Filipino developers, engineers, designers, scientists, coders, and innovators once again banded together—at home, this time—in a virtual hackathon to develop solutions to real-world problems using National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) free and open data.
Some of the projects developed during this year’s edition of NASA’s International Space Apps Challenge on October 2-4 included road hazard detection, data visualization tools, and machine learning for satellite image monitoring, and more.
With the hackathon held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s theme “Take Action” serves as reminder that anyone can make a difference, even from home.
The first director-general of the Philippine Space Agency, Dr. Joel Joseph S. Marciano Jr. stressed the importance of space science in helping the society.
“Space infrastructure, space data, and space-enabled services, therefore, help inform policies and decision-support systems that can lead us to better plan and decongest our cities, improve our transportation systems, monitor the state of infrastructure, enable better connectivity, enhance our agricultural and fisheries production, and protect our natural environment,” he said.
For many years, Filipinos collaborate and work with one another in developing projects to solve problems using space technologies. NASA and partner agencies—Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) of France, Canadian Space Agency (CSA), and European Space Agency (ESA)—have been recognized the hard work done by Filipinos.
Participants from the Philippines have been recognized and awarded globally as winners and finalists consecutively in the past three years.
Software developer Michael Lance M. Domagas is optimistic that in these trying times, the country would still choose to prioritize and give value to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), especially in emerging fields like space science where innovators can contribute and solve the most pressing problems prevailing in the society and environment today.
“Why can’t we support our own modern-day heroes specializing in new and emerging technologies to address issues and help others in our country? NASA and partner agencies from other countries have already recognized the ingenuity of Filipinos for the past three years. Now is the proper time for our own country to recognize their achievements too,” emphasized Domagas.