The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), and telecommunications firm Converge ICT have teamed up to launch a nationwide hackathon aimed at accelerating digitization among students and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

A hackathon is an event, typically lasting several days, where participants collaborate to solve real-world problems or explore innovative opportunities.

In a statement on Wednesday, PCCI announced that Converge will mount a 24-hour hackathon dubbed Byte Forward, which will run alongside PCCI’s regional business conferences in North Luzon, Visayas, the National Capital Region, Mindanao, and South Luzon.

“We want to maximize the use of technology in every area where business owners stand to benefit. In the hackathon, we will not just concentrate on solving real-life problems of business owners, but crucially, we will tap students with the technological know-how to solve these problems and put them in the same room,” said Converge CEO Dennis Anthony Uy, who also serves as the PCCI Chairman for the Philippine Business Conference and Expo 2025.

PCCI’s local chambers — composed primarily of MSMEs — and Converge will identify specific business pain points to serve as problem statements. Ten teams of third- and fourth-year college students from each region will then be challenged to develop innovative solutions.

“The hackathon is certainly a welcome move for MSMEs, particularly as it will produce viable and practical technology solutions that meet their needs and help them move up the value chain. We are happy that Converge, through the efforts of our PBC Chair Dennis Uy, is making this happen," said PCCI President Enunina Mangio.

Each regional hackathon winner will receive P50,000. Regional champions will then compete in a culminating national hackathon during PCCI’s 51st Philippine Business Conference and Expo, scheduled from 20 to 22 October at the SMX Convention Center in Manila, where prizes of up to P500,000 will be awarded.

“Linking up the private sector and the academe has always been an advocacy of PCCI, but where we can bring value is injecting this focus on innovation, as a way of encouraging these businesses to look to emerging technologies to future-proof their business,” according to Uy.

The PCCI North Luzon Business Conference will kick off in Bataan from 19 to 20 June, featuring a trade fair and gathering of government, academic, and industry leaders. This year’s theme is: “Northern Philippines: Agile, Innovative. Soaring.”