Yangon, Myanmar

Promising young tech entrepreneurs are stepping up and driving Myanmar’s digital transformation toward a new phase. Today’s virtual Demo Day event, hosted by “Innovation Hub – supporting the SDGs,” presented a total of six digital innovations created by Myanmar’s talented tech startups, namely five winning teams and one runner-up team from the 2019 Hackathon organized jointly by UNDP and Ooredoo Myanmar.

Today’s virtual Demo Day event was indeed a much-awaited debut stage for these young tech startups who aced the national competition and then successfully completed the Innovation Hub’s intensive training and mentoring programme in addition to volunteering their services for the Innovation Hub’s COVID-19 collaborations amongst other initatives such as Myanmar’s digital celebration of the 2020 World Environment Day. During the joint Ooredoo-UNDP Hackathon in 2019, the cohorts started creating prototypes of their digital solutions to address pressing challenges Myanmar is facing, i.e., climate change, education and rural development, while helping achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), e.g., Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being and Goal 5: Gender Equality.

Their journey in the pursuit of digital innovation in the midst of COVID-19 outbreak, has not been easy. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the services of the Innovation Hub were moved online including the incubation and mentoring sessions as well as its Tech 101 digital webinar series. The temporary closure affected the cohorts’ access to the Innovation Hub’s co-working space, technical support and business networks.

However, the Innovation Hub’s digital events continued to amplify youth voices and provide platforms for the youth to engage in policy dialogue. U Kyaw Zin Hted, COO of the 2019 Hackathon Winning Team “Innovatory” whose mobile app “Sein” was highlighted today, in fact, participated earlier this year as a youth representative in the virtual panel discussion to celebrate World Environment Day 2020.

The six digital innovations presented today showcase the potential to accelerate both digital transformation and sustainable development of Myanmar. Team TweeTwee’s TweeBot and Team Garage’s Mentiply are set up to digital solutions for quality education which are made even more relevant in the COVID-19 context; Team AgriLight’s de4up and Team Glorius’s Sein Lan provide digital access to finance and market for rural development; Team Innovatory’s Sein seeks to promote Myanmar’s green e-commerce platform; and Team F’s Clinic One provides digital health services.

Mr. Alok Verma, Chief Commercial Officer of Ooredoo Myanmar said “In a time where digital transformation is driving change in all areas, Myanmar youth have a tremendous potential to use digital technologies to shape Myanmar’s brighter future. We are proud to give Myanmar youth all possible opportunities to develop their full potential to build Myanmar as a digital nation and keep abreast of the changing world. Ooredoo is empowering the youth of Myanmar through new innovative digital knowledge, service, products and future plans to support Myanmar’s digital transformation. We, at Ooredoo, are and will be dedicated to delivering social initiatives in Myanmar to fulfill the vision of “enriching people’s digital lives”.

“UNDP knows that Myanmar’s youth can make the difference in helping Myanmar to build back better using digital technologies to transform how Myanmar does business across the public and private sector to deliver on the SDGs.. We hope that the today’s virtual demonstrations serve to inspire the talented youth to apply their talent to participate and promote Myanmar’s digital innovation efforts to accelerate SDGs and helping to reach underserved areas while leaving no one behind said Dawn Del Rio, Deputy Resident Representative of UNDP Myanmar.

Today’s Demo Day represents the conclusion of the 2019 Hackathon journey, under the overall umbrella of the productive partnership between Ooredoo Myanmar and UNDP.

“Innovation Hub - supporting the SDGs” is a co-working space for youths and tech entrepreneurs to showcase, scale up and collaborate on innovative ideas to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through digital innovation.

“The Hackathon” is a special initiative of Ooredoo Myanmar and UNDP Myanmar to promote and scale up digital innovation and entrepreneurship amongst the youth in Myanmar through a combination of challenge and business incubation. It aims to provide a platform for Myanmar’s youth to create prototypes that showcase innovative ideas to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through digital innovation.

For more information, contact:

Ooredoo Communication Team | +959 9733 33322 | czar@oredoo.com.mm
UNDP Communication Team | +95 9 4500 57730 | si.thu.soe.moe@undp.org

About Ooredoo Myanmar

Ooredoo Myanmar was awarded a license to operate in Myanmar in June 2013 and launched commercial operations in August 2014 with the 3G connectivity. Ooredoo is a leading provider of telecommunication services in Myanmar with the objective of “Enriching people’s digital lives”.

Ooredoo Myanmar is known for bringing in latest, most innovative products and services in Myanmar. The first operator to launch the fastest 4G Network in Myanmar in May 2016 and the first operator to cover over 300 townships with its fastest 4G internet connectivity.

Ooredoo Myanmar today has a range of life-enriching services for consumers to enterprise, government and SME customers. These services provide a platform for human growth and empowerment and are designed to help people achieve their full potential and businesses run more efficiently. Ooredoo Myanmar is committed to enriching the lives of Myanmar people through its products, services and CSR initiatives.

Website: www.ooredoo.com.mm
Instagram: @ooredoomyanmar
Facebook: www.facebook.com/OoredooMyanmar
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ooredoomyanmar

About UNDP

UNDP is on the ground in more than 170 countries, providing global perspective, local insight, technical assistance, policy advice and development support services. Our objective is to support countries to end extreme poverty, reduce inequality, and achieve the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

UNDP has been providing development assistance to the people of Myanmar since the 1950s. Today, UNDP in Myanmar is committed to the achievement of the 2030 Agenda and implementation of the SDGs by bringing in global best practices and international standards. With partnerships and tested approaches established by the UN system, we are building capacity of the Government and people of Myanmar by providing support to collectively deliver on the 2030 Agenda to promote Myanmar’s development across the country’s economic, social and environmental priorities.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/UNDPMyanmar
Twitter: www.twitter.com/UNDP_Myanmar
Website: www.mm.undp.org