The Ministry of Digital Affairs (moda) and the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ (MOEA) Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) jointly organized the inaugural “Ideathon” and called for submissions, inviting the public to jointly imagine their future life. The government hopes to receive the public’s innovative ideas, in order to realize the spirit of open government, and further influence policymaking and industrial development.

On October 20, the moda Minister Audrey Tang attended the “Inaugural Ideathon Call for Submission Press Conference.” She said that while no one can accurately predict the future, what appears to be whimsical imagination may become part of our future life, just like in the classic film Back to the Future. The purpose of the Ideathon was to take a step toward the future through the public’s infinite imagination. 

The Ideathon offers several awards, including for participation; these take the form of limited edition non-fungible token (NFT) certificates to commemorate the event.

Tang said it was particularly meaningful to hold the Ideathon press conference on October 20, because the following day happened to be “Back to the Future Day.” In Back to the Future 2, which was released in 1989, Marty the protagonist travels 30 years into the future in a DeLorean car, and his arrival date is October 21, 2015. The film’s presentation of life in 2015 was very fresh and interesting, said Tang, which makes this a classic example of imagining the future.

According to Tang, Taiwan has seen abundant public collaboration results in the past few years. Examples include the Presidential Hackathon, which realized the good ideas of those in and outside Taiwan who aspired to enhance the government’s digital service. This event has now become a milestone for Taiwan’s public innovations.

Inspired by the Presidential Hackathon, before establishing the Ideathon, the moda had been planning to expand the physical interpersonal network into a plurality of being “'Portable Code Interoperability” through the public’s joint innovation.

Considering that 6G technology will mature by around 2040, by which time relevant applications will mold what future life looks like, and given that the future itself is a collection of everyone’s imagination, the inaugural Ideathon thus features a theme of “WeWe Futures: 2040 Plurality.” The event accepts submissions from both individuals and teams, and features immersive mixed-reality exhibitions and performances, which enable members of the public to personally participate and explore their expectations for 2040.

Tang added that the Presidential Hackathon allows members of the public to express their wishes for government departments, and digital talents in the private sector, to propose solutions and execute them.

For example, this year’s team of excellence, BRSDM@Er-Lin, Taiwan, was a collaboration between Erlin Township in Changhua County, and Chung Chou University of Science and Technology. The team used innovative agricultural technology to convert discarded straws into biochar.

Meanwhile, the Ideathon welcomes the public’s joint imagination, and invites them to explore the future’s possibilities together. Even those without a digital technology background can freely imagine the future.

There are no restrictions regarding submission formats. Submissions may be incidents in 2040 created by individuals, or futuristic concepts created by teams.

In other words, the Ideathon is based on the Hackathon, and overcomes the previous limitations of achieving results through website applications or innovative technologies. It expands upon the Hackathon by including the public’s ideas on civil participation and action, in order to imagine what the world in the future might look like.

The inaugural Ideathon is jointly organized by the moda and MOEA IDB, and is run by the Taiwan Design Research Institute. The theme “WeWe Futures: 2040 Plurality” seeks to apply the plural metaverse perspective, to discuss different generations’, regions’, and nationalities’ imagination and expectations for future life scenarios in 2040.

Submissions are divided into the “Future News” and “Future Prototype” categories. The “Future News” category is open to individuals, and seeks creations of possible incidents or news reports that may take place in 2040; submissions can be in the form of images, text, or multimedia, with a deadline of November 4.

The “Future Prototype” category is a team competition that encourages the development of physical products, shapeless service mechanisms, or life forms. Submissions are open between October 31 and November 25.

For teams whose submissions have been nominated, interdisciplinary experts will serve as mentors; they will help them produce concept overviews with the support of augmented reality, virtual reality, or mixed reality technology. Projects that receive awards will additionally be transformed into animations or films by screenwriters and directors.

The Ideathon will continue to expand outwards and collect creative ideas; it will deepen and refine works of futuristic imagination, so that examples may help the industry, academia, and research and development sectors to innovate cutting-edge technology even faster.

Additionally, the moda may demonstrate positive uses for NFTs through the Ideathon. All participants in the event, as well as those who win awards, will receive limited edition NFT certificates from the moda.

The Ideathon welcomes the public’s participation and joint effort in creating an infinite future, and submissions are not limited by nationality or age. Details can be found on the Ideathon’s website.