Iraq wins Arab AI, robotics title for second year in a row

NAJAF — Iraq’s national team has claimed first place in the Young Innovators category at the 2025 Arab Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Championship in Tunisia, marking the country’s second consecutive victory in the event.

The competition, which drew participants from 15 Arab nations, featured a diverse Iraqi delegation representing Baghdad, Najaf, Basra, Anbar, and Kirkuk.

Among the standout teams was a family from Najaf — a father, mother, and their four children — who built a robotics and AI programming group focused on agricultural solutions. “We’re a family passionate about AI and robotics,” said Firas Nizar, the father. “Our first competition was in Egypt, where we won first place, and we repeated the feat in Qatar last year.”

“This year, we aimed higher by competing in the innovation category, which attracts the attention of global institutions and tech firms,” he said. “We’re grateful to have retained the title. It’s especially rewarding knowing we trained our kids ourselves, unlike other teams that had foreign coaches.”

His son, Reda Firas, earned individual honors as the youngest programmer at the competition. “I’ve learned several languages including Scratch, Python, and C++,” he said.

Maryam Firas, who also won top recognition, detailed the family’s winning project — an AI-powered system designed to tackle agricultural challenges. “We used over a dozen smart technologies across modules for smart irrigation, camera monitoring, air-to-water conversion, and solar-powered rainwater harvesting,” she said. “Our irrigation system, for example, monitors soil moisture and waters crops automatically when needed.”

Firas Nizar called on Iraqi authorities to invest in their team’s work. “We need government support to scale up and improve future results,” he said.

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