Team Pentagon from Cavite State University was awarded as the ultimate winner in the #PLDT88 Hackathon Challenge for its innovative solution called PLDT TechGo that enables a PLDT subscriber in need of technical support to contact the nearest technician around the area. Team Pentagon received a cash prize of P100,000.
Special awards were given by the board of judges to Team White Cloak for best in idea and implementation while Daniella Javilles, a member of Team DUitYUSIP from Davao, was cited as best presenter.
Six winning teams from the Luzon and VisMin legs who created innovative digital solutions to enhance customer experience competed in the Ultimate Pitch, set in PLDT Innolab at the ePLDT Vitro in Makati.
“Our commitment is clear”•continuously improve customer service and we are doubling our efforts to become the leading proponent of digital services and solutions in the country as we celebrate PLDT’s 88th anniversary,” said PLDT chairman and chief executive Manuel Pangilinan.
“This hackathon to develop innovative customer solutions is fully aligned with our digital pivot,” Pangilinan said.
Team Pentagon is made up of four students from Cavite State University. Carlo Pastoral, Abel James Lualhati, Marck Ivan Camama and Gideon del Mundo, were hailed as winners of the first ever #PLDT88 Hackathon Challenge, which was proclaimed by the board of judges composed of PLDT top management with extensive experience in innovation and customer experience.
The other teams who competed in the Ultimate Pitch are Teams White Cloak and Pocket Market from the Luzon leg, Team Logic from Cebu, and Teams Sweet and Halang and DUItYuSip from Davao.
PLDT TechGO, the solution developed by Team Pentagon, is an android communication app that is able to search and contact the nearest certified PLDT technician to the customer in need of technical support instead of the usually demanding customer service-technician flow using the landline.
The team members, whose ages range from 19 to 23, are Computer Engineering students from the Cavite State University. The team’s winning digital solution will have the opportunity to be further developed and used.
In an interview, Pastoral, leader of Team Pentagon, said his team was initially intimidated by other “professional and more experienced” competitors in app development.
“This [victory] hasn’t sunk in yet. We still couldn’t believe we won. I guess we made it because of our close friendship and our empathy to customer issues and eagerness to help address problems in network troubleshooting,” Pastoral said.
The winning TechGO app uses GPS technology and is able to immediately contact PLDT technicians within a five-kilometer radius from a customer’s home and features a rating system for technicians to enhance customer service and productivity.
“PLDT helped to bring out the best in us by making an application in a short period of time, working on it under pressure and under crucial circumstances,” Camama, also a member of Pentagon, said.
“Despite the lack of resources, we were inspired [by PLDT] not to stop and to continue to the end. Now we hope this app we developed will help customers save time in troubleshooting and in solving their network problems,” he said.
Reinforcing its commitment to enhance its customer experience, PLDT’s hackathon challenge is part of its 88th anniversary celebration on Nov. 28. It is also an avenue through which the company provides support for local developers nationwide.