In the hunt for Saudi talent, King Abdulaziz and His Companions for the Gifted and Creativity has invited nominations for the National Project to Discover Talent.

The program targets pupils in all public education directorates in Saudi Arabia. Nominations will be received through the foundation’s website until Feb. 15, 2014.

The National Project to Discover Talent is a recently launched program under the umbrella of the Mawhiba Foundation, an entity serving the needs of young talented Saudis, that aims to hunt for distinguished Saudi talent to equip them with necessary knowledge and skills to produce creative and innovative leadership.

Saudi Arabia has established several such projects of late to support young talent in the fields of mathematics, science and information technology.

Nabil Al-Haqabani, director-general of Mawhiba, said there are two paths for the nominations: Teachers and parents can nominate their children or the pupil can nominate himself through the foundation’s website.

The registration also is done through the website, and will be followed by three more stages: Firstly, pupils register in the Mawhibah Scale for multiple mental abilities, which starts on Dec. 29 and can be done through the Qiyas website; then the scale is applied to the registered children, and the final stage is the acceptance and distribution of gifted children in international and local programs for the gifted.

The National Program for Recognizing the Gifted is held annually in cooperation with Mawhiba, the Ministry of Education and the National Center for Assessment (Qiyas).

In a similar venture, Mawhiba together with ARAMCO Saudi Arabia, will hold Ibtikar 2013, in early December, at the Riyadh Convention and Exhibition Center, Riyadh.

The exhibition, entitled “With innovation we build a knowledge society,” will continue until Dec. 5, introducing innovative and smart solutions for various matters.

Local and international institutions are expected to take part presenting 1,633 inventions during the expo.

The exhibition is meant the explore the potential of Saudi youth and contribute to nurturing the culture of innovation.

This scientific gathering aims to support young Saudi inventors in the field of science and technology, and give the necessary support to spread the culture of innovation in the Kingdom. It will also create investment opportunities and new projects that will enrich society, and turn the economic wheels of the country.

Naser Al-Rashid, executive director of Ibtikar 2013, said the exhibition aims to honor Saudi innovators and values their national status. Through this exhibition they will be brought in touch with inventors, and businessmen who are interested in developing the industry.

He said inventions have become a basic tool to enrich countries’ economies, and the exhibition aims to achieve the vision of the Saudi government to turn Saudis into a community of knowledge.

He valued the role and the determination of the participants, and their adoption of a distinguished culture. He said these young people have taken their national responsibility and offered their inventions in a manner that achieves a national vision and strengthens the status of Saudi Arabia as a country that takes care of its gifted citizens.

He described the Forum as an ideal opportunity to motivate creativity in young people, and strengthen their role in achieving excellence to guarantee continuous development to serve the nation.

“Mawhiba and ARAMCO’s role is to strengthen and spread the culture of innovation, because innovation is not limited to a certain segment. We also encourage the ongoing educational process, and focus on transferring expertise between the participants and businessmen,” said Al-Rashid.

He said the participants are role models for our nations because they offer great inventions that serve their society.