Jeddah Hackathon Winners Boost Religious Services

Three innovative teams were named winners of the 2026 Jeddah hackathon after developing new technology solutions aimed at enriching the religious experience of worshippers and visitors to the Two Holy Mosques. The event was organized in Jeddah in partnership between the Presidency for Religious Affairs at the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque and the University of Jeddah.

First place went to the Madaar team for its Maqam Platform project, earning a cash prize of 30,000 SAR. The Tala team took second place with "Every Signal is a Recited Verse," a solution designed to serve people with special needs, and received 20,000 SAR. Echo Tech placed third with "Sanctuary Translator," a legal translation project, winning 10,000 SAR.

The hackathon focused on several tracks, including enriching the religious and knowledge experience of visitors to the Two Holy Mosques, developing religious translation solutions to overcome language barriers for worshippers and pilgrims, enhancing the media and communication impact of the Haramain religious message, and innovating modern tools for religious guidance, Qur'an teaching platforms, and answering worshippers' questions using advanced digital technologies, including AI-based interactive platforms.

The initiative brought together innovators, developers, students, academics, and entrepreneurs to build smart technical solutions that enhance digital religious services for worshippers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah. These include smart guidance tools, translation tools, and knowledge delivery platforms.

For the wider community, the winning projects reflect a growing effort to make religious services more accessible and inclusive through technology, benefiting both residents and the millions of pilgrims and visitors who arrive each year. The competition offered cash awards only, with no participation fees required from competing teams.

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