My First Hackathon — And We Won First Place
This was my first hackathon, and we registered for the DOST-NCR Code Green: Digital Solutions Hackathon for a Circular Economy 2026 at the last minute.
This was my first hackathon, and we registered for the DOST-NCR Code Green: Digital Solutions Hackathon for a Circular Economy 2026 at the last minute.
We didn't join expecting to win. We joined for the experience.After registering, we had about a week to prepare—refining our idea, designing the system, planning the features, and figuring out how to turn everything into a working solution within the hackathon's four-hour development window.
Our idea came from a problem we experience ourselves: garbage piling up because residents don't know when the garbage truck will arrive. And that's how we came up with...
eHakot: Garbage Collection Monitoring System.eHakot provides real-time garbage truck tracking, notifications, scheduling, reporting, management, and an AI Assistant that allows users to query system information using natural language.
With only four hours to build, I can't deny that we made extensive use of AI, particularly for coding. We had to maximize every tool available to us while keeping our focus on building and delivering the solution within the limited time.
After a week of preparation and four hours of development, we presented eHakot to the judges.
And we won First Place.For my first hackathon, I couldn't have asked for a better experience. What started as a decision to simply join for the experience turned into something we'll always remember.
Most importantly, I got to experience it with an amazing team.
First hackathon. First place. 🏆