ETDA Announces “UpPass” Winner of
“MEiD Hackathon: Digital ID Solution for All” Ideation Contest
February 7, 2022, Bangkok – The Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA) teamed up with the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) and partners in the public and private sectors, and regulators to launch MEiD Hackathon : Digital ID Solution for All “Seamless Thai Services” contest in order to find the best digital identity (Digital ID) technology for providing an integrated, seamless public service in Thailand. The winning team “UpPass”, the owner of the innovative No-Code Verification Onboarding platform, which connects government database systems to improve online credit review, received a cash prize of 250,000 baht and an honorary award as well as the opportunity to test out its innovation in the ETDA Sandbox.
Dr. Chaichana Mitrpant, Executive Director of the Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), said the world has rapidly changed as virtually all activities have been driven by digital technologies and online transactions. The ETDA, as an agency that is committed to promoting and supporting Thais in engaging with online transactions through secured and trusted gateways, has prioritized the digital transactions engagement and is gearing up to find solutions in order to enhance efficiency in all online transactions and activities as well as boosting confidence in using online transactions. The ETDA is now ready to move Thailand forward to embracing digital identity verification process or the use of Digital ID by collaborating with strategic partners in the public and private sectors and regulators to hold MEiD Hackathon : Digital ID Solution for All “Seamless Thai Services” under the MEiD “Seamless…Thai Services” campaign. The contest serves as an ideation stage for all Thais, stakeholders, undergraduates, startups, service providers, and relevant agencies to present their ideas and innovative digital ID solutions. The ultimate goal is to become a key mechanism to help move the country forward to enhancing the adoption of digital identity (Digital ID) verification and authentication.
MEiD Hackathon: Digital ID Solution for All “Seamless Thai Services” has continuously received good collaboration and support from partners so far since the application for the contest kicked off. The strategic partners included the Department of Provincial Administration (DOPA), Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), the National Innovation Agency (NIA), the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa) as well as partners in the private sector and service providers included AIS The Start Up, National Digital ID Co., Ltd. (NDID), Fire One One Co., Ltd. and KASIKORN Business-Technology Group (KBTG). The ETDA and those partners teamed up to jointly carry out the contest in order to achieve a constructive outcome and greater accomplishment. The contest received an overwhelming response from a large number of digital innovation developers. They were narrowed down to 20 teams qualified for contesting in the first round. All teams participated in an online workshop conducted by experts from multiple areas including technology, innovation, and digital ID verification and authentication fields. They shared knowledge and provided suggestions prior to starting the Semi Final Pitching round. All teams intensely presented a host of great innovation ideas to the judge panel via an online platform. A survey of all 20 participating teams was conducted after the end of the contest. It found that participants are immensely satisfied with the contest and the mentors as the contest greatly responded to their needs. An issue that most innovation developers want the government to look after is the continued support to materialize their innovation ideas and providing an inclusive innovation sandbox that is accessible for all stakeholders. They also want government support in education, advisory services, and seed funds. After an intense consideration in line with the contest criteria, the final 10 teams to present their ideas in the final round were announced. They are Apptify, Brainergy, Future Presence, InDistinct, MANAGov, Seek Force, Stepsole Health AI, UpPass, Veracity, and Yuenyan Platform. They came up with plenty of brilliant innovation ideas that can be adapted and further developed to enhance efficiency in business operations across industries.
Today’s competition entered its final stage where every team has to pitch their breakthrough ideas that have been collaboratively formulated for the judges and Thailand’s national-level experts in each field to consider. All 10 teams were determined and remained committed to presenting their innovation ideas and developing digital innovations and solutions to enhance the performance of digital ID verification throughout the competition. It reflected the great development potential of Thai service providers. The judge panel finally announced the winning teams of digital ID innovation development. The winner is “UpPass”, the owner of the innovative No-Code Verification Onboarding platform, which connects government database systems to improve online credit review. They received 250,000 baht in cash prize, an honorary shield, and a certificate. The first runner-up is “Seekforce” the owner of the myWorkforce.io, a job matching broker, which secures recruiting by using identity verification and criminal background checks. The second runner-up is “Brainergy” the owner of the innovative Empower Business with Digitization, which will allow all sectors to reliably sign e-Documents with using ETDA-compliant identity verification. They also received honorary shields and certificates. The three winning teams also have an opportunity to test their innovation ideas and solutions in the ETDA Sandbox for the best preparedness with confidence before providing services in the real-world environment.
“The ETDA would like to congratulate all the winning teams and would like to thank all the teams for participating in this competition. It is a collective effort to help society and the public acknowledge the importance of new digital ID innovations. Hopefully that the MEiD Hackathon : Digital ID Solution for All “Seamless Thai Services” will serve as an engine to further enhance widespread adoption of digital ID verification and authentication for an integrated and seamless public services across Thailand. It will eventually lead to a fully fledged digital economy and society,” added Dr. Chaichana.
For those interested in joining the future activities to be held under the MEiD campaign can visit MEiD Facebook page at www.facebook.com/meid.thailand and ETDA Thailand : www.facebook.com/ETDA.Thailand. Stay in touch with the latest updates and more information on the digital ID technology and innovation, contact Line OA : @meid_thailand or visit https://lin.ee/OgxNTzX