Team Pangolin from RMIT Vietnam University were named champions at the ASEAN Data Science Explorers (DSE) National Finals after beating 10 teams from 8 universities.

The assessment was based on three criteria – the relevance and credibility of data, the quality of analytical insights, and the feasibility of recommended solutions to the problems addressed by each project. Out of 11 finalists, the winner will proceed to the Regional Finals happening on 25 October 2018 in Singapore, where they will face the top winners from other National Final rounds.

The first runner-up position was awarded to team Maverick from the same university, and the second runner-up was given to team Transformers from the University of Economics HCM City.

This is the second consecutive year that the ASEAN DSE was organised across all 10 ASEAN member states as part of the strategic partnership between the ASEAN Foundation and SAP.

First introduced in 2017, the ASEAN Data Science Explorers is a data analytics competition that aims to enhance awareness and appreciation of the ASEAN community amongst young people through digital literacy intervention.

By using the SAP Analytics Cloud, participants are encouraged to deliver data-driven insights which highlight issues in ASEAN across six United Nation Sustainable Development Goals, namely good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation & infrastructure and sustainable cities and communities.

Titled “Today’s Youth for Tomorrow’s World”, this competition lets young people from ASEAN member countries play a key role in tackling today’s social issues in the region and help create positive change for a better future.

“To solve complex problems such as the UN SDGs, our young people need to be familiar with the latest technology to uncover fresh solutions for current and future problems. The DSE is the very first step for Vietnamese youths to work towards resolving the world’s problems by using real quantifiable data and analytics,” said Eugene Ho, Head of Corporate Affairs (Southeast Asia), SAP, who was also on the judging panel for the competition.

“We are proud to collaborate with the ASEAN Foundation on this important initiative to prepare our youths for the digital economy”. — VNS