Team “!NULL” Joemar Palting, Marc Robert Tretasco, and Angel Lu Cabael from Isabela State University-Cauayan City Campus, who are also The Kawayan Communicator staffers, after passing the ideation phase, made it to the Top 25 in iDeaTech Challenge 2023, ousting 45 other applicants across the Cagayan Valley region and will advance to ideation workshop on September 19-20 at Mango Suites Hotel, Cauayan City, Isabela.
On August 26, the Department of Science and Technology, Isabela State University, Smart City Technology Business Incubator (DISC-TBI) launched the challenge to search for innovators in Higher Education Institutions of the region.
With the aim to choose ideas that will shape communities and the economy in groundbreaking ways using smart city technologies and collaboratively make the region into a thriving hub of innovation and sustainability., students, graduates, faculties, and researchers, were called into the event which centered on the theme, “Fostering Smart and Sustainable Innovations: Igniting the Startup Economy using Smart City Technologies”
!NULL proposed an innovative transportation app tailored for jeepneys specially equipped with a real-time tracking feature that ensures timely arrivals with advance booking to lessen passenger street wait. With sustainability in focus, the app incorporates partnerships for eco-friendly choices which revolutionize jeepney travel; combining efficiency and environmental consciousness.
Key thematic areas of iDeaTech include Government data-driven solutions, Medium, Small, Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) sustainable solutions, climate change technologies, sustainable learning technologies, and community solutions technologies.
ISU-CCC alumni John Deniel Salvador, Jhon Louie Balmores and Jaylord Villanueva of “iTOURo” are also one of the top 25 who will progress to the next stage.
The chosen 25 will undergo pitch preparation and pitch competition to select the Top 10 finalists who will present their ideas to a panel of judges and audience.
