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Pre- and post-lockdown public transport concerns

��ý — Mon, 01 Jun 2020 05:05:36 +0000

While the national government has downgraded the capital region’s lockdown category from ECQ to MECQ to GCQ, a number of challenges—such as limited public transport—still stand as bumps on the road to recovery. Last week, SparkUp interviewed four business owners on what they had to say about this topic:

Joma Ablay, WaveDigital

Digital Marketing Firm

No.of employees: 13

“The worker’s point-of-view has to be considered when drafting guidelines. Not everyone has cars and some areas have no access to shuttles.”

“Prior to the ECQ, we worked in our office in Paranaque with flexible working hours and a work-from-home (WFH) scheme twice a week. Nowadays we WFH entirely, with team huddles and client meetings through Zoom. We plan to continue working from home and carpool when it’s necessary to report at the office.”

“I hope bus lines that provide P2P services can be helped in adjusting to the new normal so they can resume operations. We are gradually building new commuter behaviors. The authorities must ensure health and safety measures are well-implemented in public places. This is an opportunity for the government to implement .”

Karla Singson, Scalewind Corporation

Full-House Creative Production Agency

No.of employees: 30

“We [have] divisions in tech and support with 30 employees. Our creative team does the day shift; our call center�� does the night shift; our tech team reports as needed. All our business operations have had to shift to remote work due to the pandemic. We are considering carpooling services as we have a transport allowance for teammates and we can use that to subsidize transport. We hire within the vicinity so most will just bike to work.”

“My suggestion is for NCR to have more bike lanes and better guidelines for mass transport. Most of our teammates can’t afford taxis and cars, and we’d rather put our transport budget towards better forms of employee engagement such as bonuses and perks. Though, if safe bike lanes existed, I’d personally support giving our employees a bike subsidy.”

Michael Galang, Intego Insurance Company

General Insurance Agency

No. of employees: 10 (full-time)

“We’ve been conducting our business nowadays purely via emails and voice calls with weekly Zoom meetings.”

“As long as public transport is suspended, most employees can’t physically report to work. A shuttle is impractical for us as they come from all over the metro; so is biking. Some are from Rizal and Novaliches. A practical solution is to allow back riding because I noted that most of our staff have relatives with motorbikes.”

Tina Khoe Ang, Platino 950 Inc.��

Retail Jewelry

No. of Employees: 45

“Our staff are mostly women with an average age of 30 years and above. It would be impractical for them to walk, bike, or ride a motorcycle. That’s punishing them. Pinipilit lang.

“We really need public transport to operate… Jewelry is a brick-and-mortar business. Customers need to try on the goods first before making a purchase. For basic operations, we need to have a few critical personnel come in.”

“Under the GCQ, public transport will open albeit at a limited capacity. As of today (May 29), buses and jeeps are still not allowed to operate. This means unless the government changes its policy, the first few days of GCQ will be a total shit show for one plain reason—bottlenecks. Everyone will be crowding to find public transport to get to where they want to be. Given the limited number of public transport available, it’s going to be a mess of epic proportions.”

“The best way is to do GCQ and allow buses and jeeps to operate, albeit in an organized manner, following strict social distancing protocol. Help the buses and jeeps practice social distancing by placing “No Sitting” stickers on the seats. Stick them on the seats you want unoccupied. Then ensure that the MMDA checks that these seats with stickers remain unoccupied. Problem solved.”

Limiting transmission vectors of the disease��

According to Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary Goddess Hope Libiran, it is the responsibility of employers and business owners to provide shuttle services or accommodations for their employees.

“Ang guidance ng IATF, kung walang kapasidad ang employer or business owner na mag-provide ng shuttle service o mag-arrange ng pansamantalang accommodation para sa kanilang mga empleyado, ‘wag na munang mag-bukas o mag-operate,” she said.

“We are limiting the movement of people, and one way of ensuring that is to limit the number of transport modes available. Primary consideration is health and safety. We do not want public transport to become transmission vectors of the disease.”

