Alexandria (IraqiNews.com) – Iraq’s “Ibda’ Club for Smart Skills” captured first place at the 17th Arab Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Championship held in Alexandria, Egypt, securing an unprecedented third consecutive continental title for the Iraqi team following previous championship victories in Jordan in 2024 and Tunisia in 2025.
Competing against more than 260 participants representing institutions across the Arab world, the delegation distinguished itself as an integrated family-led unit that combined technical training, project innovation, and accredited international adjudication.
The Iraqi delegation was led by senior software architect Firas Nizar Kareem, who served as head coach and project supervisor, directing a competitive team composed of his children: Maryam, Mohammed, and Ridha. Complementing the technical lineup, Alia Abdul-Hussein Lafteh and Zahra Firas Nizar participated in the regional tournament as certified international judges, creating a six-member delegation representing Iraq across the judging and competitive tiers.
Speaking to media agencies, Kareem traced the club’s championship trajectory back to the 13th edition of the competition in 2022, where the team earned its first international accolade in the ball-collection robotics challenge.
The club subsequently shifted its engineering focus toward the championship’s premier Innovation Category, clinching first place in Jordan in 2024, defending its crown in Tunisia in 2025, and completing the historic hat-trick with the 2026 victory in Alexandria.
While past campaigns were often self-funded by the family—supplemented intermittently by backing from Al-Ghadeer Real Estate Investment Company and the Holy Shrine of Imam Hussain—the Alexandria championship drive was sponsored by the Iraqi Syndicate of Programmers.
Building on the victory, the club is currently coordinating with the Syndicate to roll out youth training initiatives in coding, robotics, and applied artificial intelligence aimed at nurturing young Iraqi technical talent for future international competitions.