In conjunction with the Brunei December Festival 2021, the Coding Conquest 2021 concluded with a prize presentation ceremony which was handed by Professor Dr. Dayang Hajah Zohrah binti Haji Sulaiman, Vice-Chancellor of UTB as the Guest of Honour. The hackathon, which is a platform for youths and technology enthusiasts to solve problems through innovative solutions, was held from 6 December until 19 December 2021.
The conquest is co-hosted by Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB) through its School of Computing and Informatics, supported by the Ministry of Primary Resources and Tourism (MPRT) and Authority for Info-Communications Technology Industry (AITI), and facilitated by Grominda Sdn Bhd. The event is sponsored by Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP) Company Sdn Bhd and Unified National Networks (UNN) Sdn Bhd.
At the prize presentation ceremony, a remark was presented by Yang Mulia Md. Nur Aiman bin Haji Minorhadi, CEO of Grominda Sdn Bhd and facilitator of Brunei Coding Conquest 2021.
The ceremony then concluded with handing over the prize presentation to the winners. Presented by the Guest of Honour, Team 8 – Kebun Kitani emerged as the first place winner for the Hackathon and took home $700 cash prize. Team 6 – Kenali Makan Kitani went as first runner up with a $500 prize and was presented by Awang Ahmad Musaddiq Mohammad, Data Scientist of BSP. Last but not least, presented by Dayang Hafizah Sufian, Data Analytics Lead of UNN, Team 3 – Farm Record Tracking System placed as second runner up with a $300 cash prize.
Following its first installment in 2019, this year’s Coding Conquest has moved up from block-based coding into a programming language that is relevant in the present industry.
The six-day competition, from 13 until 18 December 2021, saw fourty-nine participants' participation divided into teams of four to five members. The hackathon was divided into three significant sprints where they were tasked to tackle current issues faced by various agencies and industries. The sprints were designed to provide solutions on the areas of Agriculture, Tourism, Food and Beverages, and Enterprise Solutions starting.
Prior to the hackathon, the participants went through a comprehensive series of workshops that involved industry experienced trainers and mentors using the approach of in-depth learning and application of skill. They also attended a one-week training on Design Thinking, Programming, Presentation, and Sprint planning as their preparation.
Each sprint took two days for the participants to complete followed by a presentation from the participating teams to the panel of judges. The solutions were judged on Viability in the market, Team capability, Technologies Integration/Prototype, Presentation and Growth strategy.
