MANILA, Philippines – Simple ideas, if executed correctly, can contribute to long term solutions for the present day's common and pressing problems.
Different ideas were presented at this year's #HackSociety– an ideathon organized by Rappler and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) that aims to crowdsource different ideas and innovations that can solve the country's problems.
On September 15, 5 groups presented their hacks that target the problem of peace, development and local governance of the country.
BUILD is an application designed to provide an improved bidding experience and opportunity for users by merging private organization and government organization together.
By implementing the application, it aims to break the wall that congests bidding networks in specific areas giving equal opportunities for small-scale and large-scale businesses without the limitation of distance.
To ensure credibility, a user of the application must pre-register first to filter legitimate buyers and sellers.
Similar to buy and sell groups, it features a tracking system and feedback tool for smoother and transparent transactions.
Tuto Club seeks to utilize the internet and create an alternative classroom for the 3.5 million out of school youth and children.
By partnering with the best teachers in the country, the team proposes to record their lessons and tap local governments to help flash it on projector screens to enable out of school "students" to continue learning.
The team believes that simple solutions can solve complex problems like the lack of education. The offline school only need limited resources such as the internet, camera, white screen, and projector to leave no one uneducated.
An application that can bind people and the government – this is what InterLinkPh seeks to achieve.
The application aims to solve the problem of every Filipino who continues to have limited access to government information.
The proposed solution is an application-based system that has a hiereachy chart of government officials including their corresponding position, contact details and working assignments to inform the public who to consult for their particular concerns.
It hopes to create a more convenient and efficient way of accessing information without having to go through second-hand information from other people.
Instead of going back and forth in a specific government agency, the application will enable the user to directly contact the person in charge for their concern. It also aims to empower the public with a feature that allows users to rate the performance of specific government employees, holding them accountable.
Through immersing themselves in local communities, the team behind Ugnayan hopes to help one of the most marginalized group of the community – the farmers.
Ugnayan, which means to interconnect or to build networks, aims to literally enable farmers to engage with social service providers in the most convenient and comfortable way.
The application will feature a simple interface using laymanized terms that can serve as a service providing a hub and offline database system for the farmers.
This project will aim to streamline current technologies and social services needed by the farmers to efficiently produce agricultural products.
Through improving the lives of farmers by proving available and accessible farming related social services, the team believes that this will take can reach food sustainability and security.
The team behind Ban Tai Technologies hopes to provide a culture of security amidst the rising crime rates in the country.
Utilizing technology, the project aims to tackle the problem by disrupting surveillance and increasing security access especially in places where there is limited surveillance.
Just like Uber, users of the proposed application can 'book' a drone to connect with a drone owner user. The drone, equipped with camera and GPS, will automatically scan the surrounding environment and accompany the user during an emergency. Hotlines are immediately notified of the necessary information i.e., location, time, etc., while the drones go for immediate response.
It also features a system using only a phone's signal. Users need to only send a message through a certain channel which is received by established posts which carry a signal-information receiver.
When the user alerts a channel, the posts will register the timestamps of the person's signal and address. This is then uploaded and sent to hotlines of hospitals, police or depending on the service needed.
Through maximized participation, the team aims to communicate that even when government authorities or agencies fail to protect you, they can provide the help and security every person deserves. – Rappler.com