(Indonesia, 24 August 2020) — The ASEAN Foundation and SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) are pleased to announce that the ASEAN Data Science Explorers (ASEAN DSE) faces no slowdown despite the COVID-19 pandemic as it hosts its first virtual National Finals this year. Crowned national champions are the three teams from Institut Teknologi Bandung, Universitas Indonesia, and Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Statistik in ASEAN DSE 2020 National Finals Indonesia that took place today virtually.

Despite the global pandemic, ASEAN DSE continues to solicit interest from the youth community and remains in its endeavor to skill and equip youths with essential digital age skills. A total of 852 youths across the region competed to represent their country in the National Finals, with 4563 students and lecturers trained in SAP Analytics Cloud in 2020.  

The three winners were judged based on their ability to design a best all-rounded concept that tackles ASEAN socio-economic issues, driven by data insights. The judging criteria look at the creativity, feasibility, innovation, and the team's ability to demonstrate the solution's implementation. 

As the first winner, Team SEA of Hope from Institut Teknologi Bandung will represent Indonesia in the ASEAN DSE 2020's Regional Finals in November. Below are the details of the winners: 

[First winner] Team SEA of Hope, comprising Wayan Rezaldi Widyanatha and Nabila Zahra Wassil from Institut Teknologi Bandung, took first place at the National Finals. Their project focused on healthy rivers as the heart of ASEAN sustainable cities.

[Runner-up] Team Lexicon, comprising Annisa Rizki Farhana Nur and Maria Kayla Augusta from Universitas Indonesia, emerged as the runner-up. Their project was designed to improve urban public transportation for sustainable mobility.  

[Second runner-up] Meanwhile, Team Fasrot, comprising Budhi Fatanza Wiratama and Muarrikh Yazka Ginang Prasidana from Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Statistik became the second runner-up for their project on obesity as the main issue in the ASEAN region.  

"Industrial revolution 4.0 offers a huge opportunity as well as poses a great challenge for us. We currently live in a sophisticated digital and data-driven life, so it is important for the young generation to learn high technology and innovation to conduct a data-driven analysis. The post-COVID-19 pandemic has also taught us to advance technology in the new normal circumstances. ASEAN Foundation has done an essential role in developing and nourishing ASEAN's youth through various programs, particularly ASEAN Data Science Explorers (ASEAN DSE). I sincerely believe that ASEAN DSE will offer valuable experience and lessons for our youth to increase their skills in harnessing data and formulating solution through this competition," said Mr. Riaz Januar Putra Saehu, Director for the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Republic of Indonesia.

"Together with the ASEAN Foundation, we at SAP strongly encourage the youths to use their newly learned skills from SAP Analytics Cloud to create sustainable innovations for current social and economic issues, as well as utilize these skills for their own self-development,” said SAP Indonesia Managing Director Andreas Diantoro. “Digital skills are more relevant now in the middle of our current pandemic situation and as we look towards recovery. We are pleased to see that youths in ASEAN can make a difference towards that goal and improve people’s lives.”

“ASEAN DSE is the embodiment of our commitment with SAP to empower youth in the region with future-ready skills that will allow them to thrive and become globally competitive during this difficult period and in the years to come,” said Dr. Yang Mee Eng, the ASEAN Foundation’s Executive Director. “We are very happy to see so many innovative data-driven proposals presented by all National Finalists today. It is a testament to what our youths can do when they are exposed to and equipped with relevant digital skills and provided with immersive platform to showcase their talents. We believe that if given the opportunity, our ASEAN youths can create impactful solutions for the community to prosper.”  

"We started just as a couple of friends who wanted to do something productive during the pandemic and explore our interest in data science. As we came across ADSE, we learned so much about ASEAN and its current well-being, and how we as youths can contribute on turning insights from available data to improve it. We truly can't wait for regional finals and represent Indonesia,” said Team SEA of Hope.

The National Finals was also streamed live via Facebook, attracting more than 1,600 viewers.

ASEAN DSE is a regional programme by the ASEAN Foundation and SAP that aims to catalyze activism and critical thinking among university students in ASEAN. Since its inception in 2017, ASEAN DSE has empowered over 16,259 students, 1,420 lecturers from 370 higher education institutes in the region with data analytics skills. The programme engages youth to develop data-driven solutions that highlight six Sustainable Development Goals namely (1) good health and well-being, (2) quality education, (3) gender equality, (4) decent work and economic growth, (5) industry, innovation & infrastructure and (6) sustainable cities and communities by harnessing SAP's Analytics Cloud software.

ASEAN Foundation and SAP share the common objective of  continuing the implementation of ASEAN DSE 2020 as a way of equipping youths with future-ready skills that will enable them to thrive in the "New Normal" era and supporting the theme of Viet Nam's ASEAN Chairmanship, which is building a "Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN."