DOHA: In anticipation of Qatar’s National Sport Day celebrations, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) is encouraging students to facilitate better health and wellbeing using the power of technology.
“The Information Systems programme is not just about benefitting businesses. It is about practically changing people’s lives through technology,” said Daniel Phelps, assistant teaching professor at the CMU-Q.
As Qatar prepares to celebrate National Sport Day, CMU-Q is reaching out to high schools to inform them on how technology and information systems can improve not only business best practice, but health and livelihoods, as well.
In this year’s Ibtikar competition, teams of high school students had eight weeks to come up with an innovative mobile-based game that will support sustainable healthy lifestyle habits in Qatar.
The winning team from Doha College designed Qatar Lifestyle, a bilingual application for adults and children to encourage healthy eating and lifestyle choices.
They proposed a holistic approach to weight loss that is adapted to Qatar’s environment and culture, and created a game that can be monitored by health specialists.
Qatar Lifestyle’s goal is to allow players to virtually discover and learn how to maintain a healthy lifestyle (characters learn about healthy food options and ways to exercise).
It uses the features of smart phones to mix real physical exercise with virtual play and allows for communication amongst players, simulating life in a real city.
Last weekend’s outreach programme is just one facet of the Information Systems programme’s health-related initiatives and research.
At the undergraduate level, information systems students have been using a grant from the Qatar National Research Fund through their Undergraduate Research Experience Programme to enhance young Qatari health behaviour using mobile applications. The application deadline for students interested in Carnegie Mellon’s Information Systems programme is March 1.
The Peninsula
