For a second year in a row.. A Syrian team ranked first in the international “ Girls in AI 2021” competition in Britain

A remarkable achievement was obtained for the second year in a row by the  ADA team from the Syrian Computer Society ( SCS) branch in Lattakia which  achieved the first place  in the category of ethics of artificial intelligence  AI in the international “ Girls in AI 2021” competition for adolescents.

The event, which was organized by Britain via the internet last March, aimed to encourage the new generation to enter the world of technology and artificial intelligence.

The winning team included  Ali Saud, Mays Maqaws, Zainab Youssef, Hazar Saleh and Sarah Abdullah.

The team leader  Ali Saud  said  in a statement to the Syriatimes e-newspaper that  “the word ADA  is an abbreviation for the name of the application that the team  designed “Asperger’s Disorder App” .  ADA Lovelace is also  the first programmer in the world and we wanted to honor her by naming the team by her name”.

He pointed out that the team’s app helps people with Asperger’s to identify their creative tendencies by reading and interpreting their facial expressions while showing them different categories of subjects in a specific style.

Saud  expressed  his pride in representing Syria and raising its  name high  in an international competition.

Eng. Mariam Fayoud Head of the SCS branch in Lattakia and the supervisor of the competition locally  told  the Syriatimes e-newspaper that the competition this year is characterized by the high number of participants which exceeded three thousand adolescents from more than 29 countries around the world that have a leading position in the field of artificial intelligence including the United States of America, Britain, India, Russia, Romania, Canada, and Australia, and from the Arab countries, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Palestine. 

Eng. Fayoud  indicated that the selection process of the participants is carried out in accordance with the conditions of the competition in terms of knowledge in the sciences of artificial intelligence, creative thinking, the ability to present  and defend ideas. Locally ten teams including  50  young boys and girls participated in the competition. 

“We believe  that our Syrian youth is capable of distinction and creativity with all kinds of sciences and the latest ones .  The result of this year has proven that the policy  we are carrying  in  Lattakia’s branch of the  SCS  in terms of investing in children and adolescents is the right one” Eng. Fayoud expressed .  

She added “ From this point of view we confirm the continuation of our activities within the artificial intelligence club and the rest of the clubs, while working to expand the capabilities of our logistical clubs to be able to target the largest possible number of children and adolescents and strengthening Syria’s scientific  presence  in international forums” .

Hazar Saleh and Sarah Al-Abdullah talked about their happiness with this experience and the valuable knowledge that they gained through their meeting with  supervisors, observers, trainers, and the director of the competition in Britain, Elena Senel, and those in charge of the  SCS branch  in Lattakia.

Interviewed by : Rawaa Ghanam