in an achievement that embodies the university’s support to empower national talents and stimulate innovation, student Abdul Rahman bin Nasher Al-Otaibi and student Shouq bint Nasher Al-Otaibi from the College of Nursing, as part of the “Al-Dahna” team, qualified for the final stage and the list of the top 15 teams in the “Absher Tuwaiq” hackathon, which is considered the largest of its kind in the world, with the participation of more than 4,000 competitors from more than 2,000 teams.

this qualification came from the “Nozha” project, which is a national digital platform that aims to organize the hiking experience in natural reserves through a smart application that provides an interactive map, with the possibility of issuing permits immediately through linking with the national unified sign-on, and in integration with the relevant authorities, which contributes to enhancing the quality of digital services, raising the efficiency of organizing environmental and tourism activities, and improving the experience of beneficiaries.

the team was officially honored during the Absher 2025 conference and received support from the garage in the presence of the Minister of Interior, His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, as an emphasis on supporting national innovation, empowering young talents, and encouraging their participation in developing digital solutions that support the digital transformation process in the Kingdom.

the “Absher Tuwaiq” hackathon comes within the Absher Tuwaiq initiative in partnership between the Ministry of Interior and Tuwaiq Academy, one of the activities of the Absher 2025 conference, which aims to empower more than 100,000 beneficiaries, male and female, across seven diverse technical tracks, including 16 cities in various regions of the Kingdom and in partnership with 20 local and international partners, most notably Google Cloud, Meta, and NVIDIA.