DATASTORM 2025 - Academic Highlights and Development Potential from a Student Data Science Playground
Recently, DATASTORM 2025 - an academic competition for students passionate about Data Science - was successfully held at Ton Duc Thang University (TDTU). The competition was jointly organized by Ton Duc Thang University in collaboration with training institutions and enterprises in the fields of information technology and business, with the aim of creating an environment for students to apply professional knowledge, develop data analysis thinking, and propose innovative solutions to practical problems faced by businesses and society.
Contributing significantly to the academic quality of DATASTORM 2025 was the continuous involvement of the Advisory Board and the Panel of Judges, comprising lecturers and experts from various prestigious training institutions and organizations in the fields of information technology and business, such as Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, University of Science (VNU-HCM), Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Saigon University, SBS - Saigon Business School, Kyanon Digital Company, and others. With strong academic foundations and extensive practical experience, the Advisory Board and the Panel of Judges played an important role in providing guidance, critical feedback, and support to help competing teams refine their models and better align with market requirements.
Within the DATASTORM 2025 Panel of Judges, Dr. Duong Thi Thuy Van - Director of the Center for Innovation and Science & Technology Transfer (CITT), TDTU participated in evaluating the projects and providing professional feedback to the teams. Her participation reflected the competition’s orientation toward promoting innovation, encouraging applied research, and strengthening the linkage between academia and practice through student scientific competitions.
Based on this professional orientation, DATASTORM 2025 projects focused on two major problem areas: Demand/Volume Forecasting in the Trading Sector and Sports Image Behavior Analysis. These are highly topical challenges that require participants not only to master foundational knowledge but also to demonstrate the ability to exploit data, build models, and evaluate solution effectiveness in real-world contexts. Many submissions showed serious methodological investment, an application-oriented approach, and strong potential for deployment in business environments.
After the preliminary rounds, seven outstanding teams from universities in Southern Vietnam advanced to the Final Round. At this stage, teams presented their products, models, and development roadmaps to the Panel of Judges. The evaluation process was comprehensive, considering not only model accuracy and applied technologies but also scalability, market responsiveness, creativity, as well as contestants’ presentation and defense skills—creating a competitive atmosphere that was rigorous and highly academic.
At the conclusion of the season, the Organizing Committee acknowledged the teams’ serious working spirit, creativity, and continuous efforts throughout the DATASTORM 2025 journey, while honoring those with outstanding performances across various aspects, including data analysis thinking, technological solutions, and presentation and defense capabilities. These highlights played an important role in shaping the competition’s academic quality and overall success. In addition, the Potential Team Award was presented to encourage ideas with novel approaches, strong prospects, and the capacity for further development toward real-world application.
Another highlight of the DATASTORM 2025 Final Round was the technology experience space for students. Through networking activities with enterprises and training units such as Cooler Master, ViewSonic, and the Technology Experience Booth of the Faculty of Information Technology - TDTU, participants had the opportunity to explore new technological devices and solutions, while directly exchanging information about career trends and practical market requirements in the field of data science. These activities further clarified the linkage between education, research, and enterprise needs.
Looking back on the entire journey, DATASTORM 2025 not only identified outstanding teams but also helped spread the spirit of research, innovation, and data-driven thinking within the student community. The competition created a foundation for ideas to be further refined, developed, and gradually brought closer to practical application, thereby affirming the increasingly important role of data science in the current era of digital transformation.
