MAKATI CITY, Metro Manila- The Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), the Department of Health (DOH), and the SMART Communications, Inc. awarded three winners for the #ThinkOpenHealth Hackathon event on 16-17 April 2016 at the Asian Institute Management (AIM) Conference Center.

The winning teams who won cash prizes, assorted gadgets and opportunities to be incubated by DOH, PCHRD and SMART-IdeaSpace were Quantum Hackers, Chunky Monkeys, and Jeepers Creepers.

Team Quantum Hackers who won the gold award during the #ThinkOpenHealth

Team Quantum Hackers with members Norman Mascarinas, Kit Guial, and Junelle Bacong won the gold award with their Shine Herald, a mobile wireless sensor-based water quality testing device and application that tests the salinity (saltiness) and turbidity (cloudiness) of water samples.

Team Chunky Monkeys with members Elizabeth Milo, Craige Milo, Bernadette Milo and Loyd Ocampo received the silver award for their Omni Health System which makes electronic medical records (EMRs) of patients accessible even from a interplanetary file system.

Team Jeepers Creepers with members PJ Sales, Jon Tabac, and Paolo Balleza bagged the bronze award with their Hx Fact Finder application which connects primary health institutions such as community maternity clinics with larger health institutions such as city hospitals.

The #ThinkOpenHealth hackathon event brought together developers, doctors, nurses and students to help improve the local health sector through information and communications technology (ICT) solutions. The event was driven by the Philippine government’s mission on inclusive health through strengthening its eHealth strategy by SMART’s campaign on Technology for Development (Tech4D).

To guide the participants in pitching their programs, discussions from Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go, DOH Office for Health Regulation Undersecretary, Mr. Romel John Santos, SHINE OS+ Lead Architect and Software Engineer, Dr. Ma. Regina Justina Estuar, Ateneo Social Computing Science Laboratory Head, and Mr. James Mendoza, Maroon Studios Chief Executive Officer, were conducted.

Likewise, Ms. Diwa Del Mundo of SMART Communications shared tips on how developers could add more value to their concepts via Smart Money/ PayMaya while Mr. Carlo Calimon of IdeaSpace Foundation Philippines gave ways in marketing the ideas of participants.

The welcome remarks of Dr. Jaime Montoya, PCHRD Executive Director, was delivered by Ms. Merlita Opeña, PCHRD Division Chief.

On his welcome remarks, Dr. Montoya cited that the eHealth Program is one of the primary strategies of PCHRD in achieving universal health care and in supporting the call for “Smarter Philippines.” The eHealth program makes it possible for people living in hard-to-reach areas of the country to receive healthcare services and information through ICT, he added.

“As lead of the Philippine National Health Research System (PNHRS), PCHRD has supported promising eHealth technologies to achieve its vision of ensuring a healthy Filipino nation that benefit from research-based solutions and innovation,” he stated.

Among the technologies are RxBox, eHealth Tablet for Informed Decision Making of LGUs (eHATID LGU) and eHATID LGU Morbidity Boards in Geospatial Graphs (eHaMBinGG).

Aside from the discussions, participants of #ThinkOpenHealth were also mentored by technical, health, business, and legal areas experts. Special awards such as the SHINE OS+ Award, DOST-PCHRD Award, DOH Award, and Student Award were also given.