Media Release: DBS, MCI and Singapore judiciary announce winners of community hackathon to counter online harms

DBS, the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), and the Singapore Judiciary announced the winners of Hackathon for a Better World 2021, at a virtual event held today. The event also saw the launch of a resource package containing 28 ideas that the community can implement to foster safer and kinder online spaces. These ideas were generated by participants of Hackathon for a Better World 2021, a community hackathon jointly organised by DBS, MCI and the Singapore Judiciary, which saw 28 teams tackling the challenges of online harms over two months of intense research and solutioning.

2          The winners were recognised in a virtual event held today, with Mr Tan Kiat How, Minister of State (MOS), Ministry of Communications and Information, and Justice Aedit Abdullah, Judge of the High Court, Supreme Court of Singapore gracing the event as Guests-of-Honour. Summaries of the winning pitches as well as quotes from the winning teams can be found in Annex A.

3          Launched in July this year, Hackathon for a Better World 2021 focused participants’ minds on the growing prevalence of online harms, particularly against women and girls. The hackathon was also the first public-private partnership under the Singapore Together Alliance for Action (AfA) to tackle online harms, which MCI announced in July 2021.

4          Hackathon for a Better World 2021 culminated with six finalists pitching before a virtual judging panel on 7 October 2021. Four winners were eventually selected for:

• Most Innovative Idea
• Most Feasible Idea
• Most Life-Changing Idea
• Most Human-Centred Idea

5          MOS Tan said “The hackathon demonstrates how the Singapore Together Alliance for Action approach brings like-minded partners together to tackle urgent problems faced by our community. I am impressed by the thoughtful solutions proposed by the teams to make the online space safer and more responsible for all users, especially women and girls. Events such as this hackathon add to the vibrancy of our national Digital for Life movement, which brings together the people, public and private sectors to help Singaporeans leverage digital technology for more connected and enriched lives.”

6          Mr Lam Chee Kin, Group Head of Legal, Compliance and Secretariat at DBS, said, “Having a wealth of good ideas emerge from the hackathon is a happy problem indeed, and is a fine example of how public-private-people partnerships can yield productive outcomes that benefit the broader community. We are inspired by the sense of purpose displayed by the participants and are grateful to our partners – MCI and the Singapore Judiciary – in demonstrating how the intersection of law, technology and innovation can be a force for social good.”

7          Justice Abdullah said, “This is the second successful year we are collaborating with DBS, and now MCI, for this social purpose Hackathon, and we are honoured to again be part of this effort. It is indeed meaningful to help encourage the development of innovative solutions in response to this year’s theme of safeguarding against and tackling online harms. We are impressed with the commitment and work put in by the participants as well as the creativity displayed by them. The work of the participating teams has given us much to learn from. We are sure many of the proposed solutions will continue to be refined and rolled out in the near future.”

8          Hackathon for a Better World adopted a unique ‘slow-burn’ format, with participants working on their problem statements through an iterative process. This is unlike the usual hackathon format where participants solve problem statements over a few hours or days. The unconventional approach was designed to give participants the space to develop sharper, more meaningful responses to the complex challenges before them.

9          To support participants on their journey, DBS also organised a series of design thinking masterclasses on the bank’s in-house innovation framework to equip participants with new skills to test and validate data-driven insights as they worked on their proposals.

Issued by:
DBS Bank
Supreme Court of Singapore
Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore
28 October 2021

====

Annex A