The day would be celebrated of the roles these professionals play in advancing the information technology sector in the UAE.

It will be a special day for the coders and programmers in the UAE on October 29 as Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai declares the day to honour the coders and programmers.

The day would be celebrated of the roles these professionals play in advancing the information technology sector in the UAE. The commemoration also seeks to strengthen the national programme for coders in the region.

The national programme, which is being run in cooperation with companies like Google and Amazon, aims to attract and also train 100,000 programmers and generate 1,000 large digital companies within five years.

The best of the world’s coders and programmers from the lot will also be granted the golden UAE visa to encourage them to be a part of the region’s technological advancements.

Talking about the day to honour the coders and programmers, Sheikh Mohammed said, “We want to honour the contributions of coders and programmers so that we can encourage future generations of technology professionals to participate in building the future of the UAE.”

October 29 also holds a special place for the UAE as the date also marks the launch of Dubai’s first electronic government 20 years ago.

Not just the commemoration of the day, Sheikh Mohammed has long supported education in coding and has encouraged youngsters to take up the field.

In 2017, he also launched the initiative ‘One Million Arab Coders’ to equip a million youngsters with the skills needed to succeed in the 21st century. The initiative is intended to equip young Arabs with the tools to build their future, starting with fluency in coding and programming.

To take the world of coding to another level, Sheikh Mohammed, in July announced a new challenge for the graduates of the One Million Arab Coders programme.

He announced a grand prize of $1 million to compete for the title of “top coder” in the Arab world, winners of which will be chosen through a majority vote of the judges. The winners of the contest will be announced at Expo 2020.