Every so often, we hear things like “Eh ‘di ikaw na ang gumawa!” or “Mas marunong ka pa sa’kin, eh!” when we try to offer unsolicited advice or solutions. Admittedly, it tends to be easier to navigate when you’re not in the driver’s seat.
It’s an entirely different story, though, when the driver asks for your help. And offers to reward you for it, to boot.
On its official Facebook page, the National Government Portal (GOV.PH) formally launched Hack4PH: The 1st Philippine e-Government Innovation Challenge. It is a nationwide competition that seeks innovative individuals with effective solutions for the problems our country faces today.
What is Hack4PH?
The Hack4PH initiative seeks “out-of-the-box solutions” that can make the vision of a secure and prosperous society under a clean and efficient government come true.
A total of 20 teams will have 40 hours to develop game-changing and sustainable solutions addressing these four challenges:
Hack2Work: Making Telecommuting Work
Rooted in culture, Filipino families live together. Traffic jams, however, rob us of the opportunity to enjoy our time with families and friends. Millions endure the pains of daily commuting and spend the equivalent of 16 days a year stuck in traffic jams, costing up to PhP 3.5 billion a day of lost income opportunities.
Can you help us optimize the use of digital technologies to achieve a healthy work-life balance? How can we make telecommuting work so that people can have more time for meaningful relationships and worthwhile community involvement?
Hack2Live: Achieving Zero Hunger
The Philippines is home to vast fertile lands and rich fishing grounds. Despite this promising abundance, however, the country faces the test of feeding its growing population. In the second quarter of 2018, 2.2 million families still felt hunger. This situation is further worsened by food wastage, both at the production and consumption levels.
Can you help us figure out why food ends up in the trash instead of stomachs — and how can we make food available, accessible, and affordable for all?
Hack2Learn: Digitizing Public Information
In recent years, there has been a growing clamor to fight corruption and eliminate bureaucratic red tape. Last May 2018, the Ease of Doing Business law was passed to simplify requirements and streamline procedures across the government. Despite this significant leap, however, a vast collection of public records still remains undigitized and inaccessible to the public.
How can an ordinary citizen collect and extract meaningful information across complex and incomprehensible information sources? Can we make information easily understandable and readily accessible to the public?
Hack2Play: Enriching Travel Experience
With an all-time high of 6.6 million visitors this year, the country aims to be a top tourist destination in Asia. The booming tourism sector, however, is still grappling with infrastructure and connectivity challenges, as evidenced by a congested and unintegrated network of airport, seaport, roads and railways.
How can we make travel hassle-free, seamless, and secure? Can you help us track vast, real-time data on mass travel and tourism to improve competitiveness, ensure inclusive mobility, and build sustainable communities?
Why join Hack4PH?
Simple: Aside from getting a crack at personally tackling these issues, you and your team could win Php 100,000! You’ll also receive support from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in realizing your idea. Also, registration is free, so joining won’t cost you a thing.
How to join Hack4PH
First, you don’t need coding experience to participate in this. In fact, this contest is open to everyone except officials and employees of the DICT and its event partners. You may either form a team of three to five members or go solo.
Simply fill out the registration form, which you can access by clicking here. You have until October 30 to join. Qualifiers will be revealed on November 3, and will need to participate in a pre-Hackathon workshop on November 10 at the Audio-Visual Room of the DICT Building, C.P. Garcia Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City.
The actual Hackathon will take place from November 23 to 25, and the pitching and awarding ceremony will be on November 26.
To get updates, follow these hashtags: #Hack4PH #NGP #DICT
For inquiries, you may visit facebook.com/nationalgovernmentportal or contact Mr. Florante Galura Jr. at fdgalura@dict.gov.ph.
References
- The Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022. http://www.neda.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Abridged-PDP-2017-2022_Updated-as-of-01052018.pdf. National Economic and Development Authority. Pasig City, Philippines
- Downloadable Brochures of AmBisyon Natin 2040. http://www.neda.gov.ph/2018/02/14/ambisyon-natin-2040-brochures/ National Economic and Development Authority. Pasig City, Philippines
- Dancel, Raul. Filipinos spend 16 days a year struck in traffic according to study. https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-asia/filipinos-spend-16-days-a-year-stuck-in-traffic-study. 28 November 2017. Straits Times
- Flores, Helen. SWS: 22 million Filipino families experienced hunger in Quarter 2. https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/07/24/1836267/sws-22-million-filipino-families-experienced-hunger-q2. 24 July 2018. The Philippine Star
- Tourist Arrivals in the Philippines hit 6.6 million in 2017. http://www.bworldonline.com/tourist-arrivals-philippines-hit-6-6-million-2017/. 09 February 2018. Business World Online
Author: Mikael Angelo Francisco
Bitten by the science writing bug, Mikael has years of writing and editorial experience under his belt. As the editor-in-chief of FlipScience, Mikael has sworn to help make science more fun and interesting for geeky readers and casual audiences alike.
