All six Philippine youth delegates bagged major awards at the recently concluded 2014 Global IT Challenge (GITC) in Busan Exchange Convention, Busan, South Korea from December 9 – 13, 2014 which coincides with the ASEAN–ROK Commemorative Summit.
Nathaniel Edward Q. Dimalanta from the Philippine School for the Deaf (PSD) won the gold award in “eLifeMap Challenge” while Janielle Alonzo Salvador also from PSD bagged the bronze award in “eTool Challenge”. The Philippine also captured the bronze award in team category for “eCreative Challenge” that showcased their creativity to do animation using Scratch online program. The team was composed of Nathaniel and Janielle together with Jonathan Jumuad Co (Deaf) and Rhold Michael Fernandez Jr. (Deaf) both studying at the Manila Christian Computer Institute for the Deaf College of Technology (MCCID), Mary Ann Medura Rollon a graduate of STI College and Wawel Acabado Quidoles from the Philippine National School for the blind who are both visually impaired.
Aside from medals and certificates, the gold winner received a brand new 15” laptop, while bronze medalists received a digital camera and 1 terabyte (TB) external hard drives.
A total of 104 contestants and 80 government personnel and professionals from 10 countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) together with the host Republic of Korea participated in this year’s event. Held since 2011, this activity is organized by the Korean Society for the Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (KSRPD) in partnership with the government of Korea. Its main objective is to solve the digital divide and use ICT as a window to communicate with the world for Persons with Disabilities as well as improve their accessibility and quality of life.
This year’s occasion is special because it became part of the summit, which was attended by leaders from all countries held at the same venue from 11-12 December. First ladies from Thailand and Laos graced the affair together with top officials from UN-ESCAP and the host country.
The Philippine Team was coached by Mr. Remberto I. Esposa Jr. of MCCID, Ms. Marietta C. Regala of the Resources for the Blind (RBI) and Mr. Dandy C. Victa of the National Council on Disability Affairs (NCDA) who served as the head of the Philippine Delegation. Mr. Victa also presented the “National Strategy on the Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities” during the IT Forum as part of the event. The Philippine participation to the annual GITC is supported by the DOST-ICT Office and the National Council on Disability Affairs.
