Kathmandu,
Dec. 17
To provide a platform to data
scientists, programmers, developers, researchers, and professionals to work
collaboratively on data-driven projects to tackle developmental challenges, the
World Bank and The Asia Foundation have organised a two-day Solve-a-thon
programme.
The event was organised at the Kathmandu
University School of Management with the support from the UKAID.
Faris Hadad-Zervos, WB’s Country Manager
for Nepal said that he was impressed to see how Nepal’s young data enthusiasts could
come up with a range of solutions to help improve lives in Nepal.
“Youths in Nepal have immense potential
to drive progress faster if they have access to data and proper mentorship,” he
stated. “Prototypes of products that came out of this two-day solve-a-thon
validates that – from building a chatbot that lets Nepalis keep track of air
quality, and a dashboard to monitor tourist flow in Nepal.”
After a public call for application, the
program received over 100 entries (individual and team applications combined)
which were then screened based on the applicant’s technical and subject matter
expertise along with their willingness and potential to continue contributing
to the data space, said the organisers.
A total of 55 participants and 14
mentors participated in the Solve-a-thon. Teams were formed based on the skill
sets and expertise of the participants to ensure cross-pollination of ideas and
effective collaboration.
Over the two days, the participating
teams worked with mentors and respective domain experts to come up with
solutions, refine them and devise various prototypes.
The participants worked on nine
different projects – three culminated from the 100-hour Nepal Data Literacy Program
organized by the World Bank from June-November, three were proposed by the
participants, and three selected by the team based on the pertinent
developmental issues and availability of data.
Participants tackled issues such as air
pollution, tourism and women’s access to finance coming up with solutions such
as autobots to communicate air quality and precautionary actions, a dashboard
to visualize tourism data, and an app-based budgeting tool for women.
The World Bank, jointly with The Asia
Foundation, will select two to five proposals based on the availability of data
for prototyping and its possibility to generate actionable solutions.
In addition to receiving financial
support, the selected proposals will also receive technical support for further
development of the project.
Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 18 December 2019. 
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