????最終獲得200，000美元大獎的是Bey2ollak公司。這個團(tuán)隊由六人組成，選擇的項目也是埃及最棘手的問題之一，也就是交通。該公司提供一種眾包型交通信息服務(wù)與手機(jī)應(yīng)用，可以跟蹤開羅和亞歷山大港所有重要公路的交通狀況。谷歌負(fù)責(zé)東南歐、中東與非洲業(yè)務(wù)的副總裁默罕默德?加德特稱：“我簡直不敢相信自己的眼睛。我花了一天時間與決賽選手會面。他們的熱情、熱烈、自由的表達(dá)、思維領(lǐng)導(dǎo)力，以及對不可能的理性蔑視，所有這些都徹底打動了我。我感覺像是跟谷歌自己的員工在一起度過了一天?！?/p>

????這些大賽意義何在？法克哈拉尼稱：“雖然我們相信在埃及和整個中東地區(qū)，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)絕對是經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展的推動因素，但同時也是發(fā)展最不足的領(lǐng)域。今年，我們投入了200,000萬美元，但我們承諾，未來幾年將再投入230萬美元?？萍急貙⒏淖儼＜啊！?/p>

????法德爾相信，就像在美國一樣，通過這種集會建立的連通性有助于進(jìn)一步促進(jìn)創(chuàng)新。她說：“從定義上來看，創(chuàng)業(yè)者是孤獨的。他們失敗的可能性很大。初創(chuàng)企業(yè)參加大賽獲得的精神支持不容低估，因為當(dāng)他們看到其他人正在這個地區(qū)做著與自己同樣的事情，并且獲得了成功，他們就會意識到，自己并不孤單?！?/p>

????法德爾和法克哈拉尼都認(rèn)為，現(xiàn)在中東地區(qū)的創(chuàng)業(yè)風(fēng)剛剛刮起。實際上，來自當(dāng)?shù)睾推渌貐^(qū)的機(jī)構(gòu)已經(jīng)舉辦過數(shù)百場創(chuàng)業(yè)大賽，未來還會出現(xiàn)更多。法德爾說：“成功造就成功。這是最基本的數(shù)學(xué)常識?！?/p>

????克里斯多夫?M?施羅德@cmschroed是華盛頓特區(qū)和紐約的企業(yè)家、風(fēng)險投資家，以及在線內(nèi)容與社交平臺初創(chuàng)企業(yè)healthcentral.com的前任CEO。去年一月，施羅德出手了這家網(wǎng)站。目前，他正在撰寫一本關(guān)于中東地區(qū)科技初創(chuàng)企業(yè)的新書，預(yù)計將在2013年出版。

????譯者：劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓

????The winner of $200,000, Bey2ollak, is a six-person team taking on one of the most vexing problems in Egypt – traffic. It offers a crowd-sourced traffic information service and mobile app to track all major roads in Cairo and Alexandria. "I could not believe my eyes as I spent a day meeting with the finalists," says Mohammed Gawdat, Vice President of Google (GOOG) in Southern and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. "The passion, the energy, freedom of expression, thought leadership and the healthy disregard for the impossible blew me away. I felt as if I were spending the day with Googlers."

????Do these competitions matter? "We believe that the Internet is a net contributor to the economy in the region and in Egypt," notes Fakharany, "But it is also the best kept secret. We spent $200,000 in this one, but we are committed to spend another $2.3 m over the next couple of years. The face of Egypt can be changed through technology."

????Fadel believes that a connectedness created in gatherings like these help foster further innovation, just as it does in the U.S. "Being an entrepreneur is, by definition a lonely thing," she says. "The odds of failure are great. One cannot underestimate the importance of mental support to startups when participating because they realize that they are not the only ones working hard in this region when they see others like them doing the same and succeeding."

????Both Fadel and Fakharany believe we are in the earliest days of this startup boom in the Middle East. Global and local institutions, in fact, have been hosting hundreds of competitions throughout the region, and more will come. "Success breeds success," says Fadel. "It's just basic math."

????Christopher M. Schroeder @cmschroed is a Washington, D.C. and New York-based entrepreneur, venture investor and former CEO of the online content and social platform start-up healthcentral.com, which he sold last January. He is writing a book about tech start-ups in the Middle East due Spring 2013.