The Asean Foundation and software company SAP open the applications for the Asean Data Science Explorers (ASEANDSE) 2019 encouraging tertiary students across all 10 member states in the region to harness the power of data to help solve the most pressing developmental issues.

The ASEANDSE is a flagship program borne out of the partnership of the Asean Foundation and SAP, which aims to galvanize youth activism among students in the Asean. It hopes to increase the youth’s information and communication technology competencies and transform them into innovators, who are capable of delivering data-driven recommendations and solutions that help contribute to the achievement of Asean Community’s goals.

The competition will be carried out from February to October 2019, kickstarting with informative enablement sessions organized for students and lecturers in local institutions of higher learning across all 10 Asean member states to improve their data analytics’ skills and knowledge. The enablement sessions will then be followed with a national and regional data analytics competition where successful youth applicants will converge to present data-driven proposals which highlight issues in Asea across six UN Sustainable Development Goals: good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, and sustainable cities and communities utilizing SAP’s Analytics Cloud software.

Students are required to form teams of two to register for the competition and submit their proposals. One participating team from each member state will stand a chance to be crowned as the national finalist before advancing to compete in the regional finals. At the highest honor of the regional finals, the 10 national finalists will be given the opportunity to present their winning ideas to a panel of judges which consists of distinguished representatives from the Asean Foundation, SAP, and various government officials and selected NGO organizations. Coinciding with Thailand’s Asean Chairmanship in 2019, this year’s regional finals will be held in Bangkok on Oct. 16. The call for applications for the ASEANDSE 2019 will close on May 10, 2019.

The initiative integrates two key activities, which are a series of enablement sessions and a data analytics competition, to achieve its objective. Since its introduction in 2017, the ASEANDSE has empowered over 5,000 youths from 287 higher education institutions in the region and has been recognized by 10 Asean leaders, Senior Officials Meeting on Youth (SOMY), and Senior Officials Meeting on Education (SOMED) for its contribution to youth development.

For further information about the ASEAN Data Science Explorers, please visit the website or email aseandse@sap.com.