The inaugural eGovPH National Hackathon 2026 was held on July 21–22 at the SMX Convention Center Aura in Taguig City, organized by the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). Out of 137 official groups, 46 advancing teams gathered to build citizen-centered digital solutions using government APIs. I wasn't a participant I was there as a spectator on the first day, spent around three hours on the floor, then headed home.
But honestly, that was enough. Being in the same room as builders who are thinking seriously about public technology is its own kind of fuel. I got to see Team Lubakan BS Mathematics major in Computer Science students from BulSU present their entry eCitizenPH. Their premise was sharp: instead of asking Filipinos to navigate government, what if government learned how to serve Filipinos first? Not just digitized, but genuinely citizen-centric. Proactive, personal, and accessible to every Filipino.
Watching colleagues compete at that level on a national stage, in front of DICT was a different kind of motivation. I left early, but I left thinking harder about what I'm building and why. The best thing about events like this isn't the competition itself. It's the people you meet who are wired the same way: builders who actually care about what the technology does for real people.
eGovPH National Hackathon 2026
