2 Pinoy teams qualify in earth observation dashboard hackathon

Two Philippine teams have been selected as global finalists for the all-virtual, Earth Observation (EO) Dashboard Hackathon held last June 23 to 29.

The event was conducted by the United States space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA), and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) featuring 233 projects of the participating 132 countries and territories.

"I am really overwhelmed and excited because we didn't expect that our work would be selected as finalists," shared Michael Lance M. Domagas, who is among those who researched for the Mobility over Air Quality Index (MAQI), in an interview via email on July 29.

With Domagas are data analyst Dominic Vincent "Doc" Ligot, data engineer Mark Neil Pascual, and De La Salle University assistant professorial lecturer Arturo "Art" Caronongan III.

Together, they derive from Google a fusion of mobility statistics from Earth observations to identify the areas and communities with improved mobility and air quality.

The other team, the Geo-Intelligent Visualization of Earth Systems in Graphical and Historical Timelines (GiveSIGHT), has sought to improve the current EO dashboard by highlighting significant changes of the COVID-19 pandemic through visualizations and guided insight for prospect users.

GiveSIGHT is being led by electrical engineer and technology consultant Gabriel Kristopher "Cricket" Soong, software engineer Mark Barretto, and Adamson University computer engineering students Angelica Mhay Salazar, Karl Adrian de Guzman, and Joshua Bungcaras.

“Even though the work is challenging during the hackathon, I still encourage Filipinos to join these types of events to make our country better known for STEM and innovation. How I wish our own nation too would have the initiative to give recognition and respect to these achievers, so that other Filipinos would be more than motivated to give glory and honor to nation building,” added the lead organizer of the NASA's International Space Apps Challenge, freelance software developer, digital marketer, events host, and community leader.—LBG, GMA News