The tech competition could easily have taken place in Silicon Valley. The winning team designed a 3D printer with the basic tools and materials available. The runners-up developed a smartphone application to help users find the nearest pharmacy and a game that teaches kids about electronic circuits.

A few of the projects suggested this wasn’t your usual techie gathering, however. One app offered ways to get through the ruins of a bombed-out city. Another helped users get in touch with refugee organizations.

The scene for this juxtaposition between cutting-edge technology and the primeval quest for survival: Syria’s Damascus Technology Garden, which in February hosted its first Startup Weekend since the country descended into civil war three years ago.

The event offered a sharp reminder that technology is helping transform a region that many in the West have long dismissed as a social and economic basket case. Across the Middle East, entrepreneurs and their startups are striving to offer an economic future to the region’s overwhelmingly youthful population, while helping to foster social and political change.