INJAZ Bahrain recently held its 2017 National Company Competition and Annual Appreciation Ceremony at The Crowne Plaza Hotel where Gulf Air, the Kingdom of Bahrain’s national carrier, was honoured for its support in developing Signlent – the first instant messaging mobile application in the region exclusively designed to serve the hard of hearing. The application was jointly created by a team from Al Estiqlal Secondary Girls School garnering them the “High School Company for Best Social Impact 2017” award.
Her Highness Shaikha Hessa Bint Khalifa Al Khalifa, Executive Director of INJAZ Bahrain presented awards to the winning teams while also thanking INJAZ Bahrain’s partners – including Gulf Air. The airline’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Maher Salman Al Musallam currently serves on the board of INJAZ Bahrain, and members of the airline’s workforce regularly volunteer to support and inform students in schools across the Kingdom, delivering a number of INJAZ Bahrain’s programs.
Gulf Air Chief Executive Officer Mr Maher Salman Al Musallam said: “As the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, one of our goals is to strengthen the knowledge and skills of young Bahrainis by supporting organizations created for this purpose. The Signlent application which was developed with the support of members of the airline’s IT division saw us actively encourage critical thinking and practical abilities to deliver a product that will serve our larger community. I’m delighted that the young minds behind this were celebrated today and honoured that our national carrier supported them.”
Gulf Air and Al Estiqlal Secondary Girls School’s Signlent application comes with an easy to use chat feature and a keyboard specifically designed and based on the sign language alphabet.