The "2023 Presidential Hackathon" winning team has been revealed. This year, 60 works in total from 34 nations were submitted, and two exceptional teams were ultimately chosen. They are the Thai team "Refill City" and the Taiwanese and Indian team "HysonTech" that created “Re-Fill City app,” an app to promote the reuse of plastic water bottles" and a "smart breeding system" proposal, respectively. Members of the two teams also attended the award ceremony at the Office of the President on September 24.
Taiwan-India and Thailand were the two excellent teams of the 2023 Presidential Hackathon, respectively.Photo provided by Taipei Computer Association
Since its beginning in 2019, according to the Ministry of Digital Affairs (MODA), the Presidential Hackathon has reached its fifth year. The event's goal is to inspire partners in global democracy to employ open data, cross-domain collaboration, and original thought to solve pressing societal problems. This year, a record number of applications from several nations were received, bringing attention to the topics of democracy, digitization, and net-zero, which have received considerable worldwide interest. Two sets of exceptional teams were ultimately chosen by committee members from various nations this year.
MODA made note of the "FarmABetterFish" smart farming system created by the HysonTech team combining the Internet and artificial intelligence. It is anticipated that this will decrease transaction risks, enhance productivity, cut labor costs for fishermen, and apply the idea of sustainable development of marine resources.
The Refill City team created a fun "Re-Fill City app" and worked with businesses and merchants to promote the reuse of plastic water bottles through advertising, tax breaks, and free clean drinking water in order to support the environmental sustainability.
After several years of dedication to the Presidential Hackathon, President Tsai Ing-wen stated in her speech at the award ceremony that not only had the percentage of public sector participation in proposals increased year by year, but also that numerous award-winning projects had been launched one after another, increasing the effectiveness of the governance. She believes that in the future, counties and cities would be given priority while considering the bids of excellent teams.
