Coding competition promotes social development

Hanoi (VNA) – Winners of Hackathon for Social Good, a 48-hour coding contest to create useful technology products with commercial values for society, were honoured at a ceremony in Hanoi on November 24.

The competition was organised by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, HATCH! PROGRAM – a social enterprise and startup incubator, Live & Learn Environment Education, British Council Vietnam, Humanist Institute for Cooperation (Hivos), and Southeast Asia Technology and Transparency Initiatives (SEATTI).

The award-winning products include a social network connecting writers, artists and organising units of cultural and art events with the audience, an application allowing its users to report issues regarding public services, and another on traffic law learning.

Addressing the event, Pratibha Mehta, UN Resident Coordinator, said the competitors showed their huge potential for creating a social forum for citizens, individuals and organisations, helping them more actively get involved in addressing matters relating to the quality of public services, transparency and corruption.

HATCH! PROGRAMME Director Pham Quoc Dat said the contest creates a basis that encourages the application of innovations and the settlement of social challenges, expressing his wish that the event will promote innovative startups, especially those for social development purposes.

The competition attracted about 100 programmers, developers and social activists whose products address several social issues, including employment for the youth, transparency and public service assessment, creative economy, disaster safety education and climate change.

These works are evaluated on the basis of innovation, feasibility, social benefits, and commercial values alongside capacity to support sustainable development.

The main contest took place on October 24-25.-VNA