Philippine telecommunications Eastern Communications is holding a virtual hackathon for Filipino students, which is aimed to inspire the youth to become innovators and disruptors. The Eastern Playground is a partnership with the Philippine Society of Information Technology Educators (PSITE).

The Eastern Playground hackathon seeks to bring together programs that are designed for nation-building, improvement of the lives of Filipinos, and answering pandemic-related needs. Interested participants can register online until Oct. 13, 2021, with a maximum of five members in Senior High School or College Level.

“We want to inspire and empower the new generation of disruptors who are driven to thrive in an increasingly digital economy,” said Edsel Paglinawan, head, Product and Innovation, Eastern Communications.

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Aside from the concept, the entries will also be evaluated based on the accessibility of the project. Programs must instill the concept of deep-dive thinking with feasibility studies and must have commercial appeal.

Solution

The hackathon will have two rounds. The first round is the pre-screening process where teams must submit their pitch deck and supporting documents that consist of problem description, target market segment, and solution explanation. Upon evaluating all entries, the selection committee will shortlist five schools that will proceed to the next round.

The five remaining groups will submit their 90-second pitch video with a deck explaining their proposal, incorporating their initial outline with a detailed technical overview of the solution, dependencies, timeline, and financial model.

The judging panel will select three winning projects with the following criteria: innovative or digital technology solution (35%), feasibility (20%), impact (35%), and clarity (10%).

Potential employment

Winners will be announced via Eastern’s Social Media channels and PSITE website and Viber community on Nov. 25, 2021. Aside from the cash prizes that await the winners, the opportunity to undergo immersion and training from Eastern Communications and potentially become employed will also be granted to the members of shortlisted teams

Schools or universities of the finalists will also get a free 150-day subscription to Eastern Cloud, a highly customizable cloud platform of Eastern Communications for seamless collaboration and efficiency.

To register and learn more about the full mechanics of Eastern Playground, visit this site.