AI in Oman

July is here and Oman's technology calendar is now in motion. After weeks of previews and early-bird signups, three major events are confirmed inside the Sultanate this month, and the high-stakes prototype phase of MTCIT's national AI competition is just beginning. This is your confirmed, action-ready guide to what is happening in Muscat in July 2026, with venue details, contact information, and registration guidance for each event.

🤖 1. MTCIT "Engineer It with AI" Competition: Entering the Prototype Phase

The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology launched its national AI development competition in May, offering up to RO 13,000 in prizes for teams building real-world applications with agentic AI. According to Muscat Daily, the program accepted up to 25 teams of four members each, with an in-person bootcamp hosted at the ministry's Muscat headquarters.

That bootcamp closed on July 2. Teams now move into the prototype presentation phase, scheduled for late July, before entering an advanced development cycle through August. Final presentations are set for August 24-25, with winners announced on September 6.

Registration for this cohort is closed. Observers, potential sponsors, and supporters can follow updates through the MTCIT website. The competition is part of Oman's broader push to cultivate domestic AI application developers, a goal that sits at the center of the government's digital economy strategy under Vision 2040.

🔐 2. Muscat Daily Cybersecurity and Cloud Conference: 3rd Edition (July 15)

The flagship annual cybersecurity conference organized by Interactive Apex and Apex Media returns for its third edition on July 15, 2026 at InterCityHotel Muscat. The event is endorsed by the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology and typically draws 200 to 350 delegates from government, banking, oil and gas, telecom, healthcare, and critical infrastructure sectors.

According to the official conference website, this year's agenda covers:

• AI-assisted cyberattacks and threat intelligence from nation-state actors
• Oman's Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL) compliance requirements
• GCC data protection framework comparisons
• Post-quantum cryptographic defense strategies
• Women's leadership in technology and digitalisation
• Sovereign cybersecurity capabilities and local R&D pathways

The format includes ministerial keynotes, senior panel sessions, a closed-door leadership roundtable, and the Cybersecurity and Cloud Services Excellence Awards. The programme is specifically structured for senior decision-makers including CISOs, CIOs, and CDOs.

This conference carries extra weight given the trajectory of Oman's cybersecurity workforce. As we covered in June, 30 senior cybersecurity professionals recently completed advanced executive-level training as the Sultanate targets a $214 million security market. The CSCC is the venue where those professionals and their organizations engage at the policy and strategy level.

How to Register or Attend

• Delegate registration: cscc-oman.com
• Contact Sajir: sajir@apexmedia.co.om or +968 9947 4314
• Sponsorship and exhibition: malshkaili@interactive-apex.com or +968 9545 6648
• General enquiries: ishvita@interactive-apex.com or +968 9892 4823
• Ticket pricing: Not publicly listed. Contact the organizer directly.

🎓 3. EDUTEX Oman 2026: International Higher Education Exhibition (July 22-24)

The 5th edition of EDUTEX Oman takes place on July 22-24, 2026 at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) in Muscat. Now in its fifth year, the event connects Omani high school graduates with universities and colleges from more than 10 countries, deliberately timed to coincide with the release of national diploma results.

According to the official EDUTEX website, the 2026 edition expects:

• More than 15,000 visitors across three days
• 100+ exhibitors across more than 4,000 sqm of exhibition floor space
• One-to-one live consultation sessions between students and university representatives
• Interactive conference sessions and structured business networking

For technology companies, EDUTEX is a strategic window that does not get enough attention. EdTech platforms, coding bootcamp providers, AI upskilling programs, and university technology faculties all benefit from direct access to 15,000 qualified students at the exact moment they are deciding their next academic step. As Vision 2040 pushes for a knowledge-based economy, this is the supply side of Oman's technology talent pipeline. The team at omanvision2040.com recently explored how 69% of private-sector tech jobs are already held by Omani nationals. Growing that share further starts with events like EDUTEX.

Exhibitor and Visitor Information

• Website: edutex-oman.net
• Phone: +968 9988 1750
• Email: sales@edutex-oman.net
• Venue: OCEC, Muscat
• Visitor admission: Not publicly priced. Contact the organizer for details.

📅 The Autumn Season: Book These Dates Now

July is the warm-up act. Oman's most significant technology events of the year are clustered between September and November. These confirmed dates are worth putting in your calendar now, before exhibitor slots fill.

COMEX is the flagship, and exhibitor slots for September move fast. At 35 editions, it remains Oman's largest technology show by visitor volume. For booth inquiries, contact the organizers directly at comex@oite.com or +968 2456 4303.

🇴🇲 Why This Matters for Oman

July's event lineup reflects a deliberate quality over quantity approach that characterizes how the Sultanate approaches its technology calendar. The CSCC brings together the senior leaders who set cybersecurity budgets and shape policy. EDUTEX feeds the student pipeline that future technology employers depend on. And the MTCIT competition is producing real working prototypes from Omani developers, not pitch decks or proof-of-concept slides.

