Case study Β· AI Fluency Masterclass and Hackathons Β· Mindanao

Frontier AI, where Mindanao’s builders are

2026 Β· Bukidnon Β· Iligan Β· Davao

Frontier AI usually reaches Manila first. So instead of asking Mindanao’s chapter leaders and IT students to travel to it, DEVCON brought it to them: an AI Fluency Masterclass in the morning and a hackathon by the afternoon, on three campuses across Mindanao.

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Students, chapter leaders, mentors, and partners cheering together after the Bukidnon AI Fluency Masterclass and Hackathon
Bukidnon, after a full day of learning and building.
At a glance

Three cities, three campuses, one format

  • 3Cities: Bukidnon, Iligan, and Davao
  • 3Campuses: Central Mindanao University, MSU-IIT, and the University of Mindanao
  • 1 dayFrom first prompt to a working demo, in each city
  • 3 hoursTo build and pitch a prototype at the Davao hackathon
The idea

Bring the frontier to them

Mindanao has no shortage of talent. What it often lacks is access: frontier AI tools, the people who use them every day, and the time and fare to travel to where those people are.

So the format travels instead. DEVCON HQ brings the curriculum and mentors; each local chapter brings the campus, the students, and the local problems worth solving. Leaders and students learn the same frontier tools on the same day, in their own city, and leave with something they built.

The challenges stay close to home: farms, clinics, small food businesses, and construction sites. That is the point of the Nexus AI key visual, a farmer, a builder, and a doctor, each with AI in hand.

Nexus AI Hackathon key visual: a young builder wearing AR glasses between a farmer with an agriculture dashboard and a doctor with a health dashboard
Built around local problems, from farms to clinics.
The format

How a day runs

The same one-day format in every city, adapted by the local chapter.

  • Morning: the masterclass

    Hands-on AI Fluency with frontier tools: prompting, building with AI assistants, and thinking responsibly about AI.

  • Afternoon: the hackathon

    Teams turn what they just learned into a working prototype for a local problem, against the clock.

  • Closing: demo and pitch

    Every team demos to mentors, partners, and local leaders, and the best builds are recognized.

  • All day: leaders learn too

    Chapter leaders train alongside students, so the skills stay in the city after the visiting mentors leave.

Run one in your city with the Masterclass and Hackathon Best Practice and Checklist, built from the lessons of these runs.

Stop 1 Β· Bukidnon

Aral ngayon, AI trabaho bukas

“Learn today, AI work tomorrow.” At Central Mindanao University, DEVCON Bukidnon and DOST Northern Mindanao ran the Nexus AI Fluency Masterclass and Hackathon as a stop of the DEVCON AI Mindanao Caravan, with students, faculty, and regional leaders in one hall.

Partners, regional leaders, and students lined up for a group photo at the Bukidnon masterclass
Two students building with an AI coding assistant on a laptop during the hackathon

Hosted by DEVCON Bukidnon.

Stop 2 Β· Iligan

The final stop of the AI Angat Mindanao Caravan

At MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology, DEVCON Iligan closed the caravan with the same format: a masterclass on the podium, then teams of IT students building and demoing in the same room.

A mentor leading the AI Fluency Masterclass from the MSU-IIT podium
A smiling hackathon team with laptops, giving thumbs up in Iligan

Hosted by DEVCON Iligan.

Stop 3 Β· Davao Β· October 14, 2026

SUBAY: navigating the technical and ethical path in AI

At the University of Mindanao, Matina Campus, DEVCON Davao and #SHEISDEVCON ran the masterclass and a 3-hour hackathon, co-presented by the Austrian Business Agency. Teams pitched AI for real local needs.

Hackathon participants at their laptops with a 3-hour countdown on the screen behind them
A student pitching Halal Keeps, AI-assisted halal readiness guidance for small food businesses
  • Halal KeepsAI-assisted halal readiness guidance for small food businesses, by a team from Davao Central College.
  • BantayBuildAI-powered construction loss prevention and financial intelligence.
  • Champion: Girl, Boy, Bakla, HaponThe hackathon champion team, from Ateneo de Davao University.
The ABA keynote on Indonesian and Filipina women in IT and tech
Women participants smiling at their workstations
A student presenting a project aligned with good health and well-being

Hosted by DEVCON Davao. Read the #SHEISDEVCON Γ— ABA story for the women in tech side of the day.

Why it matters

The same frontier, closer to home

  • Access, not just awareness: students build with the same frontier AI tools used in Manila, without the trip.
  • Leaders who stay: chapter leaders learn alongside students, so the skills keep working after the event.
  • Local problems first: farms, clinics, halal food, and construction, solved by the people who know them.
  • A format that travels: one day, one playbook, repeatable in any city with a chapter and a campus.

Part of AI Fluency & Agentic Training, alongside the Open-Source AI Code Camps.

A packed University of Mindanao auditorium after the SUBAY masterclass and hackathon
Davao, at the end of SUBAY.
Made possible together

Partners and hosts

Bukidnon and IliganDOST Northern MindanaoDICTAmihanMonheimTutorials DojoSuiCentral Mindanao UniversityMSU-Iligan Institute of Technology

DavaoAustrian Business AgencyAmihanAvticaTutorials DojoCowork MugnaMugnaMonde NissinTigerThe BloomDaviesP&G Printing ServicesUniversity of MindanaoDICT

ChaptersDEVCON BukidnonDEVCON IliganDEVCON Davao#SHEISDEVCON

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