CCS students win second place in reg’l hackathon
Team Shrec of the Silliman University College of Computer Studies wins second place in the Cebu Interschool Hackathon. (From left: Asst. Prof. Joy Dy, Cloyd Abad, CIBO Executive Director Buddy Villasis [back], Sheikha Encabo, and Earlan Josh Sabillano)
By creating a platform where citizens can lodge complaints, three students from the Silliman University (SU) College of Computer Studies (CCS) bagged the second prize in the Cebu Interschool Hackathon (CIH), held at the Social Hall of Cebu City Hall on June 7, 2024.
Team Shrec, comprising Cloyd Abad, Earlan Josh Sabillano, and Sheikha Encabo, developed the “SpeakOut” app, which aims to provide emergency response, prevent crime, and monitor community safety.
Sabillano said: “As the theme was ‘Smart City Initiatives: Harnessing AI to Tackle Urban Challenges,’ we settled on an app idea we call ‘Speak Out!’ It attempts to be the one-stop complaints website for people to speak out their concerns about their city in a less structured manner than what we’re are used to. All the user has to do is type and describe their issue in a sentence or two. We want to eliminate that friction and intimidation that comes from needing to search the government unit responsible, their contact details, and the process of having to describe and explain the situation through email, forms, hotline, or whatever is provided.”
The team worked with two mentors. Asst. Prof. Joy Dy, dean of CCS, served as their coach and Ms. Cristina Joaquino, software development engineer of FPT Software Philippines Corporation, their industry mentor.
“Our mentors discussed with us various social issues that we could possibly tackle with our app. Gathering our mentors’ suggestions and advice, our hipster, Earlan Josh Sabillano, spearheaded brainstorming sessions where we discussed the possible design of our output,” Encabo said.
Each member of the team played a specific role: Albada served as hacker, Sabillano as hipster, and Encabo as hustler.
Aldaba clarified that these are the core roles that make up a tech startup. “The hacker’s role is to develop the idea into a working app. The hipster’s role, in the case of our team, is tasked on the ideation of the product or service. Lastly, the hustler is tasked with convincing the market to use or buy our app,” he explained.
In short, the hacker’s role is to code, the hipster to design, and the hustler to pitch.
According to Aldaba, there is value to their app because it helps solve problems and can potentially benefit millions of people.
Their app allows citizens to file a complaint, civil or criminal, in English, Tagalog, or Cebuano. From all the complaints compiled, a heat map is generated, and complaints are categorized by urgency, location, and responding government unit. Complainants will get updates or feedbacks about their complaints.
The government will also benefit from the app because its different units receive the classified complaints, allowing them to provide timely and appropriate responses. It also provides the shortest route towards the complainant in case physical response is needed.
ABOUT THE HACKATHON
CIH aimed to promote teamwork and motivate young students to address real-world challenges using technology.
Team Shrec and Team LostPlays represent Silliman University in the Cebu Interschool Hackathon.
The teams were given several challenges to choose from, including urgent concerns in the following categories: traffic management, water management, waste management, flood management, public health, education access, economic development, safety and security, environmental sustainability, housing and infrastructure, and community engagement.
Each team was given 12 hours to develop and present its proposed applications to a panel of judges who are industry leaders, technology experts, and academics. All teams had access to state-of-the-art tools and mentorship from seasoned experts.
The event was organized by the Cebu ITBPM Organization (CIB.0) in partnership with the Cebu City Government through the offices of Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia and Councilor Jaypee Labella.
TIGHT COMPETITION
Twenty teams from different universities in the region competed for the P60,000 grand prize. Among the participating schools aside from SU are the University of the Philippines-Cebu, whose team was declared champion; Cebu Technological University, whose team bagged third place; Cebu Institute of Technology; University of San Carlos, University of San Jose-Recoletos, University of Cebu, University of Southern Philippines, Foundation University, Southwestern University, Cebu Technological University, Benedicto College, and Negros Oriental State University.
Another team from Silliman was LostPlays, with members, Gian Tan, Ald James Teves, and Rynz Daval. Coached by Engr. Leonardo John Pansipansi
and mentored by Mr. Emmanuel Agcopra, software development engineer of FPT Software Philippines Corporation, the team presented, “TrabahoMe,” a one stop platform for job seekers looking for manual labor jobs or TESDA trade skill jobs like plumbers, electricians, bakers, etc.
