The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of Labour announce the launch of the competition to design the official character for the Advanced Technology for Construction and Services ConteQ Expo24, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. The exhibition is the first of its kind in the country that contributes to the promotion of innovation in the field of construction and services under the patronage of H.E the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.
The aim of this competition is to include secondary school students in designing a character for the Advanced Technology for Construction and Services ConteQ Expo24, with the aim of implementing the State’s strategy and vision to spread awareness about the importance of using technology in various sectors and encourage students by fostering the concepts of expression and creativity with designs that convey their ideas to reality, in addition to their active participation in forums and exhibitions held in the State.
The competition includes students from government and private secondary schools in Qatar, where according to the requirements and standards, the first-place winner receives a prize of 30,000 QR, second-place winner receives 20,000 QR and third-place winner receives 10,000 QR and students’ contribution will be documented by turning their designs into a character representing the exhibition. Participations will be received during the period from April 30 until May 15 of this year. Those wishing to participate can visit the competition’s website https://conteq-expo.com/index.php/home/mascot and follow the registration steps while adhering to the requirements and guidelines until accepted.
Judges in this competition include members from the organizing committee of ConteQ Expo24, the Public Works Authority, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education who will review the adequacy of participating forms according to competition standards and winners will be announced at the end of May during the closing ceremony.
On this occasion, Eng. Salem Al Shawi, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of ConteQ Expo24 and Technical Office Manager at Ashghal stated that the launch of ConteQ Expo character competition is an essential part of our social responsibility that is in line with the Authority's strategy, and through which we aim to encourage secondary school students to participate in expression by conveying their ideas, relating them to the evolving technological realities, and highlighting the era of innovation and cooperation by visualizing ways of contributing to construction and services. In view of the importance of supporting the future, we aim through the competition to give students the opportunity to discover their excellence in the fields of arts, highlight the best talents and make them part of the exhibition. He added that the character is supposed to symbolize the development of modern construction technology in the State of Qatar, which is completely different from traditional methods as it contributes to accelerating the construction process and reducing cost while maintaining quality and making it more effective and sustainable.
Ms. Shaikha Al-Sulaiti, Public Relations Official at Ashghal expressed her delight to launch the competition and said that by launching the competition, we seek to strengthen our approach to community partnership and encourage promising young artistic talents to unleash their imagination, ideas and creativity in the field of modern technological development of construction and services and to provide the best designs for the official character of the exhibition to play a role in achieving the country's societal development goals. We look forward to choosing a distinctive character that reflects the modern technological development of construction and services, the identity, values, and culture of the State of Qatar, where it will contribute effectively to the promotion of the exhibition.
Ms. Mariam Al Nisf Al-Buainain, Manager of the Department of Schools and Student Affairs of the Ministry of Education and Higher Education stated that the Ministry is a beacon of knowledge, light, creativity and a fertile field for culture and the promotion of national identity and fostering and unleashing talents to keep pace with rapid developments. Its role is not only to build humanity and educate students, but also to develop students and motivate them towards improving themselves through the participation and design of creative mascots and characters for different events and the support of emerging talents to succeed in their scientific career, adding that the Advanced Technology for Construction and Services exhibition which is the first of its kind is a fertile field of innovation and awareness on the importance of using technology in various sectors, particularly construction. Ms. Mariam Al-Buainain also explained that the competition has valuable prizes and is considered an opportunity for young designers to showcase their work, and that the competition and participations come as a witness to excellence and innovation in the design community and confirmed that the Ministry of Education and Higher Education - education sector - in addition to its work on providing everything to serve students, it supports designers in developing their creative practices and projects, sharing their talents with the society and the world and stated that the competition represents more than just a competition for determined and interested students to express their appreciation for the richness and diversity of artistic designs through their participation in various events.
Dr. Rania Mohammed, Director of the MoEHE’s School and Kindergarten Department expressed her view of the launch of this competition and its role in fostering talents of design and creativity among students in the public and private education sectors on the one hand and enhancing their association to Qatar on the other, stating that Qatar was and continues to wow the world with unprecedented initiatives and ideas based on its vision for the future and its understanding of the nature of the rapid changes that the world is witnessing every day. The launch of such competition specializing in innovation and design in the field of construction and services is a testament to these extraordinary ideas that focus on the development of the most important pillar of society's development, namely human development which focuses on investing in them and their developmental and creative abilities and emphasizing them in each forum, as our students are distinctive in every field and their participation in public and private schools in the Ministry of Education and Higher Education is a clear indication of this. She added that the launch of such competitions had greatly contributed to the development of students in an unprecedented field and founded a generation that believes that technology and creativity are factors that greatly lead to the advancement of Qatar. Students' participation in such competitions, together with previous benefits, will be a milestone in the active partnership between the public and private sectors and institutions of the State of Qatar, namely, private schools and kindergartens, which include many of our creative design students who believe in their social and national role in the advancement of Qatar.
Mr. Ahmed Al-Ansari, Government Sector Activity Specialist in the Ministry of Education and Higher Education noted that government and private schools and all secondary schools are an essential part of the cultural and community harmony as a dynamic and innovative society with creative students’ talents that must be highlighted and for the school field to be turned into a center of design and creativity. He added that our students will present extensive creations and designs from design practices and arts and will receive their awards. He explained that the exhibition competition combines arts, technology, design, and sustainability and the cooperation between the organizing committee and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education aims to develop students and supervisory capacities in the school field in design and creativity on the media map, where the exhibition and its competition is an area of inspiration and empowerment for the next generation of designers and innovators to create solutions that have a positive impact on our societies and planet by hosting creative intellectuals and innovative ideas in the field of construction and international services and participation of the new generation in Qatar.
It is worth mentioning that the exhibition aims to create an important platform for activating and enabling digitization initiatives and innovations in the fields of construction, manufacturing and retail, and the exhibition will enable local companies and international organizations operating in Qatar, to explore a world of innovation and software that will enhance their projects and planning and the teams that work to implement them, as well as help them adhere to the new directives and requirements set by Ashghal to implement projects in the next phase, which will improve the quality of outputs by strictly complying with specifications and requirements, reducing the delivery time of construction projects and services and reducing dependence on unskilled labour.
The exhibition reflects the commitment of Ashghal, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Ministry of Labour to promote cooperation and joint work and to benefit from modern and digital technology in the pursuit of the development of construction and service sectors.