Syrian-Americans are trying to launch the technological industry in Syria: NPR

Damascus, Syria – Abdulwahab Omira, as a teenager, saved the civil war as a young man, after witnessing the terrible violations of the past.

Now the US citizen has recently returned to Syria as a budding entrepreneur of a budding industry, which helps to start equilibrating in the 14-year destructive conflict.

President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in December, but Syria still violates violence spasms, as well as millions of citizens who lost their homes, and their own citizens who have lives and the most important citizens. However, a recent technological conference, which brings together a random work glare, a recent technological conference, which brings together hundreds of young Syrians, and the number of Syrian-Americans, including Omira in the Seraton Hotel Honey Hall.

“Everyone is excited. We want to build. We want to do something for our country,” he said.

At the event, synchronization synchronization: Syria was called by Syria, Syrian-American technologists and entrepreneurs Explore the ways that the technique can help to recreate Syria. Like everyone at the conference, Omira admitted amazing problems.

“There is no infrastructure, there is no electricity, there is no water, there is no internet,” he said. “It’s an event for shower.”

Omira, his own experience taught him and said that many Syrians learned the same lesson.

Arrested at the age of 14

Like a well-known young man in Damascus, he studied high-cancer rates in an area of ​​the Syrian government’s nuclear waste.

O offered a new method Waste management and patented patents at the age of 14. This was followed by an invitation to be honored at the Presidential Palace in 2012.

However, before, the members of the Omira feared the members of the intelligence service one day. The Omira worked with a professor on the Nuclear Waste Project and documented a document on the nuclear program. When security forces found the paper, they threw Oiran in prison.

The practice was made.

“They said that they were to heat and kill them under torture, how they killed them.” “There was a different topic to kill each room. There are very terrible things to kill, here are like three rooms where they killed people with a chain.”

Omira said he did not physically hurt. But if he was arrested again, “You will choose one of those rooms.”

It was released in two months and his family was time to leave Syria. The Syrian Civil War erupted a year ago, in 2011 a year ago, wanted to escape millions, and more clearly, it became clear that no one in the country is not safe.

The Omira family went to a tent in a refugee camp in the neighboring neighboring neighboring, a few years in a prosperous life in Damascus. Finally, they lowered it to the United States in 2016 to Chicago.

But Oira did not speak English or have a valid high school diploma. Secondary school equivalent, received a GED certificate and studied until the Admission exam in ACT College in Stanford.

Last year, he ended with a degree of computer science and now the master’s artificial intelligence.

A technological starting was called FericiDesigned to help farmers and elsewhere in Syria. During his last visit to Syria, he met with technological students at seven universities across the country.

Abdulwahab Oira (left in the dark costume and the center left in the red tie) in Syria, Ahmad Al-Shara (in the blue suit) stands next to Syria. Omira and other Syrian Americans will talk about the president to help the reconstruction of Syria.

Abdulwahabab

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Using technique to reset a broken country

You can still overcome obstacles.

There is a daily problem to get electricity and internet connection for beginners. Many young Syrian technology students want to learn more about AI. However, as US products, Chatgpt, are not easily available in terms of US comprehensive sanctions. Thus, the Syrians say Deepseek learned the Chinese model.

US sanctions were applied to Syria’s long dictator, Assad and his regime. It was overthrown in December, but sanctions were not lifted and will never be at a time.

This was a repetitive topic in the last technical conference.

“Now sanctions are very banned. The banking system has been separated from the rest of the world. Like people, they will never be able to invest in Syria until these sanctions are removed,” the banking said. Mama is a chairA Syrian-American and a technological investor from Southern California, which organizes the conference.

Still, the goal is to join the technological society of Syria, so isolated during the war.

“Something about Syrians is very socially connected to each other,” said Chakaki. “All of us have not been able to wait for the chances of getting together and 12,000 connections in LinkedIn. Thus, I have 12,000 connections in LinkedIn.”

700 people took part in the recent technological conference in Damascus in Damascus. Most were Syria and Syria-American. According to war and sanctions, the Syrian technological industry has been isolated by years. The country continues to fight basic services such as electricity.

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When Abdulwahabab He returned to Syria, he visited the old family house in the capital destroyed by the warrior.

“I went to my room. I drilled my memories. Then I found a computer science book I was in the seventh grade.” “How to use the Internet, how to use the keyboard, how to use the PC.”

Omira has been a long way since then. He concluded his journey from the refugee to the Stanford student until the Tech entrepreneur.

“The United States is definitely the land of opportunity. If you put 100%, you get 100%,” he said. “You will receive 10% in Turkey, you will probably get 10%. If you leave 100% in Syria, you are put to prison.”

Hope to write a new formula for a new Syria.

NPR’s Jawad Rizkallah contributed to this report.