ASEAN – SAP Southeast Asia and ASEAN Foundation are pleased to announce that Team Catfish from Viet Nam won the ASEAN Data Science Explorers (ASEAN DSE) 2020 competition.
As part of the competition, the top 10 teams representing the 10 ASEAN countries, presented a data-driven solution that supports the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the region. After months of extensive preparation, three teams were named as the winners of the ASEAN DSE 2020:
- [First Place] Team Catfish, comprising Hoa Phung and Thinh Nguyen from RMIT University Vietnam emerged as the champion of ASEAN DSE 2020. Their presentation was focused on People with Disability: Unlocking the economic bottleneck covering SDG 4 – Quality Education and SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth
- [Second Place] Team Halcyon Seraph, comprising Koay Tze Min and Ng Yi Ming from the National University of Singapore and Yale-NUS College took the first runner-up position. Their presentation was focused on ASEAN Women-UP Township Network covering SDG 5 – Gender Equality and SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth
- [Third Place] Team Psyduck, comprising Oscar Fang Jack Ling and Quah Chun Meng from Universiti Teknologi Brunei secured the second runner-up place. Their presentation was focused on Digital Integration – the Key to Growth covering SDG 4 – Quality Education, SDG 8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth, and SDG 11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities.
“The journey of ASEAN Data Science Explorers has taken us from our observations of the surroundings to data-driven solutions, and ultimately actions. From this, we now truly believe that, even as young people, we can contribute to building a better future. And as we’ve said in our presentation: ‘Let’s work together for a future that works,'” said Team Catfish from RMIT University Viet Nam.
“The ASEAN DSE program underpins the cultural diversity that SAP celebrates and embraces in the ASEAN region. Digital skills are essential for the workforce of today and the future. SAP Analytics Cloud aims to bridge the digital gap in ASEAN and empower youths to create sustainable innovations to address socio-economic issues,” said Thomas Zipperle, Chief Financial Officer, SAP Southeast Asia.
“ASEAN Foundation and SAP share the common objective of equipping youths with future-ready skills that will enable them to thrive in the new normal era and supporting the theme of Viet Nam’s ASEAN Chairmanship, which is building a ‘Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN,” said Dr. Yang Mee Eng, Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation.
In the lead up to the Regional finals, the ten teams competed in their respective home countries between August and September 2020. A total of 852 proposals were submitted for this year’s competition.
Judges evaluated participants based on their ability to collect, analyze and present data, as well as present the best concept that tackles ASEAN socio-economic issues aligned with the selected six SDGs themes – Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, and Sustainable Cities and Communities.
The diverse range of issues addressed by youths in the region included social inequalities, relooking into and managing new energy sources, mental and physical health, empowering people with disabilities and youth to be active contributors to community and society, and growing ASEAN’s workforce through digital integration.
ASEAN DSE is an annual collaboration program between the ASEAN Foundation and SAP established in 2017. The program is a reliable avenue for young people in ASEAN to improve their data analytics skills and brings about digital inclusion in the region. ASEAN DSE has empowered up to 16,309 students and 1,420 lecturers from 370 institutions across ASEAN countries with data science skills. The program will keep expanding its reach in the following years by providing inclusive data analytics training opportunities to disadvantaged youths and students.
For more information, press only:
Annabel Cheng, annabel.cheng@sap.com, GMT+8
Maninder Kaur, maninder.kaur@sap.com, GMT +8