Ericsson, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), MCMC, and Axiata Business Services announces the winners of the Hack for Good hackathon. Team NBEE IOT wins both the Professional and Overall categories in Malaysia’s first Narrow Band Internet of Things (IoT) hackathon; itVengers wins the Student category.
Hack for Good is one of the first end-to-end cellular Internet of Things hackathon that covers everything from device, connectivity, IoT platform to apps. This hackathon provides a great chance for both students and professionals to build IoT-based solutions.
Team NBEE IOT wins the professional and overall categories for their NB-IoT bee farming project. The student category champs itVengers wins it with their real-time monitoring of paddy farms project. “We are honoured to be selected as the winner of the Hackathon and are excited to join the incubation program by Ericsson and its partners. Our ideas were inspired by the need to address current challenges faced by Malaysians in agriculture. Through this competition, we were able to learn from the experts in the industry,” says NBEE IOT Team Captain Shee Tze Jin.
The Hack for Good hackathon focuses on the following themes: IoT Saves Lives; IoT Sustains Water; Energy and Utilities; IoT Transforms Road Transportation; and IoT Modernises Agriculture. It launched in March 2018, and encourages students as well as professionals to build IoT solutions for Malaysians. The hackathon got over 140 entries, all for prizes totaling RM 51,000. Winners also get to be onboarded for the Ericsson Garage’s Incubation Program as part of the prize. Eventually, the hackathon shortlisted 11 ideas; the participants went through a Pre-Hack Workshop to gain the necessary skills for developing prototypes. The participants used Celcom Malaysia’s NB IoT Network and Ericsson APIs for a month. Furthermore, the participants constantly met with industry mentors during the month.
The judges evaluate participants based on several factors, namely:
- originality,novelty and wow factor
- usefulness and practicality
- execution and quality of the prototype
- business potential
- Ericsson technology and API adoption
Asri Hassan Sabri, Chief Executive Officer of Axiata Business Services also congratulates the winners. He encouraged by the numerous ideas and concepts from the hackathon. He adds,”With the aim to improve social lives and economic scalability, participants had invested significant thoughts and efforts into creating unique NB-IoT products that will take the industry forward. Xpand is proud to have been part of this initiative with the best minds and industry leaders like Ericsson, UTM, MCMC and others sponsors here today. We hope to collaborate further with likeminded organisations in challenging our young innovators to pursue IoT solutions and the world of enterprise.”
For more information about the Hack for Good hackathon as well as the Tech 4 Good challenge, you can click here.
