Accenture Awards Students’ most innovative ideas to improve how communities work and live amidst a pandemic

Participants from top colleges across the country showcase next generation of tech talent

Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has selected the winners of its annual Program The Future: The Accenture Technology Campus Challenge 2020 in the Philippines. Now in its seventh year, the competition reflects Accenture’s continued commitment to foster an innovative culture and mindset among Filipino youth.

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The winning college student teams demonstrated a spirit of creativity and innovation through technology solutions that aimed to improve the communities where we work and live amidst the pandemic. From 20 semi-finalists, five teams presented their ideas in a live virtual event via the Accenture in the Philippines Facebook page. Highlights include:

• Team MoveMapua’s BayaniHub application emerged as the Program The Future 2020 Grand Champion. Developed by students from Mapua University, BayaniHub is an end-to-end solution that showcases the future of public transportation through smart transit ads in modern jeepneys. It combines software and hardware to generate passive income for e-jeepney drivers, lowers cost for advertisers, and creates value for both investors and the riding public. It also provides real-time information on GPS location, time of day, e-jeepney occupancy level, and deploy sensors for social distancing measures.

• Inspired by the need to implement social distancing protocols in groceries, De La Salle University’s  Teamporary Lang’s Panoptic application received this year’s Accenture Technology Vision Award. The application helps users monitor if people are observing social distancing using Bluetooth modules installed onto grocery carts. It alerts customers and staff and informs management of any social distancing violations to implement improvements based on real-time data. 

• Program The Future also recognized finalists MyAviShops from the De La Salle University and AKADS from Mapua University. MyAviShops, a plug-in tool to elevate the online shopping experiences of users, took home the Accenture Favorite award after garnering the greatest number of votes from Accenture employees. AKADS, an all-in-one tutoring platform, was recognized for its simple yet scalable solution that connects parents with tutors for their grade school and high school children.

• Accenture’s Tech4Good special prize was given to Team T-Squad of the Mindanao State University for their medical consultation app that aims to connect doctors and patients online at a time when social distancing protocols are strictly observed.

Ambe Tierro, Accenture Technology lead in the Philippines, led the judging and thanked all the students, coaches, and employee-mentors for supporting this year’s virtual competition. “The year presents opportunities for creativity and problem-solving and I am proud to witness how the students challenged themselves to innovate without limits and rise above the current situation to showcase how technology can solve problems in our society,” she said.

Citing Tech is the New World, the theme for Accenture’s Technology month celebration in August, Tierro lauded how the students progressed during the two-month competition as they honed their ideas and applied their learnings to address real problems in society, especially during this unprecedented time.