The United States and ASEAN awarded third place in the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) World of Food Innovation Challenge to a team from INTI International University. The team’s iSEA Forces app helps fish farmers increase their harvest and profit.
The iSEA Forces app provides fish farmers a forum where they can pose questions to fish experts in audio or video format and an online marketplace to sell fish and fish products directly to buyers. The app also has a dictionary and a disease detection tool that enables fishermen to submit a picture of a problem and receive a video with a possible solution.
“Fish farmers are facing a critical issue in Malaysia. Many lack information for fish farming. We built an app that acts as a medium for them to acquire knowledge,” said Tan How Ming, who is part of the iSEA Forces team.
Members of the ASEAN Committee on Science and Technology gathered in Siem Reap, Cambodia for their annual meeting with the United States selected Tan How Ming, Liew Zien, and Nur Syafiyah Nabilah as the 3rd place winners. These students will take part in a study trip in March, 2017 to Austin, Texas, one of the main technology hubs in the United States.
“The United States is committed to partnering with ASEAN to provide young people with opportunities to contribute to science, technology, and innovation endeavors. We know that young people have the great potential to develop innovative technology solutions to some of the region’s most complex challenges around food security. That’s why the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the YSEALI World of Food Innovation Challenge in February 2016 as part of the U.S. government’s initiative for engaging youth in Southeast Asia,” said Chargé d’Affaires Edgard D. Kagan.
The Innovation Challenge, implemented by USAID in partnership with technology giants Cisco and Intel, invited youth from across ASEAN Member Nations to propose technology-based solutions to address some of the region’s most daunting challenges in the fields of agriculture, aquaculture, and fisheries. More than 200 applications were received from Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The U.S. partners with ASEAN to cultivate emerging leaders, support economic integration, expand maritime cooperation, promote opportunity for women, and address transnational challenges. The breadth of programs is reflective of the deepened cooperation under the U.S.-ASEAN Strategic Partnership.
Source: U.S. Embassy Malaysia