Together they represent three pillars of Vision 2040 in practice: defensive digital capability, human capital development, and domestic innovation at the application layer. For founders, executives, and policymakers looking to position themselves within Oman's technology ecosystem, participating in these events is not optional networking. It is entry into the decision-making circles that shape where the Sultanate's digital economy goes next.

Oman's banking and startup worlds converged in Muscat on June 25, 2026, as the National Bank of Oman (NBO) wrapped up the second cohort of its flagship Fintech Accelerator Programme. Six early-stage companies took the stage, collectively showcasing solutions that touch every corner of personal and business finance. Three of the six secured investment deals during the programme, with total funding raised across all participating startups reaching up to USD 1.8 million, according to Times of Oman.

Key Takeaways

• Six startups graduated, covering payments, fraud, AI credit, wealth, and personal finance
• Combined investments reached up to USD 1.8 million across the cohort
• Aman, built under Oman's RIA Upgrade Programme, is an automated fraud monitoring platform
• NBO has now graduated 11 fintech startups across two cohorts since 2025
• The programme directly supports Oman Vision 2040's digital economy and financial inclusion goals

🚀 Meet the Six Startups

The second cohort brought together some of the most technically ambitious teams yet seen in Oman's fintech space. Here is a breakdown of each company and what it has built.

The range is notable. Rushd Capital targets Oman's large Muslim-majority market, where demand for Sharia-compliant financial products has historically outpaced supply. Payce is chasing the hospitality sector at a time when Muscat's restaurant and tourism scene is growing fast. CardO addresses a genuine pain point: online card fraud, which the Central Bank of Oman has flagged as a rising concern. Cxingularity uses AI to automate credit decisions, a tool with obvious value for SME lending in a country where MTCIT has been actively pushing to strengthen the local tech sector through programmes like Sas for Excellence.

🛡️ Spotlight: Aman and the RIA Connection

Among the six, Aman stands out for an additional reason. The fraud monitoring platform was developed under the Research and Innovation Authority's (RIA) Upgrade Programme, signalling a growing pipeline between Oman's academic and research institutions and its financial sector. If Aman succeeds commercially, it becomes a proof point for the broader RIA-to-market pipeline that Oman's policymakers have been trying to build for years.

Automated fraud monitoring is also well-timed. As Oman pushes toward a cashless economy following the Central Bank of Oman's decision to make all digital transfers free, the volume of digital transactions will only increase, and with it, the attack surface for fraud.

💰 Funding: $1.8 Million and Three Closed Deals

Three of the six startups secured investment during the programme, and the combined total across all participating companies reached up to USD 1.8 million, as reported by Times of Oman. NBO did not disclose which three startups closed deals or the individual amounts, but the headline figure matters: in Oman's early-stage ecosystem, a $1.8 million cohort outcome signals that investors are paying attention to homegrown fintech.

The programme also delivered softer outcomes: product validation, pilot testing with real customers, and strategic partnerships with established financial institutions. These pre-commercial milestones often determine whether a startup survives its first two years, and NBO's network gave cohort members a credibility boost that money alone cannot buy.

🏦 Building an Ecosystem, One Cohort at a Time

NBO launched its Fintech Accelerator in 2025 with a first cohort of five startups. Adding six more in 2026 brings the total to 11 graduates, a small but meaningful foundation. For context, Oman's fintech sector has historically lagged behind the UAE and Bahrain, which both have more mature regulatory sandboxes and deeper venture capital ecosystems.

NBO's model is different from a pure VC play. As a commercial bank, NBO has a vested interest in the startups it backs: better fraud tools, smoother payments, and smarter credit decisioning all reduce NBO's own operating costs while growing the customer base. It is a mutually reinforcing dynamic that aligns bank incentives with startup success.

The Central Bank of Oman's own fintech accelerator and regulatory sandbox provide additional infrastructure. When a startup graduates from NBO's programme, it enters a market with a functioning sandbox, a digitally active consumer base thanks to CBO's cashless push, and a government that has publicly committed to growing fintech as part of the national digital economy roadmap.

🇴🇲 Why This Matters for Oman

Oman's Vision 2040 framework explicitly targets diversification away from oil, with the digital economy earmarked as one of the key engines of that shift. Fintech sits at the intersection of finance and technology: it creates jobs that require skills Omani universities are increasingly producing, it generates fee income that stays in the local economy, and it improves financial inclusion for citizens who may not have used formal banking services.

The NBO Demo Day is not a single flashy event. It is a data point in a longer trend. Oman has run government-backed AI competitions, launched sovereign cloud infrastructure, opened a dedicated AI Special Zone, and funded local tech firms. As noted in the Oman Vision 2040 review of completed infrastructure projects this year, the country is consistently moving from planning to execution.

Fintech may be less visible than a data centre or an AI zone, but in many ways it is more broadly felt. When a small restaurant owner in Muscat uses Payce to split bills, or when a young Omani professional uses Bayzati to manage savings, the digital economy stops being an abstraction and becomes a daily reality.

NBO's commitment to a third cohort has not been announced yet, but with 11 graduates and USD 1.8 million in cohort-two investment, the model has earned its next iteration.