SparkUp also reached out to representatives from the DILG and DTI for comment, but neither department has responded as of publishing.

Moving forward, stringent sanitary measures have been set, and will be strictly enforced, for public transportation in areas under GCQ. The complete and updated Public Transport Guidelines and Protocols for the road transport sector may be perused .

The opportunity to make this digital era inclusive

��ý — Fri, 08 May 2020 05:19:49 +0000

When Ginni Rometty, executive chairman and former president and CEO of IBM, was growing up, her family relied on food stamps to get by. It’s a personal story she shared in a conversation she had with musician, businessman, and philanthropist will.i.am, best known as the frontman of the Black Eyed Peas. Like Rometty, will.i.am’s family struggled with poverty in his youth, a fact he didn’t realize until his high school organized a charity food drive targeting the apparently underprivileged East L.A. neighborhood he called home.

The unlikely pair shared this conversation as part of IBM Think Digital, a two-virtual event that explored new ways of working, stabilizing, and transforming organizations amidst the evolving impacts of Covid-19.

Providing an environment to thrive

Diving into their shared upbringing, Rometty and will.i.am spoke about the need to develop technologies that promote inclusivity. Due to varying access to knowledge, resources, and skills, people face different paths and different opportunities in life.

During the event, technology was framed as the silver thread that runs through everything, with the potential to equalize a world of inequality. In this utopic vision, those with the right skills are assured of a role in society in this digital era.

IBM aims to inculcate this thread through their six-year complementary school program called P-TECH, where students are taught the tech skills needed in today’s world. The framework is flexible and iterative, allowing for enough leeway to keep pace with rapid changes in technologies and workplaces. , a free digital education platform focused on workplace learning and digital skills. The platform—with content in English, Portuguese, and Spanish—equips 14 to 20-year old learners and educators with foundational technology competencies such as AI and cybersecurity, along with professional skills, like Design Thinking.

“We’re a builder of tech, but it’s our job to also prepare society to interact with that technology,” Rometty said. “That’s responsible stewardship.”

One of the beneficiaries of that stewardship is Itzel Becerril, a first-generation American graduating with an Associate Degree in Web Development, the first one in her family to do so. “I have been very fortunate to have tools like Open P-TECH,” Becerril said. “It allows me to continue reinventing myself by learning new skills.”

will.i.am, on his part, to administer charitable activities and programs targeted towards providing college scholarships, college preparation, and opportunities in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education.

The philanthropist talked about the importance of education and imparting the importance of growth. “A lot of times when you have kids in the hood… what’s an A when they’re dealing with crime, drugs, peer pressure? [They’re thinking] ‘what’s an A going to do for me right now when there’s drug dealers telling me to do something for them and I can get $5000. right now?’ You have to inspire a kid, entice a kid, bring mentors to the table to let them know the value of an A.”

One of the more than 700 kids being nurtured by i.am.angel is Mariano Bonilla, who is off to the University of Southern California to study physics and computer science. Having worked at IBM the past summer, he’s realized that there’s a big difference between learning in a classroom setting from applying what you know at a large company. “I learned that clients have changing needs,” Bonilla said. “It’s important to adapt to those needs and think about problems efficiently.”

Being more human in this digital era

will.i.am gave an impassioned statement on what this unusual time has taught him: “What I learned is that the world is super fragile. A couple of months ago, we thought life was uninterrupted. We thought that you could sit in traffic, be rude to people, and take for granted the freedom of going where you want to go when you want to go. You took for granted people at the supermarket, people that clean the streets and take out the garbage. You took for granted the delivery service folks. You took for granted the people that work in stock. And it turns out that those people are the most important people in society.”

“I love technology, love it,” he continued. “But let’s make sure that those jobs aren’t taken as the digital world gets more advanced. Like, what did we all stay at home and be behaved for? [It’s to] protect life, to protect humanity. In this digital age, what I learned is that we have to be more human. It’s smacking us in the face, saying, humans need to be more human. We have to be more empathetic… Covid-19 was a shake-up, a wake-up call because the machine is around the corner and the machine is not going to rule us.”

