TO encourage innovation among Malaysians, the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Planning Unit (MAMPU) held a hackathon programme this year, aptly themed "Enabling Innovation for New Norm and Better Future".
The hackathon is under the "Challenge on Innovation and Problem-solving through Technological Advancement" initiative, or CHIPTA. This provides a platform for the community to create innovative and creative digital solutions using the latest technology.
Additionally, CHIPTA also aims to foster a culture of creation among school and university students, civil servants and those who are part of the industrial workforce.
INNOVATION AT ITS BEST
The CHIPTA 2020 programme is a combination of the Open Data Hackathon and the Mobile Application Hackathon, organised separately by MAMPU annually.
This year, a total of 155 teams participated in the competition, and 39 teams made it to the final round. The announcement of the winners will be done through Facebook live on 30th November 2020. This event will be officiated by the chief secretary to the government of Malaysia.
This competition has opened entries to four categories namely Civil Servants, Public/Industrial Category, Institutions of Higher Learning and Secondary School Students. The three best teams from each category will be crowned winners and will receive prizes in the form of cash and certificates of appreciation.
For the category of Civil Servants and Public/Industry and Higher Education Institutions, the winner will receive cash amounting to RM10,000, second place RM6,000 and third place RM4,000 while for the Secondary School Students category, the winner will receive cash amounting to RM3,000, second place RM2,000 and third place RM1,000.
Since 2015, MAMPU has been organising hackathons that have been successfully contributing to the production of inventions. These inventions can be used by various parties, including the government. Apart from the increasing number of entries each year, the quality of the inventions produced has also improved.
In 2019, MAMPU began working with agencies to bring these inventions to life. Some of these innovations have even helped improve the delivery of government services, for instance, the GeoBencana application that was implemented by the Penang State Secretary.
The GeoBencana app is a mapping concept application that displays the current situation of river water level readings, rainfall distribution from stations provided by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (JPS) and air quality index. The app is also able to easily search for evacuation centres and bodies involved in emergencies interactively. Additionally, it can subsequently generate charts for flood hotspots and other risky areas.
Statistics show that 16% of products developed for CHIPTA 2020 are in line with the Sustainable Development Goals 2020 Report, which states the need to improve and strengthen health management capable of providing early warning to reduce risk.
Most of the products developed are for the use of the public, the public sector and even industries or businesses. The applications produced are related to health, gig economy, geospatial, recycling and education.
All in all, the CHIPTA 2020 programme has produced relevant applications using emerging technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, blockchain and geomaps to solve problems.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR CHIPTA?
MAMPU has plans to highlight winning inventions by opening up opportunities for winners to collaborate with related agencies through joint venture agreements. It will be a strong step in driving sustainable innovation and economic growth.
These products and inventions will also be promoted through service platforms provided by the government, such as Gallery of Malaysian Government Mobile Applications (GAMMA), Open Data Portal, Malaysian Government Central Data Exchange (MyGDX) and MyGovernment Portal.
Dato' Dr. Yusof bin Ismail, director-general of MAMPU, stated that he would like MAMPU to contribute to the prosperity and well-being of the people by increasing the efficiency of government service delivery, especially through modernisation and digitisation.
He continued, "For example, with the latest administrative approaches as well as ICT products introduced by MAMPU to the governmental departments, the people will receive better government services and in turn have a comfortable life."
For more information regarding CHIPTA 2020, please visit this website.