January 25, 2017 Headline, National
| Lyna Mohamad |
PEHIN Datu Singamanteri Colonel (Rtd) Dato Seri Setia (Dr) Awang Haji Mohammad Yasmin bin Haji Umar, the Minister of Energy and Industry at the Prime Minister’s Office, officiated the launching of the 1st National ICT Hackathon yesterday at the Design and Technology Building in Kg Anggerek Desa.
To be held for two months, B{CODE} is the first national ICT hackathon competition to be held in Brunei Darussalam.
The event which will run until March 8, 2017 is jointly organised by the e-Government National Centre and the Energy and Industry Department at the Prime Minister’s Office, in collaboration with Microsoft (Brunei) Sdn Bhd.
The event brings innovators, developers and key stakeholders together to collaboratively solve real world challenges. It aims to encourage innovation, stimulate ideas and drive creativity by coming up with solutions to challenges the country is facing through the use of ICT.
Nine themes will be addressed through the competition, namely Brunei Communication Hub, Crowdfunding, Intelligent Emergency Response, Talent Search Centre, Interactive/Dynamic Open Data Platform, Property Guide, Public Transportation, Local Tourism and Brunei Fitness.
The competition is implemented in two stages.
In stage ‘Idea-thon’, each team will be required to provide ideas, suggestions and concepts on how to address the issues stated in the themes while in ‘Appa-thon’ stage, successful teams will then be required to develop mobile or web application based on their ideas in ‘Idea-thon’.
More than 150 participants including students from higher education institutions, businesses, as well as members of the public are participating in the competition.
The prizes include a start-up grant of up to BND20,000.00, one-month mentorship at Microsoft (Brunei) and six-month access to the facilities provided at the iCentre.
It is hoped that the competition will foster sustainable solutions to the concerns faced by our society, thus encouraging businesses and the public to develop their ideas and suggestions on how to solve these problems.
It also aims to encourage the public-private partnership in the development of ICT and creating new opportunities for local industries in the ICT sector.
Managing Director of Microsoft Brunei, Mohamed Afif bin Mohamed Ali in his remarks at the launch said that B{CODE} adopts the People-First approach which means capturing the power and purpose of people in government, people in business and people in the country to create healthier, greener, safer, more dynamic and successful place to live as we work together towards the Brunei Vision 2035.
“People say that ‘the only constant thing is change’ and that’s the essence of human relationship with technology. We would need to unlock the mobility of human experience. That’s what we’re trying to build. People are mobile, not device.”
Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
