Fahad Aldossari, President of GASTAT, honored the winning teams in the Data Innovation Hackathon, along with partners and supporters represented by the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA), the Saudi Society for Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Systems, the Professional Association for Statisticians and Data Scientists, and the Saudi Association for Statistical Sciences. The recognition took place during a ceremony held today at GASTAT’s headquarters in Riyadh.
The ceremony featured the announcement of the winning teams in the Hackathon, which GASTAT organized from 15 February to 15 April 2026. The Hackathon represents the first of its kind in leveraging innovation and modern technologies to advance statistical work. It was held as part of the “Road to Riyadh” series of events, in preparation for Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the Sixth United Nations World Data Forum in November 2026.
Aldossari emphasized that the Data Innovation Hackathon reflects GASTAT’s commitment to adopting modern technologies and leveraging artificial intelligence capabilities to advance statistical work. He noted that the solutions presented by participating teams demonstrate the high caliber of national talent and their ability to develop innovative solutions with sustainable impact. He added that GASTAT will continue to support qualitative initiatives that contribute to building an advanced data ecosystem and enhance Saudi Arabia’s position in the fields of statistics and innovation, in alignment with the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030.
The ceremony also featured a showcase of the winning projects, highlighting the most prominent innovative solutions that contribute to enhancing data collection and analysis processes and improving their efficiency, thereby supporting decision-makers with accurate and reliable indicators.
GASTAT explained that the Hackathon featured two main tracks, in which 132 teams competed, with 16 teams advancing to the final stage—eight teams in the Innovative Data Collection track using non-traditional data sources and eight teams in the Intelligent Processing and Classification track using artificial intelligence technologies.
The total value of the Hackathon prizes amounted to SAR 75,000, allocated to support and recognize the winning teams and to encourage the development of innovative solutions in the fields of data and statistics.
The judging process resulted in the selection of six teams that successfully presented innovative solutions that enhance the quality and reliability of official statistics. The winning teams were as follows: Hoarders, Athr, Ain, GigScope, Spondylus, and Optimizers.
It is noteworthy that the Data Innovation Hackathon represents an extension of GASTAT’s ongoing efforts to expand the use of modern technologies and to empower national talent—including students, academics, and professionals—to contribute to developing practical solutions to statistical challenges. This, in turn, enhances the data-driven economy and supports statistical work and its outputs, including results, reports, and indicators.
Source: Riyadh Daily