The Ocean 4 team wins Challenge 2 of the Mobile Hackathon 2013.

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) – Two teams called OCEAN 4 and Ga Trong (Cock) have won the Mobile Hackathon 2013 contest organised by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to develop applications that can help tackle key children's issues in Viet Nam.

The winners were selected after five shortlisted finalists were given an additional four months in June to further develop their applications with fully functional BETA versions that could be tested on potential users.

The Final Demo Day was organised late last week.

The contest had two main challenges: increasing access to information, healthcare and nutrition for women during pregnancy through the child's second year and building a marketplace for socially responsible tourism that is beneficial to children.

Ga Trong (Cock) becomes final winner of Challenge 1. — VNS Photos Le Thu Ngan

The winning teams are expected to publish their applications within two months in order to win the final cash prizes totalling nearly US$10,000.

According to UNICEF Viet Nam, every day more than 100 children still die from preventable causes such as pneumonia and diarrhea in the country; every hour, a child dies from an injury such as drowning or traffic accidents; more than 3 million children do not yet have access to clean water; and more than 2 million children under-five suffer permanent physical and brain damage caused by malnutrition.

UNICEF believes that the number can be reduced to zero given that most of these causes can be prevented by low-cost, simple interventions. It hopes that the new mobile applications will contribute to reducing the incidence of child deaths due to preventable causes. — VNS