National Youth Championship – Tech Edition: About 300 students compete in the largest AI drone competition among youths in Singapore

1. The National Youth Tech Championship (NYTC) returned in 2024 with an even bigger and bolder approach, leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to engage and inspire young minds. This premier national youth tech competition, jointly organised by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and Google Cloud, has attracted 300 student participants this year, marking a 30 per cent increase from last year’s 230 students.

NYTC 2024: Singapore’s largest AI drone competition

2. This year’s NYTC placed a stronger focus on equipping students with AI coding capabilities. The training for this year’s competition also covered relevant AI concepts such as machine learning, Generative AI and discerning deep fakes.

3. Reflecting the technology’s rapid maturity, NYTC 2024 competitors’ application of AI was more advanced than last year. Participants leveraged Google Cloud’s Vertex AI to create autonomous drone systems capable of performing complex tasks in various environments. This has the potential to unlock new possibilities and use cases for drones across a broad range of industries, aligning with the goals of the National AI Strategy 2.0 (NAIS 2.0) to use AI for public good.

4. The competition was held at IMDA and the Google Asia Pacific campus from 29 June to 19 July 2024. Over six weeks, about 300 student participants progressively developed AI skills, learnt to code in Python, and picked up machine learning concepts. As part of their training, the teams also had the opportunity to take home a drone and attend virtual training sessions for additional learning. Subsequently, they utilised their newly acquired tech expertise to pilot their drones autonomously. Students also learned to strategise and work as a team throughout the competition.

5. NYTC 2024 culminated in today’s finals at Our Tampines Hub, featuring a new "ninja warrior" obstacle course. The top two teams battled it out in an AI drone derby where they demonstrated strong AI and problem-solving skills, agility, resilience and teamwork to fly their drones autonomously through the obstacle course. Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information, who was the Guest-of-Honour at the event, stood alongside over 500 spectators - comprising students, teachers, friends and families of the participants - to show their support for the teams.

6. The four teams that emerged as the NYTC 2024 champions were Raffles Institution (first place), Dunman High School (second place), Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) (third place), and Damai Secondary School (fourth place). Following a victory parade, the winning teams were presented with their prizes at the awards ceremony by Minister Josephine Teo. After the competition, they will gain further exposure to tech through a week-long stint at IMDA, including an immersive experience at Google Cloud.

7. Ms Doreen Tan, Assistant Chief Executive of Strategic Planning and Digital Readiness at IMDA, said, "We are excited to bring NYTC back this year, in collaboration with Google Cloud, for our students from the Infocomm Media Clubs. No coding background was needed to join the competition, and we worked with Google Cloud to train the students over six weeks. The students learnt fast and well. The sophistication they demonstrated throughout this Championship, in this fully autonomous drone competition with no manual intervention, is amazing. We look forward to welcoming the top four winning teams at IMDA, where they can continue learning and gain further exposure to tech.”

8. Ms Serene Sia, Country Director, Singapore, Google Cloud said: "NYTC 2024 showcases the incredible potential of AI to inspire young minds and drive innovation. We are proud to partner with IMDA to equip Singapore's youth with the AI skills they need to become the next generation of tech leaders. The sophisticated AI skills demonstrated at this year's competition are a testament to the creativity and technical expertise of these students."

9. This year’s competition was filmed in partnership with Titan Media and aired as an online series on YouTube for friends and families of the participants as well as the public to support these students and follow their journey throughout the competition as they acquired new AI skills and applied them to challenge one another. Throughout the series, IMDA also helped to recap key AI concepts that were taught in each episode. Watch the online series at https://www.youtube.com/@TEAMTITANOFFICIAL.

Infocomm Media Clubs (IMC) programme empowers youths to deepen learning and gain exposure

10. The NYTC is part of IMDA’s Infocomm Media Clubs (IMC) programme and provides a platform for its members to learn, excel, and be recognised for their achievements. IMDA’s IMC programme provides an enriching Co-Curricular Activity experience for its members across Ministry of Education primary and secondary schools and junior colleges, as well as the Millennia Institute. The programme helps students who are interested to develop deeper expertise in tech to do so, by providing more exposure and equipping them with tech skills, including real-world applications of tech and media. Through the NYTC and other activities under the IMC programme, IMDA will continue to enrich and excite our youths in their tech and media journey. For more information on the IMC programme, please refer to https://codesg.imda.gov.sg/infocomm-media-clubs.