Thomasian Marketing Management major, among the Filipino students who won UNESCO's Fifth Global Media and Information Literacy Youth Hackathon on Tuesday, Oct. 10.

TomasinoWeb Blogs writer Kurt Alec Mira is the business developer of the winning team Achieving Global Oneness Through Synergy (AGOS), with two members set to present in Paris, France, in December.

Mira created most of the business aspects-related inputs in their concept MILES, which includes the business model and market validation.

“It was my first competition wherein I used my knowledge I learned from my marketing classes. And it made me more excited to join more competitions,” Mira told TomasinoWeb.

Media & Information Literacy Empowerment Space or MILES, is a digital space that provides skills and knowledge about Media & Information Literacy (MIL).

According to Mira, they conceptualized the application because of the issues within the social media in the country, such as people receiving hate speech and fake news.

“We’re the social media capital of the world; however, we ranked low in terms of Digital Literacy,” he added.

Users can join communities, share experiences, play mini-games, and advocate for and assist minority groups related to MIL through the mobile app.

Mira, along with his team members Charlene Grace Macapagal of Centro Escolar University (CEU) – Malolos, Marie Francheska Hermosa of CEU – Manila, Alexene Faith Tomate of CEU – Makati, and Ian Lumanog of Lyceum of the Philippines University – Cavite, intend to publicize and further improve MILES after the presentation.

“Definitely, there will be costs in developing the app. We’ll first check for some funding, look for possible investors, and make the app features and user interface better,” he said.

Among the 96 entries from 40 different countries, UNESCO commended the quality of work of AGOS.

The competition is part of UNESCO's Global Media and Information Literacy Week Youth Agenda Forum that started in July 2023.