ITE duo top global social innovation competition

2 second-year Institute of Technical Education (ITE) trainees have emerged winners in an international social development competitors involving groups from 10 countries, positioning Singapore leading alongside Greece and Slovakia.

The Social Innovation Relay 2020, which remains in its 10th edition this year, obstacles youth to develop an ingenious service concept that resolves a social need.

Mr Arthur Chong, 19, and Mr Ernest Antonio Ching, 18, had actually previously made their right to represent the Republic in the global finals, which was held online on June 16, by beating nine other groups from schools such as Raffles Organization (RI) and Dunman High School in the final nationwide leg of the competition late last month.

A total of 95 teams in Singapore took part in the regional competitors and 10 made it to the finals.

The two ITE trainees had developed the idea of a social enterprise to train and put youth with autism in tasks that matched their abilities. Mentors would be assigned to coach the youth on managing work circumstances for as much as a year.

The pair likewise established a prototype of a chat assistance application using emojis, to permit youth with autism to interact their sensations easily to their mentors or work managers when facing challenges at work.

Said Mr Chong, who is doing a Greater Nitec in IT applications advancement: “We have classmates and buddies with autism, so we understand first-hand the troubles they confront with finding mainstream work.

“A few of my friends shared the problems they dealt with during their internship periods – breaking down when under extreme stress, not knowing how to deal with tight spots – that’s where we got some inspiration.”

The duo said they likewise drew inspiration from regional social enterprise Inclus, which helps individuals with special needs discover gainful employment.

It was co-founded by ITE alumnus Anders Tan.

FINDING INSPIRATION

Some of my friends shared the issues they faced throughout their internship durations – breaking down when under extreme stress, not knowing how to deal with difficult scenarios – that’s where we got some inspiration.

MR ARTHUR CHONG, on their schoolmates and pals who have autism being the motivation behind the chat assistance app.

COLLABORATIVE EFFORT

It’s not about private work … We decided to make our chatbot app prototype after hearing remarks from the judges and our coaches after the national finals.

MR ERNEST ANTONIO CHING, giving credit to their mentors.

Mr Ching, who is doing a Higher Nitec in mechatronics engineering, said: “Due to the circuit breaker period, we could not really technique Inclus quickly for recommendations.”

Now that the competitors is over, the duo may look into working with Inclus on the use of the app, he added.

This was the first time that the pair have needed to work on a major job online due to the Covid-19 crisis, and it was difficult, said Mr Ching.

The duo gave credit to their coaches – ITE speaker Ismadi Suhadi and cyber security threat manager Adeline Chan – for important guidance and comments on areas for improvement. Ms Chan is from the non-profit organisation Junior Achievement Singapore, which arranges the regional competition.

Mr Ching stated: “It’s not about individual work … We chose to make our chatbot app prototype after hearing remarks from the judges and our mentors after the nationwide finals.”

From there, they had about 11/2 weeks to the worldwide finals. They worked from another location together through the nights and broke up work.

For instance, Mr Ching was in charge of researching and coming up with originalities, while Mr Chong managed the main advancement of the app.

Presentations during the finals, at both the Singapore and global stages, were performed online too, which helped make them less worried.

Mr Chong stated they were not aware that their challengers were groups from schools such as RI, and only realised who they had actually bested when the leading 10 teams were announced.

He included: “However it demonstrates how focused we were on our project. We simply wished to do our best.

“There was a sense of achievement and fulfillment, but when it concerned the global finals, we made certain to challenge ourselves through healthy debates.

“We continuously investigated and looked for brand-new info to include value to our job so we wouldn’t get too comfortable with our ideas.”

The 3 winning teams – from Singapore, Greece and Slovakia – will get a chance to participate in a global conference by Junior Accomplishment held in Stockholm, with all expenses spent for by the organisation.

The conference has been postponed to next year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.