Students from 9 universities take on real-world business challenges faced by SMEs
Bangkok – 24 February 2020 – Microsoft (Thailand), in partnership with Advanced Info Service Public Company Limited (AIS), is providing university students an opportunity to fulfil their digital skill needs in the “1st JobberHack Challenge” – a competition that challenges them to take on business dilemmas facing SMEs while also gaining necessary skills and knowledge through training sessions that equip them for work in the 21st century. Held at the AIS headquarters, the competition will reward the winning team with three Surface Go computers (valued at THB 25,900 each) and a training session on how to use Power Apps and Power Platform for 50 students from the same university.
The opening of the “1st JobberHack Challenge” program was held at AIS on February 17, 2020 with an aim to equip students in higher education with necessary digital skills for the 21st century jobs. Furthermore, the competition encourages them to integrate theoretical knowledge into real-life practice through a presentation of technological solutions and ideas to solve real business challenges, made possible through online Microsoft Teams training sessions that cover key topics such as documenting, communication, data collecting and website, data visualization, automation and building application and creating product application.
Ms. Chanikarn Pronanun, Deputy Managing Director – Marketing & Operations, Microsoft Thailand, said, “Microsoft has always believed that creativity and innovation come from exploring opportunities and taking new ideas from people of all backgrounds regardless of their age and field of study into account. That is why hackathons are an important part of Microsoft’s culture as they are opportunities to explore new perspectives to overcome problems and challenges we face in business, society and education. With the competition, we are offering tools and services from our Power Platform and Microsoft Office 365 to support the development of digital innovations in an open, low-coding environment for participating students to utilize in their projects. We are delighted to be partnering with AIS to spark the creativity of the new generation while providing them an opportunity to boost their digital skills. We are also very excited that we will get to see the applications developed by all the students participating in the competition”.
Mr. Arakin Rakchittapoke, Head of the Novel Engine Execution Team, Advanced Info Service Public Company Limited (AIS), said, “As a digital life service provider, our mission extends beyond enhancing our network and services to also focus on continuously increasing the potential of our digital talents through workshops and AIS Playground, a community founded to support the development of new technologies and innovations for university students and startups. With this partnership with Microsoft Thailand, we are glad to be supporting the competition with our technological knowledge, the NEXT team experts who are ready to provide guidance for the business solutions plans, and the AIS digital platform for students to utilize and integrate their programming skills into practice to effectively solve the business challenges. We are confident that this partnership will bring about new innovations and collaborations that are beneficial for the ecosystem stakeholders in the future”.
The opening ceremony of the competition was attended by 29 student teams from 9 universities – namely Chulalongkorn University, Thammasat University, Mahidol University, Silpakorn University, Kasetsart University, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi and Khon Kaen University. Aside from gaining knowledge from a design thinking workshop and feedback from experts in the industry on the opening ceremony day, the student participants will also get an opportunity to learn necessary and beneficial digital skills through online trainings via Microsoft Teams for one month starting from March 12, 2020.
Mr. Sugrit Chaichaiyadej, a 4th-year student from Faculty of Engineering, Industrial Engineering Major, Kasetsart University, said, “I first got interested in the 1st JobberHack Challenge because it’s a competition organized under a partnership of 2 major companies like Microsoft and AIS. So, I believe this will a great opportunity and a valuable experience learning essential basic critical thinking skills for new business innovations and solutions from two leading companies in the industry.”
Ms. Yupaporn Wanna, a 4th-year student from Faculty of Science, Statistical Information Major, Khon Kaen University, said, “As a 4th-year student, I feel that this initiative will give me an opportunity to turn theory into practice and assess my capabilities before entering the real-world competition. I believe that the skills and knowledge that I will get from the program, from experience sharing and advice from successful executives and experts to working together with a group of friends using design thinking skills to create new business solutions and innovations, will help me get ready before starting my career life in the near future.”
After the online training sessions, participating students will be required to submit their business solutions ideas in a 1-2 minutes video format. The winning team will be announced on March 31, 2020 after all submitted ideas get presented before a panel of industry experts. The first-prize winning team will receive 3 Surface Go devices worth THB 25,900 each along with training on how to use Power Apps and Power Platform for 50 students from the same university. The runners-up will receive 3 Surface Go devices with a total value of over THB 50,000, while the third-placed team will receive 3 pairs of Logitech G933 headphones worth over THB 6,000. In addition, the winning team will also be awarded with an Office 365 training course for 50 students at their university.