Panabo students ideate tech solutions for Blue Economy challenges

PANABO CITY, Davao del Norte – Students of the Davao del Norte State College (DNSC) took the challenge to develop and pitch tech startup solutions for ocean and Blue Economy in a startup hackathon event on September 19 to 21, 2024 at the DNSC campus, Panabo City. 

Organized by DNSC’s technology business incubator (TBI) BUGSAI (Blue Economy Underpinning Global Sustainability through Adaptive Innovations (BUGSAI) and the first TBI in Davao del Norte, the hackathon, dubbed as HAQUATHON, aims to immerse the students in brainstorming startup ideas and ICT-based solutions that will benefit the industries and sectors that are relying on the ocean resources.  

The hackathon also aims to promote the culture of innovation among the students in DNSC. 

It was participated by about 40 students taking bachelor programs in Information Systems, Information Technology, Fisheries and Aquatic Studies, Marine Biology, and Entrepreneurship.

It featured a Reverse Pitch session where the representatives from the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Davao Region (BFAR Davao), Panabo City Agriculturist Office – Fisheries Development and Production Program, and Panabo City Environment and Natural Resources Office (PCENRO) who shared to the students the challenges in the fisheries sector, ocean environment, and in the delivery of their services to their blue economy stakeholders. 

The resource speakers from the reverse pitch also mentored the students as they spent a whole day ideating their ICT-solutions with the addition of Teks.io founder Carlo B. Canda to provide insights related to technology implementation 

The event capped off in a pitching presentation of 11 teams, paneled by Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) president Reynaldo Gulane and human resource development professional and entrepreneur Sharmaine Cabugwason.

Startup ideas that came out include value chain management systems and applications for the fisheries sector, ecommerce and virtual marketplace, permit and licensing system for fisherfolks, water quality monitoring applications for aquaculture and mariculture, incentivizing coastal waste segregator and collector, among others. 

The startup team Ecolife bagged the 1st place with their Reverse Ecobase startup, an AI-enabled self-segregating bin for coastal wastes, followed by Phar Company with their startup EcoMart with their e-commerce platform that will also market processed marine-based products, and finally, HEXA with their SeaPass App which digitalizes the issuance of permit and license for the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR).

“There is a huge opportunity in the Blue Economy especially that the Philippines is an archipelagic country. Many people are relying on the ocean for their livelihood so it should also be given enough attention in terms of innovation and technology. We want to take that role as BUGSAI TBI,” said Dr. Jesebel R. Besas, project leader of the DOST-DNSC BUGSAI TBI.

Established in September 2024, BUGSAI is the TBI of the DNSC, the first fisheries school in Davao del Norte. It is supported by the Department of Science and Technology Philippine Council for Industry, Energy, and Emerging Technology Research and Development (DOST-PCIEERD) through its Higher Education Institution Readiness for Innovation and Technopreneurship (HEIRIT) Program.

Being the TBI of a premier Higher Institution in Agri-Fisheries and Socio-cultural Development in the ASEAN Region, it focuses its services and expertise on developing and supporting startups and spin-offs that innovate, disrupt, and bolster the Blue Economy sectors and industries.

It provides startups and entrepreneurs with business development services, mentorship, technical assistance, access to market, funding, investors, experts, and laboratories and facilities, and that they need to start and launch their business ventures.

HAQUATHON is also one of the pre-events to the ongoing celebration of the Davao Startup Week 2024, organized by Davao Region’s startup enablers’ consortium Innovation and Development Accelerators Consortium for Startups in Davao Region (IDEAS Davao). 

Besas said BUGSAI will assist these potential startup teams to turn their ideas into a startup venture. 

She added there are still a lot of activities that the TBI is in store, especially in engaging all other stakeholders in the Blue Economy sector.