The GovThon Services Challenge Hackathon aims to engage young talents and minds in creating practical digital solutions that contribute to the development and improvement of government services and enhance the beneficiary experience thru digital service delivery channels. It also aims to support the digital transformation path thru innovative methods based on design thinking and collaborative work.

The event witnessed fierce competition among 58 members within 12 teams, who worked on developing innovative solutions to simplify and improve the experience of digital government services in an atmosphere characterized by creativity and teamwork. At the conclusion of the event, three winning teams were announced. The "Goov Sense" team secured first place with their idea for a new government model that relies on artificial intelligence to predict user needs and transforms government services into an automatic step completed with a single click thru a unified digital wallet and secure electronic delegation. The "Estabaq" team came in second place with their idea of a digital twin, which relies on analyzing data effectively and securely using a priority system. As for the third place, it was awarded to the "Law Tech" team, which presented the smart legal assistant that allows users to understand laws in a simplified and clear manner.

The participating teams competed in 4 main tracks and 12 sub-tracks, with the Predictive Services and Advanced Analytics track topping the list of the most chosen tracks, followed by the Proactive and Customized Services track, and then the Life Events Journey Design track, which came in third place.

The hackathon also included a number of accompanying workshops aimed at honing the participants' skills and supporting their ideas, including a workshop in the design library for the unified portal, a workshop "From Idea to Implementation," a workshop on "Critical Thinking," a workshop on "Digital Accessibility," in addition to a workshop on "Building Applications and Projects."

The judging panel included a selection of experts and officials from the fields of digital transformation, technology, and innovation, among them: Salima bint Ahmed Al Salmani, Head of the Digital Transformation Program at the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones; Dr. Faisal bin Ali Al Busaidi, Director General of the General Directorate of Information Technology at the Ministry of Education; Ayman bin Mohammed Al Salami, CEO of the Telecommunications and Digital Technology and Infrastructure Group; Alia Al Shanfari, Executive Director of the Youth Center; Fatima Al Lawati, Head of the Financial Innovation and Technology Department at the Central Bank; and Imran Younis, Head of the Service Design Department at Nortal, the company implementing the unified government services portal.

The organization of the GovThon services challenge is part of the efforts of the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology to enhance the journey of innovation and digital transformation, and to enable national competencies to contribute to the development of more efficient and accessible digital government services, in line with the targets of Oman Vision 2040 to build a competitive digital economy and smart, sustainable government services.