Twelve teams vying for the first prize of RM10,000 on the first day of the Forest City Hackathon

ISKANDAR PUTERI: In conjunction with World Habitat Day, nearly 60 people comprising undergraduates and young working adults took part in the inaugural Forest City Hackathon & Youth Entrepreneurship Dialogue at the Forest City from Sep 30 to Oct 2.

The participants, aged from 21 to 40, are made up of undergraduates and young adults who were working in the Engineering, Business, IT and Finance industry.

According to the statement, the event was jointly organised by UN-Habitat, Malaysian Global Innovation and Creative Centre (MaGIC) and Country Garden Pacificview (CGPV) Sdn Bhd with the support of Malaysia Entrepreneurs Development Association (PUMM).

Divided into 12 groups comprising of five members each, the participants had to come up with a prototype of a mobile app or a website, and marks were given based on the prototype design, presentation and the digital solution it offered.

With the theme Entrepreneurship and Environment, participants were encouraged to come up with a prototype business model that blends entrepreneurial skills with IT-savviness while at the same time help improve environmental issues. The team that come up with innovative digital solution will earned them the first prize winner RM10,000, followed by RM5,000 (first runner up).

CGPV president Dr Yu Runze said that Forest City is a prime model of future cities with plans to establish a Technology and Innovation Hub to boost the country’s IT communications support and software development industry. They welcomed talents who can design innovative prototypes which can be implemented in Forest City.

“The hackathon alongside the Youth Entrepreneurship Dialogue session seeks to bring out the best in the exchange of ideas and problem solving among young entrepreneurs,” Yu said.

The hackathon is also in line with Forest City’s vision to build a world class Smart and Green City, in addition of becoming a youth entrepreneurial base in Southeast Asia to provide a conducive environment for tech startups for youths around the region.

The Youth Entrepreneurship Dialogue featured PUMM representative Victor Lee Wee Teck, Kelab Alami co-founder Dr Serina Rahman, MaGIC Ventures and Global Partnerships representative Jacques Sun.