholesalers can benefit mutually. |
| IIT Kharagpur, India | Digital-twin solution to tackle harbour congestion, unpredictable demand and unreliable operations. |
While the students prepare their solutions, DP World continues to expand its tech centres worldwide and build new solutions. It recently established two new tech centres at Bengaluru and Hyderabad in India, with another upcoming centre in Gurgaon. The new tech employees will take on a variety of roles – from developers, product and project management, quality assurance and automation, UX Design, system analysts and system design – fulfilling DP World’s vision of building technologically advanced integrated services to help trade flow. They will work on cutting-edge applications of heavy automation, AI/ML and robotics – such as DP World’s unique proprietary Box Bay technology.
