The ASEAN Foundation and SAP launched the call for applications for the ASEAN Data Science Explorers (ASEANDSE) 2019, targeted at tertiary students across all 10 ASEAN member states to harness the power of data to help solving the most pressing developmental issues in the region.
The ASEANDSE is a flagship programme rising from the collaboration between the ASEAN Foundation and SAP that aims to galvanise youth activism among students in ASEAN by increasing their information and communication technology competencies and transforming them into innovators who are capable of delivering data-driven recommendations and solutions that help contribute to the achievement of ASEAN Community’s goals. The initiative integrates 2 key activities, which are a series of enablement sessions and a data analytics competition, to achieve its objective. Since its introduction in 2017, the ASEANDSE has empowered over 5,000 youths from 287 higher education institutions in the region and has been recognised by 10 ASEAN leaders, Senior Officials Meeting on Youth (SOMY), and Senior Officials Meeting on Education (SOMED) for its contribution to youth development.
The competition will be carried out from February to October 2019, kickstarting with informative enablement sessions organised for students and lecturers in local institutions of higher learning across all 10 ASEAN member states to improve their data analytics’ skills and knowledge. The enablement sessions will then be followed with a national and regional data analytics competition where successful youth applicants will converge to present data-driven proposals which highlight issues in ASEAN across 6 United Nation Sustainable Development Goals, namely (3) good health and well-being, (4) quality education, (5) gender equality, (8) decent work and economic growth, (9) industry, innovation and infrastructure and (11) sustainable cities and communities utilizing SAP’s Analytics Cloud software.
In order to take part in the competition, students are required to form teams of two to register for the competition and submit their proposals. One participating team from each member state will stand a chance to be crowned as the national finalist before advancing to compete in the regional finals. At the highest honor of the regional finals, the 10 national finalists will be given the opportunity to present their winning ideas to a panel of judges which consists of distinguished representatives from the ASEAN Foundation, SAP and various government officials and selected NGO organisations.
Coinciding with Thailand’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2019, this year’s regional finals will be held in Bangkok on 16 October 2019. The call for applications for the ASEANDSE 2019 will close on 10 May 2019.
