The SEA Makerthon is a summer-long regional hackathon taking place in 10 cities across Southeast Asia. It was organized by the Southeast Asian Makerspace Network (SEAMNET) to address issues concerning sustainability. The theme “Designing a World with Zero Waste” will be addressed by makers in different ways based on local needs and interests.
You can see other articles on the SEA Makerthon here.
Bandung is one of the most dynamic cities in Indonesia. It is both well known as a cultural and technological hot bed. Unknown to many outside of Indonesia, Bandung was named as a Unesco (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) Creative City of Design last year. Bandung is a city of youth; 60% of the population is under the age of 40. There are also 50 institutes of higher learning in Bandung itself. Bandung is also keen on positioning itself as the Silicon Valley of Indonesia by setting up a long term project called Teknopolis.
Capitalizing on the energy of the Bandung creative scene and booming tech industry, a few organizations have decided to come together to promote the maker culture in Bandung. Among them is Spirit Ganesha and Labtek Indie.
Spirit Ganesha is a not-for-profit organization that aims to cultivate a spirit of entrepreneurship in Indonesia through the sharing of free online classes covering the subjects of business, entrepreneurship, and management. Spirit Ganesha aims to empower young professionals to build a community of entrepreneurs and tech developers, especially those that are in rural areas, by providing free online classes and modules that can be used to enhance their learning experience.
Labtek Indie is a team of talented designers who focus on creating experiences that fosters interaction and engagement using cutting-edge emerging technology through human-centered approach. They also provide rapid prototyping services to businesses and individuals who are keen to test out their ideas.
The First of Many Open Innovation Competitions
The SEA Makerthon 2016:Bandung is the first of its kind in the city. While hackathons are common, there has not yet been a push towards physical and hardware prototyping. Spurred on by the developments in Jakarta, Spirit Ganesha, Labtek Indie, Ruang Reka, and the Institute Teknologi Bandung (ITB) Alumni Association of Jawa Barat joined forces to organize the SEA Makerthon 2016. With the assistance of the Sustainable Living Lab from Singapore, they wanted to develop Bandung entrepreneurs who are knowledgeable in both the digital and hardware spheres. Also, the maker culture really is about celebrating creativity and ingenuity which they want to bring to Bandung as well.
Held on the 1st of October, the theme of the makerthon in Bandung was on ‘Urban Waste’. Design thinking methods and IoT was introduced to the participants. They had 15 design thinking facilitators to assist 11 participating teams.
Bandung like many cities in Indonesia is facing a waste issue. There are many malls, mini markets, shops, factory outlets, and food and beverage business areas in Bandung that produce a lot of waste. It doesn’t help that the population of Bandung is increasing and as their wealth increases so does their consumption. The local government also does not currently have the resources available to efficiently manage waste. The Bandung hackathon participants focused on several key stake holders: Citizen, Producer, and Local Government.
Design Thinking + Prototyping = That’s Where the Magic Happens!
After an intense day of prototyping, Team Goods Do Goods emerged as the winners of the makerthon! Rather than depend heavily on technology to solve the city’s waste problem, they identified user behavior as the most important element in managing waste and littering. They created a solution to persuade people to dispose waste more thoughtfully by gamifying the experience.
Goods do goods combines an aesthetically well designed Goods Bin (their version of trash bin) with a mobile application system to encourage society by giving them rewards points every time they dispose properly.The team targets to place the bin in dense areas such as city-parks, shopping streets, and places where there are food hawkers. The rewards given will be digital gifts such as Line Points, Telkomsel points, play store credit, and VSCO filters. The Goods Bin will be distributed in several public spaces in Bandung. The waste from these bins will be sent to waste management department.
The SEA Makerthon 2016 is a 10 city hackathon addressing the Zero Waste Challenge that will see over 1000 participants across 10 South East Asian Cities, each solving waste issues pertaining to their city such as electronics, food, agriculture, packaging and more. Sustainable Living Lab is proud to be the social innovation partner for the SEA Makerthon 2016 in leading the conversation about the Circular Economy in the region.
To find out more, join the Southeast Asian Makerspace Network.
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