Rometty shared that her role at IBM is to stress that everyone matters. She is optimistic that there will be a better future for more people if we all work on the right things together. “There is an opportunity for everyone to be involved here. IBM has P-TECH and will.i.am has i.am.angel but it doesn’t really matter which foundation you choose to support,” she said. “If we work together on the right things, this will be an inclusive era.”

MAD Travel launches online market connecting buyers with indigenous sellers

��ý — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 04:51:51 +0000

MAD Travel, a sustainable tourism social enterprise, has launched MAD Market, an online delivery service that sources from farmers and communities in areas such as Benguet, Davao, and Nueva Ecija.

Just like Feed the Farmers Today and Fund Tomorrow’s Forest, their tree-planting crowdfunding campaign, the effort is part of MAD Travel’s pivot as part of an industry that’s greatly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re used to connecting guests to farmers, communities and tribes through adventures,” said Raf Dioniso, co-founder of MAD Travel. “We can’t go on our adventures now so we are connecting them through meaningful produce and products at the MAD Market.

For the team, it’s also their own small way of helping redistribute wealth and value. “It’s really taught us that right now, we have a chance to give more value where it matters: in our farms and farmers, in village economies and SMEs, [and through] a more conscious and purposeful way of purchasing,” said Tom Graham, company co-founder.

MAD Market, which delivers across Metro Manila, can be accessed through bit.ly/MADMarket. Inquiries for partnerships, bulk orders, and other concerns may be sent to info@madtravel.org.

First Shoshin builds JoJoCare telehealth app for online care services

��ý — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 07:23:39 +0000

The whole country is met by unprecedented events due to the COVID-19 crisis which has drastically changed the way we go about our daily lives. Among these changes: How do you consult doctors about your health concerns without violating quarantine protocols and without exposing yourself to the risk of getting infected if you do get a chance to go out?

This is the driving force behind First Shoshin Holdings’ (FSH) $1M investment into JoJoCare, a new venture under the JoJo brand described as a holistic self-care app that helps grant people access a diverse selection of healthcare and wellness professionals without leaving their home.

Coping with the COVID-19 crisis through digital means

Just as people have begun to shift towards tools like Zoom to keep in touch with coworkers and loved ones, JoJoCare is a platform where clients and professionals can stay connected through online conferences for easier (and safer) access to care that otherwise would be difficult to obtain. FSH sees this extending well beyond the current crisis, reshaping how people interact with healthcare providers forever.

Delivering care through telehealth, JoJoCare’s mission is two-fold:

to help field experts gain additional revenue stream by offering an innovative cost-effective avenue for their services,
and to help people easily talk to field experts for medical advice or other services within the comforts of their home.

Available 24/7, the JoJoCare platform allows users to book their virtual medical, legal, education, and general wellness appointments anytime which can be arranged via chat, audio, or video call. Streamlining the experience, users can also pay for these services online through online bank transfers or through the company’s proprietary payment gateway JoJoPay. JoJoCare has partnered with 20 general practitioners for its soft launch scheduled by the end of April, and will offer a number of free sessions to alleviate the impact of the pandemic.

“At First Shoshin, we advocate innovation that solves real-world problems and this venture into health technology is an exciting step for us,” said JoJoCare Chairperson Sally Ponce-Enrile. “We believe the future of healthcare is inseparable from telehealth.”

Ponce-Enrile says JoJoCare is modernizing telehealth by providing integrated services within the health and wellness industry under one platform as opposed to the fragmented apps available in the market. “JoJoCare maximizes access to a range of healthcare services not limited to medical. We want people to be able to virtually visit doctors, lawyers, educators, fitness experts, and other practitioners all in one place. This will also help rural communities that lack the healthcare infrastructure to access services that would otherwise be unavailable,” she said.

