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Union Bank of the Philippines intensifies its very own branded hackathon with the re-titled < U >HACK & PL@Y this year through a series of events that will happen across the country.
Starting with its first <U>HACK & PL@Y in Cebu on July 15, 2017, this year’s UnionBank hackathons will now focus on developing solutions related to banking and e-commerce. The challenges the participants will address will be related to e-commerce or SME tools and how to incorporate new technology solutions in banking such as Artificial Intelligence, Augmented and Virtual Reality, Identity Authentication, Robotics and Data Analytics.
Participants will generally be IT students and working professionals who are digital enthusiasts. All participants are expected to showcase their digital prowess and innovative knowledge in crafting software applications. Winners will receive cash prizes and trophies.
UnionBank is banking on the success of its previous hackathons last year, which attracted hundreds of participants, and in a sense, caught the eye of other local banks, as some are organizing their own hackathons this year. UnionBank has a first mover advantage in the hackathon arena given that it is the only Bank who organized four successful hackathons in 2016 at a very large scale and is now an industry best practice. The Bank saw the relevance of organizing hackathons to complement its hiring and partnership strategies.
UnionBank aims to build a stronger presence in the hackathon space and strengthen the Bank’s relationship with developers, fintechs, and the academe this year.
UnionBank‘s strategy in getting a wider visibility in the hackathon community and enhance its reputation as a digital Bank is once again to break glass ceilings to introduce “first of a kind” initiatives built on three innovative concepts the <U>HACK & PL@Y, <U>HACKADEMIA and POP-UP HACKGROUND.
The <U>HACK & PL@Y concept is an innovative idea developed by UnionBank where UnionBank can organize a hackathon regardless of venue and size of targeted participants similar to the Plug and Play concept.
Correlating to this is the POP-UP HACKGROUND where it can quickly and easily mount the materials needed to initiate its hackathon series anytime, anywhere.
UnionBank is also doing a first as it introduces <U>HACKADEMIA in this year’s <U>HACK & PL@Y series. <U>HACKADEMIA aims to train for free digital trainers, particularly school personnel who teaches digital learning in colleges and universities, at the <U>HACK & PL@Y events. Experts in the areas of Mixed Reality, Internet of Things and Design Thinking will be invited to the event to further amplify the trainers’ knowledge.
“I believe that this ‘first of a kind’ experience we provide shall set us miles apart from the rest,” UnionBank SVP and Human Resource Director Michelle Rubio said.
UnionBank has always been at the forefront of digital innovations. It is one of the first Banks in the country that has embraced digital early in its operations. The Bank has aggressively pursued its goal of digital transformation to accelerate its growth momentum and performance as i1 services all of its customers with SmartBanking.
The <U>HACK & PL@Y series will provide UnionBank with the capacity to build its pool of digital talents by either hiring or partnering with them to help the Bank deliver agile and fast innovations.
UnionBank Chairman and CEO Dr. Justo A. Ortiz emphasized: We are redefining UnionBank through its digital transformation journey. Part of this journey is our commitment to innovate and stay relevant with the changing times. Through this series of hackathons, UnionBank will be able to harness the strengths and potentials of digital talents in developing digital banking solutions that can elevate the Bank to a much higher level.
UnionBank President and COO Edwin R. Bautista acknowledged: The Bank’s biggest challenge is to digitally transform today. But rest assured that we are determined to find relevant solutions in doing this digital transformation in order to become the best version of ourselves and build a Bank of enduring greatness. This is a promise we intend to keep.
The <U>HACK & PL@Y series will be popping up in different key cities across the country throughout the year as it continues to invite more digital talents to showcase their digital prowess in developing digital solutions.
