Sharjah24 - WAM: As part of its agenda for participating in the month-long ‘UAE Innovates 2024’ initiative, held throughout the month of February, the Federal Tax Authority (FTA) has opened the door for participation in its Hackathon event.
With the Hackathon, the Authority aims to develop innovative technological solutions for the challenges the tax sector faces, in addition to strengthening cooperation and partnership among government, educational, and private institutions to achieve a sustainable impact.
The FTA invited innovators to participate in the event, which offers them an opportunity to generate pioneering solutions that address the challenges facing the tax sector in several aspects, including raising awareness about taxes in the community; employing advanced technology to streamline procedures, such as the submission of tax returns for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and combating tax evasion.
The Federal Tax Authority has started receiving projects for the Hackathon through its website, noting that submissions will continue to be accepted until 23rd February, after which the Authority will organise a special event on 29th February at the Dubai Creative Hub - Emirates Towers, in collaboration with world-leading software developers SAP, the FTA’s strategic partner in digital transformation.
The Authority noted that participants will have the opportunity to showcase their ideas, projects, and solutions during the event, following which the top three most pioneering solutions will be honoured, and their owners will be able to explore prospects for potential collaboration with the Federal Tax Authority.
Khalid Ali Al Bustani, Director General of the FTA, said: “The projects and initiatives we will be implementing throughout the month of February for UAE Innovates 2024 aim to support the Federal Tax Authority’s digital transformation strategy, by using state-of-the-art technologies to create innovative solutions that drive this transformation and pave the way for innovators to contribute to the development of the UAE’s tax system.”
“The Hackathon event is an ideal platform to promote an innovation-friendly environment, inspire innovators, and highlight outstanding projects based in advanced technologies, including big data, artificial intelligence, and blockchain, among others,” Al Bustani added. “This, in turn, helps create a flexible and proactive tax environment, while upgrading and streamlining tax procedures, which drives efficiency across the entire tax system and provides valuable benefits to stakeholders and taxpayers across the country.”
The Hackathon targets a select group of innovators, such as developers and programmers with a diverse range of tech expertise and programming skills, as well as university students, entrepreneurs, and business owners.
The event also includes representatives of government entities and communities with in-depth knowledge of tax policies and financial legislation, in order to contribute to the development of a clear legal framework for innovative tax solutions.
The FTA has set precise criteria for evaluating and selecting winning solutions at the Hackathon, including creativity, innovation, and the use of data to design solutions, in addition to the quality of the solution, its feasibility, use of technology, the benefits it provides, and its potential impact. Contestants are required to design the solution and present a prototype to work with, along with a workable plan and a detailed presentation.
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