April 27, 2026
PANABO CITY – Students from Davao del Norte Staet College participated in the ASEAN AI Hackathon 2026 on April 23, 2026, a regional initiative organized by Passage to ASEAN (P2A) International in collaboration with its sponsoring member institutions. The event, held in a hybrid format via the Gender and Development Conference Hall and Zoom, gathered over 1,000 students across international hubs in Southeast Asia.
Anchored on the theme “AI for a Resilient ASEAN: Innovation, Sustainability, and Humanity”, the hackathon brought together 248 participating schools across the region, including 132 contingents from the Philippines. DNSC was represented by selected students from the Bachelor of Science in Information Technology, Bachelor of Science in Information Systems, Bachelor of Science in Disaster Resilience and Management, and Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship, with mentors from the BUGSAI Technology Business Incubator.
The program featured a series of workshops designed to equip participants with both conceptual and technical knowledge. Workshop 1, Human-Centric AI & Regional Problem Solving: Setting the Stage, was hosted by Mapúa Malayan Colleges Laguna, followed by Workshop 2, Technical Architecture & Data Ethics, facilitated by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines. These sessions emphasized responsible AI development and its role in addressing real-world challenges across ASEAN communities.
In her welcome message, Dr. Joy M. Sorrosa emphasized the importance of ethical and purposeful AI use. “AI can help us predict, adapt and recover faster, but only if you use it wisely. To our participating students, you have great potential to be adept in the use of AI and fluent in its possibilities. But your greatest contribution to sustainability lies in knowing how to use AI to enhance, not to replace, to innovate efficient and convenient systems for public service and community welfare,” she said.
Participants echoed these insights, highlighting the value of grounding innovation in societal needs. Hubert Eleazar, a fourth-year BSIT student from DNSC, shared, “My key takeaway from today’s ASEAN AI Hackathon 2026 Workshop is the importance of grounding AI development in real-world impact. It emphasized that we should not create problems just to apply technology, but instead focus on solving existing challenges that genuinely affect people.”
