Eight Bangladeshi youth groups will take part in the international phase of NASA Space Apps Challenge 2018.
These eight groups were selected through a competition organised by the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS).
The BASIS with the support of its student forum organised the competition styled as 'Hack-a-Thon' held between October 19 and 20 while the grand finale and the prize giving ceremony took place on Sunday.
The final event of the '4th NASA Space Apps Challenge Bangladesh' was held on the Independent University campus in the city.
Posts, Telecommunications and ICT Minister Mustafa Jabbar addressed the event as the chief guest and handed over prizes to the winners.
In his speech, Mustafa Jabbar said that through organising such a contest, BASIS has created a platform to showcase the talent of the country's youngsters.
"Last year, Bangladesh secured two places on the list of World's Top 10. We are hopeful of doing better this year," he mentioned.
NASA has organised this event in 250 cities across the globe. In Bangladesh, participants from nine cities -- Dhaka, Sylhet, Chattogram, Barishal, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Khulna and Comilla -- took part in the competition, said NASA Space Apps Challenge 2018 Bangladesh Convener Didarul Alam.
This year, nearly 5.0 million students virtually and about 1.0 million students in person are taking part in the international event.
BASIS President Syed Almas Kabir said that the goal of the event is to find out innovative solutions to global problems.
This year, NASA has announced six challenge categories and 20 sub-categories. Bangladeshi youths will work on weather, volcano, mars and many more topics, he added.
