PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Hack the Future: Young Leaders for Asia Challenge 2025 is a regional youth engagement and innovation challenge that seeks to bridge digital gaps and empower young leaders across Asia. The program invites youth-led teams to co-create context-based, scalable, and inclusive digital, policy, and community solutions to enhance access, participation, and representation in advocacy sectors.
The program begins with a competitive selection process involving a 4-minute pitch. From all applications, six (6) teams will be selected to undergo a structured learning journey through four (4) virtual masterclasses on digital inclusion, connected action, and social impact. Each team will send two (2) representatives to the International Civil Society Week (ICSW) 2025 in Bangkok, where they will pitch their projects to a panel of judges. Four (4) of the six teams will then be awarded USD 10,000 seed grants to prototype and implement their solutions.
HIGHLIGHTS
EUGNAY
eUGNAY is a youth-led digital governance platform that makes barangay services simple, transparent, and accessible.
Through eUGNAY, residents can submit requests, track real-time status, receive pickup or digital-release notifications, and pay through common digital channels. An AI Helpdesk Chatbot, trained on each local government’s Citizen’s Charter, answers requirement-specific FAQs, surfaces fees and processing times, suggests the right forms, and pre-checks completeness.
eUGNAY will also help barangay officials manage queues, approvals, and records in one dashboard with audit logs, role-based access, and basic analytics. Starting with a pilot in the Philippines, eUGNAY proves that even the smallest communities can experience world-class, digital-first governance.
IN2ORBITS
in2ORBITS Circular Platform, bridges the digital divide by empowering youth and communities across Asia with the tools to lead inclusive, sustainable change. We tackle the disconnect between traditional waste management and digital opportunity by deploying an accessible AI-powered platform that tracks, educates on, and incentivizes recycling and upcycling. Aligned with the theme, the platform offers digital literacy training and green skills development through gamified learning modules and data-driven tools—enabling young users to become sustainability advocates. Using computer vision (YOLOv8) and blockchain, the system ensures full traceability of materials, turning informal waste streams into verified circular economy opportunities.
This solution is innovative in merging AI sorting with educational engagement, creative in linking youth action to real-world impact via ESG-certified upcycled products, and highly feasible thanks to our existing tech prototypes and partnerships with brands and recyclers across Asia. Impact potential includes scalable waste reduction, increased youth participation in green tech, and measurable carbon savings. Our diverse team—blending expertise in AI, material science, sustainable business, and community outreach—is uniquely equipped to deliver this inclusive digital bridge for lasting ecological and social change.
TRUTHQUEST:
AI LITERACY ADVENTURE
A recent Luminate and Ipsos survey shows Indonesia faces an urgent challenge: low AI literacy. Most citizens struggle to distinguish AI-generated from authentic content. Worryingly, 75% believe AI content can shape public political views, 72% fear its influence on close circles, and 63% admit it could even affect themselves. This gap threatens trust, fuels misinformation, and undermines democratic resilience.
TruthQuest: AI Literacy Adventure directly addresses this challenge. It is a game-based digital platform designed to equip youth and communities across Asia with the skills to identify, evaluate, and ethically engage with AI content. Through 20 quests—including spotting fake news, identifying AI-generated images, paraphrasing plagiarized text, and more—players learn critical thinking in an interactive and culturally relevant way.
Inspired by Indonesian folklore and grounded in gamification, TruthQuest turns AI literacy into an engaging journey that fosters originality, integrity, and responsible digital citizenship. Unlike traditional workshops, TruthQuest offers safe, interactive practice with instant feedback. Launching with a web-based prototype, we will pilot with 100 students in three months, empowering the next generation of critical, responsible digital citizens.
GRAFILAB
POWERING AGI ANYWHERE
Grafilab ensures AI opportunities and prosperities can be most accessible via solutions that include accessible AI education, hands on self-training on its platforms to gain experiences innovating with AI in simple steps.
From on demand compute power rental at an affordable rate to educational access to build AI in simple steps for individuals to gain their first ever innovate for AI experience, this can ensure AI prosperities won’t be solely controlled by big corporations and more individuals have a chance to also gain from AI growth that is bound to reshape our future of work and life.
PARTNERS
IMPACT STATISTICS
Seed Funding Awarded
Project Proposals Received
Countries Represented