Localization & Direct Grant Awards
valued at 1 million Qatari Riyals!
The Mada Innovation Award is a first of its kind award that is aimed to reward innovative solution that promotes accessibility and enhances the lives of users with disabilities.
Direct Grant Awards
This stream is designed for creating opportunities for new innovative entities who already have a “Proven Concept” for their AT product or service to establish themselves in the market. Applicants selected for this stream will be provided with a grant through MADA Innovation Program to develop the proposed product/service concept to cater towards the local and Arab market.
Coming Soon!
Localization
Localizing is conducted mainly to support Arabic inclusive solutions for PwDs and all. This stream is targeted towards international established entities who already have an existing product/service relevant to ICT Accessibility and Assistive Technology that are looking into Arabic localization of their product.
Coming Soon!
Mada Hackathon
The ‘Mada Hackathon’, is a uniquely designed competition from Challenge to Prototype in 48 Hours that focuses on individuals and teams of designers, teachers, academics, students, software developers and the best-in-class innovators to develop an Accessible Open Educational Resources in Arabic language based on the Mada open-access resources: Tawasol Symbols, Unified Arabic Braille, Buhamad Sign Language Interpreter Avatar.
Vision, Mission & Our Goals
Timeline
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Award Launch (Applications Open)
July 2025Announcement of Mada Innovation Award 2025. Applications open via the online portal. Outreach campaign and influencer engagement drive awareness from July onward. (By launch, guidelines, FAQs, and the portal are fully ready for applicants in English and Arabic.)
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Application Deadline
30/08/2024Last date for innovators to submit their entries. A surge of submissions is expected as the deadline approaches; the goal is to receive ~200 quality applications by this date (based on prior edition interest). Immediately after the deadline, Mada’s team begins preliminary screening.
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Jury Evaluation Period
01/09/2025 – 30/10/2025The ten jury members evaluate submissions online during these two months. (Orientation for jurors takes place in late August just before this window.) Throughout September and October, jury members log in to review entries and assign scores. By Oct 30, all scoring is completed and submitted.
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Finalists Announced
Early November 2025Around November 1, 2025, Mada announces the shortlisted 20 finalists (following internal review of jury results). This is communicated to all participants (winners and non-winners of this round) via email and on the award website. The finalists are congratulated publicly on Mada’s platforms, and the mentorship phase is introduced to them.
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Mentorship Phase
01/11/2025 - 30/01/2026For roughly 90 days starting November, the 20 finalist teams work with the 5 mentors to improve their projects. Each team goes through structured sessions in business, tech, accessibility, etc., as detailed earlier. During this period, teams refine prototypes, conduct user testing, and integrate mentor feedback. Mada monitors progress and begins planning the final evaluation event.
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Mentorship Wrap-up
Mid-January 2026By mid to late January, most mentorship sessions conclude. Final mentor reports are compiled by January 30, 2026, summarizing each team’s readiness for final evaluation. The teams finalize their pitches or demos based on the mentorship outcomes.
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Final Evaluation & Awards
February 2026In early to mid-February, the final judging is conducted. February 15, 2026 (approximately) is slated for the announcement of the 5 winners of the Mada Innovation Award 2025. A high-profile ceremony or press release may accompany this, given the importance of recognizing winners.
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Winner Project Development
February – May 2026The winning teams enter a funded development period of about 4 months. They receive their grants (per Mada’s disbursement schedule) and continue to develop their solutions into fully deployable products. Mada provides light oversight and additional support as needed during this time. By May 30, 2026, this development phase concludes – marking the end of the 2025 Award cycle with the winners having either launched their products or ready to launch imminently.
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Follow-up and Next Edition Prep
30/05/2026After May 2026, Mada conducts an impact assessment of the 2025 Award (outcomes of winners, lessons learned). Internally, planning for the next edition (2026/2027 award) may commence later in the year, using insights from 2025. A fourth edition is anticipated, continuing the annual cycle.
Application Criteria
- The contestant (or the team or organization) fills in all the details on the competition website at this link: https://award.mada.org.qa
- The contestant (or the team or organization) will add all the details in the application form available on the competition site, taking care to provide all the required information.
- The contestant (or the team or organization) receives electronic notification of the receipt of his participation.
- The contestants who pass the preliminary review will only be notified regarding the presentation and pitching phase. He can also see the instructions of the members of the jury to remedy the shortcomings that can be recorded in his nomination file and re-send back the requirement of not exceeding statutory deadlines.
The Jury – Mada Innovation Awards
Contact us
Telephone: 0097444594098
Email: innovation@mada.org.qa