Philippine Junior Data Science Challenge 2024

The 2024 Philippine Junior Data Science Challenge ran from September 27 to November 16, 2024 under the theme “Driving Progress: Harnessing Data Science for Innovations in Sustainable Urban Mobility.” Thirty teams from across the country joined and ten reached the final round, presented in hybrid format at the Department of Information and Communications Technology in Quezon City.

Team CCLEX of UP Cebu won with LakbAI, an AI-powered tool for improving pedestrian mobility. Ateneo’s Team Hippothesis placed first runner-up with Padyak, a walkability and bikeability index for local governments, and Silliman University’s Business Analytics Students’ Society placed second runner-up. The edition was powered by Globalco and co-presented by the UPV Statistical Society, in cooperation with the Alliance of Statistics Majors UPLB. Finalist slides and source code are in the PJDSC-Datasets repository.

Timeline

The page announced on July 20, 2024 that the challenge was back for the year, with city living as the problem area. Early registration opened on September 9, 2024 for senior high school and undergraduate students and closed on September 27, 2024. The launch event and first workshop took place on October 5, 2024 at the DICT office in Diliman, Quezon City, with a Zoom room for remote participants. The Top 10 teams cleared the elimination round on October 11, 2024, the judges were introduced on October 19, 2024, and the presentation and awarding day was moved to November 16, 2024. The Top 3 were announced on November 18, 2024 and the GlobalCo Special Award on November 19, 2024.

Workshops

The launch on October 5 opened with four talks. Eldon Dionisio of the DOTr spoke on government initiatives and policies on urban mobility, Erris Sanciangco of SafeTravelPH on academic research and innovations in urban mobility, and Dr. Syrus Gomari of Mobility Vision+ on business solutions in urban mobility. Pamela Cabudoy, a board trustee of the Analytics & Artificial Intelligence Association of the Philippines (AAP), gave a Data Science 101 session that compared data science, machine learning, and AI and suggested use cases under the urban mobility theme. The AAP also helped gather over 30 teams, many from member schools outside Metro Manila.

Judges

• Engr. Ramir Angeles, Transport Planning and Policy Mobilizer, Mobility Vision+
• Eldon Joshua Dionisio, Program Manager, DOTr Active Transport Office
• Ajay Lagrimas, Senior Data Manager, Global Coordination Center
• Nathan Samiley, Deputy Executive Director, Analytics & Artificial Intelligence Association of the Philippines
• Engr. Erris Sanciangco, Executive Director, SafeTravelPH

Top 10 finalists

Team Bangan, Optima Prime, CCLEX, ACSS UPLB, I Web You, Business Analytics Students Society, Samson Code, Hippothesis, Baby Legends, and Kompyuters. The list was published in no particular order.

Awards

Team CCLEX (Maxell Milay, Daenielle Rai Peladas, James Gabriel Elijah P. Ty, John Elias Mojado, Sheldon Arthur Sagrado) won with a dynamic pedestrian accessibility index and interactive dashboard built on fuzzy logic systems and real-time data. Team Hippothesis (Annika Marie C. Yunque, Miguel Antonio H. Germar, Val Allen U. Eltagonde) placed first runner-up with PADYAK, and Team Business Analytics Students’ Society (Julius Isaac R Santos, Reyden D. Amores, Christine Mae Q. Amada, Kristelle Ace C. Navarro, Ryne C. Pinero) placed second runner-up with a web application for public transport accessibility.

The GlobalCo Special Award, presented by principal sponsor Global Coordination Center for elegance and creativity, went to Team I Web You (Fionna Desserei Baculi, Marc Justine Esquivel, France Nerie A. Estrella, Alpha Romer Coma, Rab Karl Colasino) for Para Po!, a public transport route optimizer and navigator with an incentive program for cutting carbon footprints.

The Engine Room

The organizing team was introduced on January 11, 2025 as the Engine Room. It was made up of the overall heads and four committees: Externals and Finance, which handled partnerships and the budget; Education and Research, which prepared the learning material; Brandings and Creatives, which produced the visual identity; and Internals and Logistics, which ran the events. The posts do not name the individual members.

Photos

More photos from the Interactive Presentation and Awarding Ceremony are in the album on the PJDSC Facebook page.