THE government of Dubai has agreed to fund the travel expenses of the Guyanese contingent of youths who will be representing Guyana at the FIRST Global Challenge, an international robotics competition.

The Government of Dubai governs the Emirate of Dubai, one of the seven constituent monarchies which make up the United Arab Emirates. This year, Dubai will be hosting the international competition in October and over 2,000 youth participants representing 193 countries are expected to participate.

STEMGuyana made the announcement of Dubai’s support via their Facebook page on Wednesday morning. “The Government of Dubai just agreed to pay travel for the entire team,” STEMGuyana said.

The organisation, however, said that the team still needs to raise funds to purchase the competition robot and pay for accommodation, food and other expenses.

Guyana participated in this challenge in 2017 and 2018 and performed well. In fact, in 2017, the team was ranked first at the end of the first day and placed 10th overall at the end of the competition held in Washington, DC.

Team Guyana, along with the other teams, work to devise solutions, through the use of robotics, for issues facing the world. In 2017, the challenge focused on access to clean water, and in 2018, the focus was on sustainable energy-saving techniques.

According to founder of FIRST Global, Dean Kamen, the competition aims to provide an opportunity for young people who are keen on creating a positive impact in the world through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

“Hosting the FIRST Global challenge in Dubai reaffirms the importance of this event in the design of robots, the further development of technology skills for young people and further reinforces Dubai’s interest in this futuristic sector,” Kamen highlighted.