Thailand's digital economy agency emerged from the 2023 Taiwan Presidential Hackathon with a prize for ingenuity. The Digital Economy Promotion Agency (depa), with King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL) and Siam Inno City LLP, bested 60 global teams to win top honours for a homegrown solution tackling plastic pollution.
depa, KMITL and Siam Inno City LLC conceived "Re-Fill City", a mobile platform connecting Thai consumers to stores offering free drinking water. Leveraging artificial intelligence to map refill stations across the country, the app promotes reuse of reusable bottles over single-use plastic. Participating shops earn reward points for supporting environmental stewardship in their communities.
Beyond waste reduction, the project aims to foster healthy habits. Consumers can locate stores providing low-sugar drinks, while accumulating perks along their journey towards wellness. Initial trials in Nakhon Si Thammarat yielded enthusiasm and early signs of impact.
"Citizens and businesses partnered to drive positive change through technology," said depa President/CEO Asst. Prof. Dr. Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, praising cross-sector collaboration. KMITL provided research and development support to Re-Fill City, while Siam Inno City LLC supported the prototyping with award-winning and ISO/IEC29100-certified digital services to pivot the prototypes into an app for rigorous user testing. A true people-public-private-partnership (4P), academia and industry allies contributed complementary expertise to translate social priorities into digital infrastructure.
The hackathon prize crowns depa's citizen-centric innovation approach. Rather than implement outside solutions, the agency works intimately with municipalities to craft homegrown proposals addressing local needs. Depa then helps incubate, test and refine ideas through iterative trials.
Success on the global stage follows domestic validation, like remaking polluted Nakhon Si Thammarat as a smart city showpiece. depa cultivates Thai innovation from the ground up, embedding technologies respectfully within communities to organically empower lives.
As depa spreads inclusive prosperity nationwide, its hackathon honours inspire emulation of grassroots solutions tackling urgent problems with affordable, people-centric design thinking. Under depa's guidance, Thailand innovates from strength of place and purpose to engage citizens as active partners in progress.