November 11, 2025, Quezon City—The Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) showcased the country’s most promising youth innovators during Powering Productivity 2025, an annual gathering that fuels the next generation of public-sector innovation. This year’s event marked the culminating celebration of the NextGenPH Pitching Innovation Finals and the Productivity Challenge 2025: Paperless Edition, demonstrating how Filipino ingenuity can drive a more efficient, inclusive, and citizen-centered government.
In her opening message, DAP Senior Vice President for Programs Magdalena L. Mendoza emphasized the significance of the initiative in shaping a more responsive and compassionate public sector. She highlighted that meaningful reforms emerge when “youth perspectives converge with the experience of public servants,” creating solutions grounded in both innovation and public service.
Recording Participation and a Path Toward Meaningful Change
The call for entries opened in July 2025, inviting Filipino youth to contribute ideas that address public-sector challenges. By November, DAP received 431 entries from 139 schools nationwide, which were carefully evaluated and refined into a highly competitive roster of finalists.
Entries spanned key governance areas—including health technologies, sustainable agriculture, civic engagement, smart infrastructure, and accessibility—and went through several rounds of screening guided by DAP senior experts.
The Final Pitching Event brought together judges from government, academe, and the innovation community, including leaders from the Department of Budget and Management, Department of Education, Department of Economy, Planning, and Development (DEPDev), and DAP. Proposals were assessed based on relevance to public-sector productivity, feasibility, scalability, and potential impact on service delivery.
Senior High School Finalists: Innovation Rooted in Community Priorities
Ten senior high school teams presented forward-looking solutions addressing healthcare, disaster response, sustainable living, and inclusive education. The top winners were:
Champion – Team Liwanag | Catanduanes National High School
Project Liwanag offers real-time household energy consumption tracking—an essential tool in Catanduanes, where electricity costs are among the highest in the country. The solution empowers families to better manage expenses and adopt sustainable practices.
1st Runner-Up – Team HealthTRAC | Philippine Science High School – Central Visayas Campus
HealthTRAC is a digital prescription and medication management platform that uses barcodes and QR codes for accurate and trackable patient care. It provides instant access to medication data for healthcare workers while enabling patients to monitor their own prescriptions.
2nd Runner-Up – Team EMBER | Quezon City Science High School
EMBER is an autonomous emergency-response robot capable of detecting and extinguishing small fires while guiding individuals toward safe exits—enhancing community disaster resilience.
Other SHS finalists broadened the scope of student-led innovation:
- Valencia National High School – Bambutech: Smart Bamboo Propagule Harvester
- Lucrecia R. Kasilag Senior High School – Tryci: Tricycle Hailing App
- Quezon City Science High School – ATAY: AI Multi-Modal Metabolic Health Risk Assessment Tool
- Quezon City Science High School – SENYAS: Sign Language Educational Navigator
- Pines City National High School – Project Namnama: Dehydrate to Hydrate Food Security Initiative
- Amontay National High School – Community Voice PH
- Philippine Science High School – Zamboanga Peninsula Campus – Self-Cleaning Streets Using Photocatalytic Coatings
College Finalists: Technology with Transformative Public Potential
Higher education teams focused on scalable interventions designed to strengthen public services, boost productivity, and support equitable development.
Champion – Team Piliseed | Bulacan State University
PILISEED is a cost-efficient solar-powered IoT sensor paired with an AI-enabled mobile app that equips farmers with real-time soil data, crop recommendations—even offline—and predictive analytics that improve harvest outcomes and resource efficiency.
1st Runner-Up – Team Kitakits | Ateneo de Manila University
KITA is a low-bandwidth-friendly AI assistant that digitizes MSME records, turning basic paper logs into data-driven insights that support rural enterprises and promote inclusive economic growth.
2nd Runner-Up – Team Codetism | West Visayas State University
AgriChain is an AI-driven logistics and decision-support system designed to streamline produce transport and distribution, ensuring farmers earn more while reducing food waste and inefficiencies.
Additional college finalists showcased innovations in healthcare, transparency, governance, and digital access:
- Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation – People’s Trust Chain: Transparent Infrastructure Procurement System
- Camarines Norte State College – Dementra: Smart Anklet and App for Dementia Care
- West Visayas State University – TanodPH: Police Transparency Hub
- Carlos Hilado Memorial State University – Nutrindahan: Nutrition and Market Access Platform
- Lyceum of the Philippines University – Cavite – Konsulta Kiosk: Telehealth and Digital Records Access
- University of St. La Salle – Bacolod – eSkolar: Centralized Scholarship Management
- Cagayan State University – Andrews Campus – Anthromax
These collegiate projects highlight how technology—when rooted in purpose—can advance public-sector productivity and deliver meaningful improvements in the lives of Filipino communities.
Building a Launchpad for Public Innovation
Beyond recognizing outstanding youth innovators, DAP announced its commitment to supporting select projects through pilot testing, mentorship, and possible integration into public-sector programs. This ensures that promising ideas move beyond the competition stage and contribute to real-world solutions.
Powering Productivity 2025 also underscored the importance of institutional collaboration, with government agencies and academic institutions working alongside young innovators to explore fresh approaches to long-standing public-sector challenges.
The Next Generation of Public-Sector Innovators
Fueled by creativity and a deep sense of public service, the NextGenPH finalists have demonstrated that Filipino youth are ready to lead transformative governance initiatives. Their ideas offer practical, scalable pathways for improving everyday life in communities across the country.
As the Asian Productivity Organization’s Center of Excellence on Public-Sector Productivity, DAP continues to advance platforms that cultivate a culture of innovation in government. The 2025 NextGenPH Finals stand as a testament to what is possible when youth and government co-create solutions—opening doors to more inclusive, citizen-centered, and productive governance for generations to come.
To learn more about the innovative ideas presented by the NextGenPH finalists, visit: https://nextgenph.dap.edu.ph/index.html