Youth Achieve Global Robotics Honors
Algerian children are venturing into robotics and artificial intelligence, transforming their curiosity into promising projects and inventions. This emerging "post-chalk generation" is poised to secure Algeria's position in global technology, aligning with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's commitments to national digital transformation under the "Digital Algeria 2030" strategy. The Algerian school system is undergoing an unprecedented digital shift, moving from traditional chalkboards to interactive platforms that encourage students to become creators of technology rather than just recipients, driving a knowledge-based economy.
Illustrating this wave of innovation, a private school specializing in artificial intelligence and robotics in Medea provides training for children and teenagers. This initiative aims to instill a culture of innovation from an early age, teaching the fundamentals of AI, robotics, and scientific research. Students from this school have achieved international recognition since 2020, including a third-place global finish in a robot competition in Russia and a "Diamond" medal for innovation in South Korea. Notably, a 12-year-old student secured second place in the same South Korean competition with an original invention. The projects developed are diverse, encompassing intelligent solutions for daily life, household tasks, agriculture, and poultry farming, as exemplified by 14-year-old Moncef Ferhat, whose multi-technology cleaning robot earned him second place in a world championship in South Korea after qualifying through a national competition.
Further demonstrating advanced capabilities, 17-year-old Iyad Abdelmoumen has developed a significant scientific trajectory in artificial intelligence and self-learning. His practical projects focus on medical diagnostics, including AI.ChestXray for generating medical reports from chest X-rays, a U-Net model for mitochondrial segmentation, and a neural network-based model for predicting drug molecule binding affinity. Among his humanitarian innovations is "SOSBaby," which uses AI to detect infant crying and send alerts to hearing-impaired parents. Abdelmoumen has also contributed to projects in autonomous driving, smart agriculture, and industrial safety, and actively trains younger students, helping his younger brother develop an AI-based system to detect driver drowsiness, which reached the final stage of the National Innovation Award.
These advancements underscore Algeria's national project to base its development on knowledge and innovation, with artificial intelligence identified as a key pillar alongside digital infrastructure and human capital, according to Dr. Ali Kahlan, a computer scientist and AI consultant. Dr. Kahlan emphasizes that true digital transformation begins in schools, where AI tools can adapt education to individual student needs, fostering critical thinking, research, and exploration rather than rote memorization. The national AI strategy and the establishment of the National Council for Artificial Intelligence aim to develop national solutions and Algerian language models, strengthening digital independence and technological sovereignty, with these young innovators playing a crucial role in shaping Algeria's future digital economy.
