Teams of talented software developers and tech enthusiasts from across the region are invited to take part in the East Asia Summit (EAS) Hackathon on Combatting Marine Plastic, to be held 13-16 December 2022 in Jakarta, Indonesia. The EAS Hackathon will be co-hosted by the governments of Australia, India, and Singapore, and managed by The Asia Foundation (TAF) in collaboration with, among others, the ASEAN Foundation and Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

The Hackathon will provide an opportunity for youth from EAS Participating Countries to create digital solutions to address the problem of marine plastic. Specific challenges are:

1. How can governments and local communities more accurately monitor marine litter in hot-spot areas?
   • How can communities engaged in practices such as waste picking be engaged in formal monitoring efforts?
   • How can waste collection sites in slums and heavy tourist areas be identified for clean-up and accessed by collectors using GIS tools?
   • As only 20% of marine waste comes from direct disposal and the remaining 80% from rivers, how can riverine communities be made aware of this and assist in their disposal?
2. How can small businesses reduce plastic waste?
   • How to encourage/give incentives to small businesses or customers?
   • How to promote recycling in small businesses?
   • How to engage small businesses in community movements to reduce plastic waste?

If you're ready, click here to apply for the East Asia Summit Hackathon "Combatting Marine Plastic"!
Deadline: 21 November 2022

The four-day programme will consist of:

Criteria and qualifications for Hackathon teams

• Each team must consist of two persons only;
• Members of each team must be nationals of the same EAS Participating Country (Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, The Philippines, United States, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam);
• Team members must be between 18-25 years of age at the time of the Hackathon;
• Team members must be able to work and communicate in English;
• Team members must not be government officials or affiliated with government.

Applications will be assessed based on their response to the selection questions. The selection of successful teams will be conducted by TAF, CSIRO, and the ASEAN Foundation.

Selected teams (one per country) will travel to Jakarta, Indonesia* to participate in the full four-day programme. Selected experts will serve as on-site mentors during the Hackathon and as judges.

*Selected teams from ASEAN Member States (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam) as well as Australia and India as co-hosts will be supported with flights to/from Jakarta and accommodation during the programme.

Click here to find out more about the challenge and its guideline.

Awards

First place

• Cash prize of US $7,000;
• Participation in the incubator programme of CSIRO’s Plastics Innovation Hub Vietnam, Plastics Innovation Hub Indonesia, and/or Plastics Innovation Hub Mekong;
• In-person opportunity to present their solution at the Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum or a relevant EAS Forum (subject to relevant Chair’s agreement).

Second place

• Cash prize of US $2,000.

Third place

• Cash prize of US $1,000

Application

Qualified and interested teams should register here by 21 November 2022. The selected teams will be contacted by the organisers. For any question, please contact Benjamin Zawacki at The Asia Foundation:  [email protected].