Overview
In the summer of 2021, 4 graduate students from the Design for Health program, during the midst of the pandemic, decided to make the best of it and take part in an online datathon on the other side of the world.
The Challenge
"Cities around the world are still struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic. Recovery will most likely be much longer and more challenging than initially expected, with vaccines only covering parts of the populations and new COVID-19 strains and other diseases emerging concurrently.
Consequently, many cities will have to develop new means of safeguarding citizens’ health and livelihoods in both the shorter- and longer-term, which takes into consideration the need for social distancing, online services, and protective measures for the most vulnerable groups." - ADB Smart Cities Datathon 2021
Problem Statement
The problem statement chosen was:
To build back smarter, how can we leverage Smart Cities infrastructure to reduce inequalities, and promote sustainable use of electronic appliances in Southeast Asia?
Results
Out of the 63 teams that applied, our team was selected as the final 4 and had the opportunity to present our pitch in the final event. As this was our first case competition, to be able to make it to the finals and network / connect with others was an invaluable experience.
To design for a country out of reach was a unique chance and required a lot of pre-planning and understanding in the market we were working with. Collaborating with an amazing team of diverse individuals I was able to gain so much new insights on urban development and through the brainstorming / co-design sessions and the mentoring opportunities provided there was a lot of opportunity to fill in gaps in my knowledge and grow as a designer.
Slides & prototypes of SharedTech solution.
63 Applications, and we were lucky to make it to the top 4
View the Datathon below
View the Pitch Deck
