Sahem, the portal competition for Doha’s 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Bid, held its grand finale at Katara Art Centre earlier this week, with presentations from five finalists in the spotlight. The event was held under the patronage of Qatar Museums Authority chairperson and Doha 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Bid Committee vice president, HE Sheikha Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. Sheikha Mayassa presented awards to the participants, including the winners, Fatem Ali al-Nuaimi and Mohamed Haj Mohamed, and runners-up Mohamed Loay, the team of Mohamed Kheir and Jordon Saunders, and the team of Aisha al-Naama, Mufeed Ahmed, Fawaz Mohamed and Mufeed. The competition, drew some 2,000 applicants from more than 20 countries across the Middle East. “Sahem offered participants an opportunity to design the bid portal, outlining portal design ‘look and feel,’ social media marketing and reach, gaming engine, animation engine and portal content management ideas,” explained a spokesperson, adding that “young people from participating nations were invited to pitch their ideas under one or more of these categories either as individuals or teams.” Sheikha Mayassa commented: “We are extremely pleased by the enthusiastic response Sahem received from youth across the Middle East. Tonight was a testament to the fact that Qatar upholds, supports and promotes innovation. “As we saw, this initiative has inspired thousands of young people to innovate using the power of technology and that alone is a great achievement. “Sahem confirmed the readiness of the region’s youth to contribute passionately and significantly towards bringing people together through sport - this is something we applaud.” Doha 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games Bid Committee CEO Noora al-Mannai said: “We will be using the very latest innovations in social media and online strategy to help communicate Doha 2020’s vision and plans and this competition is a key part of that process.” “The Bid Committee will now be working closely with the winners to put their ideas into practice.” To manage the competition ictQATAR created a panel of 54 judges who analysed the submitted ideas and, over several rounds of heated competition, brought down the list of participants to a final 15. The five winners were chosen from among these finalists. Gulf Times

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