The UAE Drones for Good Award has announced the results of successful entries in the first stage of the Awards local competition, which concluded early September.

The Award was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, in line with the vision of His Highness to employ civilian applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) technology for improving peoples lives.

The open call of the competition, received more than 300 entries, out of which 16 projects have qualified to the semi-final round. The award has published a list of the names and details of the qualified entries for the semi-final stage on its website: www.dronesforgood.ae.

The selection process adopted precise criteria, focused on innovation in the provision of service and efficiency, applicability and added value . Among the qualified entries, the highest percentage were projects related to the civil defense and infrastructure sectors, followed by entries focusing on environment, health, logistics and tourism sectors.

The entries also reflected the active participation of students and national educational institutions as well as individuals and private sector companies.

All entries have met the real needs and offered new concepts to improve government services in order to achieve happiness for all members of the community in line with the directives of the UAE government, said Saif Al Aleeli, Project Manager of UAE Drones for Good Award.

The award provided an opportunity for national universities to play a greater role in utilizing the technical capabilities of students and innovators to translate them to services designed to facilitate human life and provide more efficient and accessible services . The award also provided an opportunity for Drones technology enthusiasts to put their skills and knowledge to effective use, added Al Alili.

The Award will continue receiving entries for the open call stage of the international competition until the first of October 2014. Competitions under the semi-final stage of the local competition have started on September 15 and will end in October 15. During this stage, five qualifying entries will compete for the final round, with three of them qualifying for the international competition which offers a prize of US$ 1 million.

The qualified entries in semi-final stage will be asked to provide a detailed technical report about the drone project, including designs, graphs, operating system, materials used, hardware and integrated smart systems. They will also be required to upload a 5-minute video to explain the service extensively.