Hacking for a cause: Cybersecurity for the govt procurement system

A new competition will give hackers the opportunity to do good by helping secure the government’s procurement processes.

 

In a statement, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, announced the start of the second #KabantayNgBayan contest, dubbed “Procurement Hack.”

The contest was organized by the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS), Open Data Philippines, and Globe Telecom.

 

“Following the success of our first #KabantayNgBayan hackathon and Readysaster: Hack for Resilience, the Open Data Task Force is pleased to announce the launch of #KabantayNgBayan: Procurement Hack,” Lacierda said.

 

Aside from encouraging transparency, the contest aims to use the potential of civic technology to raise public awareness of the procurement process. 

 

The first #KabantayNgBayan hackathon focused on the development of apps that would facilitate budget transparency. Readysaster focused on disaster preparedness apps.

 

“This time, we are again inviting developers, designers, researchers, and data gurus in the country to join the Procurement Hack. Potential app ideas and challenges include helping citizens understand and monitor the procurement process, matching government needs with prospective bidders, and assembling a history or track record of previous bidders,” Lacierda said.

 

Teams should be made up of 3-4 people, a mix of developers and designers. 

 

Online registration for the Procurement Hack will be on November 10 and can be done via the Data.gov.ph website. The event itself will take place from November 22-23. — Bea Montenegro/ELR/TJD, GMA News