If you’re a licensed professional interested in joining the network of JoJoCare experts, you can get in touch with the JoJoCare team at hello@myjojo.com.

Singapore shares Covid-19 contact tracing technology with global developer community

��ý — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 07:04:20 +0000

The Singapore government is making the code for a new mobile application open-source, thereby enabling it to be used and modified by developers worldwide to trace individuals infected with Covid-19.

TraceTogether was launched on March 20, 2020 to support ongoing contact tracing efforts amid the outbreak in Singapore. It was developed by the Government Technology Agency (GovTech) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MOH) and can be downloaded by anyone with a Singaporean mobile number and a bluetooth-enabled smartphone. By downloading the app and consenting to participate, – an important step in winning the war against the coronavirus pandemic.

A supplementary tool to facilitate contact tracing

Contact tracing – or the process of identifying those who have had close contact with Covid-19 positive individuals – currently relies on the memories of those being interviewed. TraceTogether is described as a supplementary tool to facilitate these efforts. “The faster the contact tracing process can be initiated and can identify the people at risk, the faster we can intervene and impose quarantine if necessary and limit spread locally,” , at a press conference.

The app is built on a combination of centralized and decentralized models of contact tracing with a technology called . , its technology is being used at present to complement existing contact tracing methods and support nationwide efforts to combat COVID-19. “There are no plans to extend the use of TraceTogether for non-contact tracing purposes.”��

Phones with the app exchange short-distance bluetooth signals to detect other app users who are two to five meters apart for 30 minutes. Records of these encounters are stored in their phones for 21 days. Location data is not collected; nor is the user’s phone contact list accessed. Users will only be asked to share these records when contacted by the MOH as part of contact tracing investigations. Those who refuse may be prosecuted under Singapore’s Infectious Diseases Act.

Trace Together is available on the Google Play Store and iOS App Store in Singapore. More new apps from different governments and countries are expected to be released as a result of the Singapore government opening access to its source code.�� to trace individuals afflicted with any other disease for any other possible outbreak in the future.

StartupBlink launches global map of innovations around Covid-19

��ý — Mon, 30 Mar 2020 03:49:22 +0000

StartupBlink has launched the ��, a global digital map pinpointing innovations and solutions that help people cope with and adapt to the changes brought about by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Simply typing in a location (such as a city or country), users are greeted with a list of innovations developed out of that locale.

The search can be further narrowed by choosing through five categories:

Prevention – tracking and preventing the spread of the virus
Diagnosis – diagnosing and identifying the infected
Treatment – precautionary treatments such as medicine; accessing medication without having to leave home
Information – spreading timely and accurate information about the pandemic and ongoing innovations
Life and business adaptation – adjusting daily lives to the current situation through virtual applications

, the map was created not only to stay informed but also to honor humankind’s innovative spirit. “One of the things we need more than ever is to stay well-informed and to be aware of not only the bad but the good that is happening in the world. It is also important to know that public institutions, corporations, and startups around the globe have been working tirelessly since the emergence of the coronavirus in hopes to find a solution or contain this virus.”

StartupBlink also hopes to connect more innovators and integrate more solutions into their map. “We know that curating all relevant data in a short amount of time is not achievable by a single person or company. This is why we will need everyone’s help. Through crowdsourcing and the help of the community, we will be able to cover the gaps and have as much information as possible.”

Those who would like to have their innovation or solution integrated into the map may apply through this .

First Shoshin, DA5 partner to pilot ‘contactless, tellerless, cashless’ Western Union branch

��ý — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 04:29:51 +0000

In partnership with DA5, a leading authorized agent of Western Union in the Philippines, First Shoshin Holdings Inc. will open up a WU branch as part of its $5M FinTech Hub project that aims to create a “tellerless” one-stop shop for financial needs.

