Eastern Communications in partnership with the Philippine Society of Information Technology Educators (PSITE) has launched the Eastern Playground — a virtual hackathon for Filipino students aimed at cultivating the next batch of innovators and disruptors.
This initiative seeks to bring together programs that are designed for nation-building, improving the lives of Filipinos, and answering pandemic-related needs. Interested participants can register online until 13 October 2021, with a maximum of five (05) members in Senior High School or College Level.
All entries will be evaluated based on the accessibility of the project, on top of the concept itself. Programs must instill the concept of deep-dive thinking with feasibility studies and must have commercial appeal.
“We are excited to officially launch Eastern Playground and we envision this to be one of the most coveted annual events among students. We want to inspire and empower the new generation of disruptors who are driven to thrive in an increasingly digital economy,” according to Eastern Communications Product and Innovation Head Edsel Paglinawan.
The hackathon will have two (02) 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.
- Finally, 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%).
Winners will be announced via Eastern’s Social Media channels and PSITE website and Viber community on 25 November 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.
“On behalf of Eastern Communications and the entire PSITE, we invite the students to be part of the disruption and create solutions that will be of great use to our community. We look forward to their proposals and we hope that this will encourage the youth to be fearless and think digital for a stronger tomorrow,” said PSITE NCR Chapter President Dr. Samuel Chua.
The full Eastern Playground hackathon mechanics and registration is available online via https://easternplayground.com.ph/.