MANILA, Philippines – Finalists in this year's #HackSociety pitched their innovative solutions and creative ideas during the semi-final round held on Friday, September 15.
Rappler, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is holding #HackSociety, a two-day hackathon on September 14 and 15, that aims to crowdsource "hacks" or innovative solutions. (READ: #HackSociety 2017: Innovate with purpose, leave no one behind)
The finalists, selected from over a hundred crowdsourced hacks, presented ideas for projects and apps that aim to use technology to solve social problems and help ensure that in the Philippines, no one will be left behind.
Day 1 saw the finalists refining their ideas through workshops and tips from expert mentors. (READ: HIGHLIGHTS: #HackSociety Day 1)
Here are the highlights from Day 2 of #HackSociety.
Pitching sessions
The finalists were each given 5 minutes to present their ideas and how these can help solve problems in 4 key areas: media and democracy; peace, governance and local development; environment and climate change; and public health and wellbeing.
The media and democracy group presented ideas to help marginalized sectors of society, such as persons with disabilities (PWDs), and helping ordinary people understand complex legal processes. (READ: #HackSociety 2017: Using tech to help the marginalized)
The peace and governance group, meanwhile, wants to help connect Filipinos to their government and improve collaboration between the two. (READ: #HackSociety 2017: 5 ideas for better governance in the PH)
For the group on environment and climate change, their ideas focused on promoting agriculture and managing waste to promote a zero-waste lifestyle among Filipinos.
Addressing mental health and hunger were just some of the ideas presented by the group on public health. They aim to use technology to make an impact on Filipinos' wellbeing.
Standout ideas
At the end of the pitching session, one winner from each of the 4 themes was selected.
The winning ideas were:
- LawKo for media and democracy
- Tuto Club for peace, governance, and local development
- Phinix Textile Recycling for environment and climate change
- Arooga Health for public health and wellbeing
The finalists are set to pitch their ideas during Social Good Summit 2017 on Saturday, September 16. – Rappler.com