A GROUP of students from the Technological Institute of the Philippines placed second in the climate change category of the Impact Hackathon for developing an e-commerce app called “Larang.”

The team composed of Kenny Alvez, Neal Barton James Matira, Jeremy Reuel Cesista, Carlo Dominique Tolin, and Ayeesha Mhae Amburan competed against students and professionals from across the country.

They explained that “Larang,” powered by artificial intelligence, allows users to choose from a wide variety of produce complete with prices and nutrition count.

It also permits them to select from a list of the closest suppliers in town. Both pickup and delivery options are available.

“A person’s diet dictates the amount of carbon footprint he emits. Through Larang, people can have access to the cheapest and freshest local products in the market,”  Amburan said.

“By cutting travel distance, we hope to meet the equilibrium and lessen our contribution to climate change. This way, we also add to our gross domestic product or GDP,” she added.

Their mentor and faculty researcher Cris Hate credited the group’s success to each member’s “innate empathy and problem solving skills.”

“Talent and empathy is a winning combination not so common among students, but to be able to do something good and significant to the community, you must first have to feel – it’s one of the values we instill among TIPians from the onset,” Hate said.

Larang, which the group developed during the pandemic, is up for incubation under Impact 2050 for further improvement.

Impact 5G Hackathon is a flagship program of Impact Hub Manila in collaboration with Smart and PLDT.

It aims to decentralize opportunities and create impactful digital solutions for health, education, climate change, good governance, food and agriculture, indigenous people, and smart cities.