Winners of Virtual Hackathon Offer Innovative Solutions to Fight COVID-19 Pandemic

November 30, 2020

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Jakarta, 30 November 2020 - Three teams from Bandung, Jakarta, and Bali have been named the winners of the INDONESIAN KOMPHACK hackathon hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with Impact Hub Jakarta where budding inventors compete to develop innovative solutions to tackle SDG-related challenges, with a focus on COVID-19 pandemic.

The winners were picked following a gruelling three-day online event, out of 64 teams selected from all parts of Indonesia. All teams presented solutions on health, livelihood, and environmental protection.

The Bandung team’s proposal to harness artificial intelligence to allow healthcare providers identify patients to be prioritized, based on set criteria, in administering vaccines, called Albatrack, won the “health” pillar of the hackathon.

In response to the shortage of healthcare providers and the lack of financial support for nursing school students, a startup from Jakarta came up with DANADidik, coordinating student loans for the nurses of the future. This proposal won the hackathon’s “livelihoods and community resilience” theme.

To address the threat to the environment due to medical waste buildup, three doctors from Bali teamed up to develop Binmed, a safe and economical waste disposal and management service for sharp medical waste (needles). Their solution won the “protect the environment” pillar of the hackathon.

“My heartfelt congratulations to the top three teams at Indonesia Komphack, and to all the young innovators who put on their creative hats to find the most innovative solutions. The COVID-19 pandemic is a wake-up call for all us to ramp up innovations to meet the SDGs agenda. UNDP Indonesia is pleased to host this hackathon as it reflects our continued pursuit to finding cutting edge solutions for the country," said Norimasa Shimomura, Resident Representative, UNDP Indonesia.

"Indonesia Komphack", a play on the Indonesian word for teamwork (“kompak”) reflected the call for all of us to work together.

During the pre-hackathon webinar held earlier in November, speakers, who came from different segments of society, shared their experience of the pandemic and its impact on health services, the environment, and on those who have lost their livelihoods.

Indonesia Komphack Hackathon was supported by Microsoft, Mitra Keluarga, and CIMB Niaga. Mentors from crowdfunding platform Bukalapak, Binar Academy, Ministry for National Development Planning, Ministry for Health, and Nusantara Technology, were also involved, among others.

“COVID-19 is probably the toughest health challenge we are facing on a global level and it requires collaboration to overcome it. As an Indonesian network of healthcare providers via all Mitra Keluarga hospitals, we hope that our experience in the battle against the pandemic can be leveraged to find a solution to the challenges. We welcome the opportunity to collaborate with UNDP in sharing our insight with the participants of this hackathon,” said Nurvantina Pandina, MM, Director of Corporate Branding and Communication Management of Mitra Keluarga

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Media Contact

UNDP Indonesia UNDP Communication Specialist, Tomi Soetjipto, Suryo.tomi@undp.org

UNDP Indonesia, Partnership Specialist, Inggita Notosusanto, inggita.notosusanto@undp.org