Asia Pacific College (APC)—a member of the SM Group—has joined forces with election watchdog NAMFREL to provide students with hands-on analytics experience during the 2025 Philippine midterm elections.
The partnership empowered 31 third-year students from APC’s School of Computing and Information Technologies (SoCIT) to take on real-time data analytics roles usually reserved for seasoned professionals. This rare opportunity placed students at the center of a live national event, analyzing transmissions and trends involving over 3 million new and Gen Z voters.
“This partnership reflects our deep commitment to project-based learning,” said Rhea-Luz Valbuena, Executive Director of SoCIT. “Our students don’t just study theories—they deploy real-time dashboards, manage cybersecurity, apply machine learning, and contribute to national transparency.”
The students were divided into agile teams with specific functions such as dashboard development, quality assurance, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and machine learning. Working from APC’s multi-purpose hall—converted into a full-scale election analytics hub—the students operated under the guidance of NAMFREL systems experts and APC faculty drawn from both academia and the tech industry.
The collaboration underscores APC’s innovative approach to education, where students gain career-ready skills while participating in high-impact, meaningful civic work. Not only did the partnership help ensure election transparency, but it also offered a glimpse into the critical role young tech professionals can play in national development.
Interactive dashboards and data-driven election insights produced by the student teams are now publicly available on elections.org.ph and namfrel-analytics-apc.org, promoting transparency and digital literacy.
This initiative is a testament to the power of academic-industry partnerships in preparing future leaders—especially in high-demand fields like data science, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence—while strengthening the democratic fabric of the country.
With this collaboration, APC sets a new benchmark for experiential learning, proving that when education meets purpose, everyone wins.