In today’s fast-paced digital world, First Shoshin is on a mission to address the growing demand for moving money with speed, ease, security, and affordability. WU has been providing Filipinos money transfer services since 1990, and First Shoshin is proud to join forces with DA5 to leverage emerging technologies and create an enhanced user experience for both senders and receivers.

The WU branch is set to open by Q2 of this year, with both companies collaborating with plans to reinvent how OTCs operate and scale real-time cross-border payments.

“Our partnership with DA5 will help us reach a wider global consumer base through WU’s expansive scale and size and curtail regulatory issues with cross-border and cross-currency transactions,” said First Shoshin Chairman Jack Ponce-Enrile. “But more importantly, it allows us to explore ways to boost WU’s response to digital developments and bring speed and transparency when it comes to remittances.”

Under the partnership, and in line with its FinTech Hub plan, the Western Union branch will incorporate a contactless, tellerless, and cashless model for an expedited remittance service. Their goal is to enable an end-to-end solution that allows anyone in the world to send or receive money in any currency in real time, through a combination of digital and physical services.

“Our vision is to modernize global money movements and offer customers an improved remittance service with more transparency. Through this branch, we are giving Filipinos a seamless choice to receive money digitally, on the go,” said Ponce-Enrile.

“We are excited to work with First Shoshin and offer this service to Filipinos who are recipients of OFW remittances,” said DA5 CEO and President Raymond Babst. “Our goal is to provide fast, reliable, and convenient money transfer services to meet the needs of people across the country, and we are taking this important step forward because we believe First Shoshin’s commitment to innovation can help us accelerate the process.”

Angkas launches food delivery service to support bikers, quarantined users

��ý — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 05:32:14 +0000

Motorcycle-hailing startup Angkas announced yesterday a new food delivery service called Angkas Food, a solution the firm set up to support their community of bikers and quarantined users affected by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

“G�ܲ�� legit to, gumawa kami ng food delivery service oha,” the company’s Twitter announcement reads. “Para to sa mga bikers at sa inyo. We will not take any commission in this initiative. Sa kanila lahat to.”

(Guys this is legit. We made a food delivery service. This is for our bikers and for all of you. We won’t be taking any commission in this initiative. This all goes to them.)

“Delivering food isn’t our expertise. Madaming mas magaling diyan. Nakiki-epal lang kami, pero gagawin namin ito para may pagkakakitaan ng pera yung mga biker namin kahit pano, at sa kagustuhan din namin tumulong magdala ng mga pangangailangan ng ating komunidad na naka-quarantine.”

(“Delivering food isn’t our expertise. There are many more capable of doing that. We’re just taking up space here, but we’re doing it because we want our bikers to continue making a living, and because we want to help our communities get what they need despite the quarantine.”)

The new service is a limited engagement between Angkas and a number of partner restaurants. Interested diners need only place their orders directly with the restaurants and wait for an Angkas biker to deliver the food.

“No need to book through the app,” the announcement reads. “Baka sabihin niyo di gumagana eh. (Just in case you guys complain it won’t work.)”

In addition to any applicable parking fees, a delivery fee of P60 (cash only) is charged for the first three kilometers traveled, with an additional P10 per kilometer (up to five kilometers). The firm is also implementing a no-touch interaction rule, to support our public health sector’s social distancing mandate. Drivers will be placing items either on the seat of their motorcycles, or on customers’ doorsteps, before moving back a safe distance.

For a list of establishments partnered with Angkas, you can find .

First Shoshin Holdings unveils plan for $5M “fintech hub”

��ý — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 04:20:43 +0000

First Shoshin Holdings, Inc. (FSHI) today announced their plans to develop a FinTech Hub in the next twelve months, with the goal of creating an integrated financial services space to serve as a one-stop shop where Filipinos can perform financial transactions on-the-go.

The concept for the hub takes inspiration from an open floor model where financial providers are arranged in a “counterless” and “tellerless” environment and customers can queue via self-service kiosks to complete transactions such as pay bills, open an account, or send money.

A first of its kind, the hub will support products and services that will cater to over two million Filipinos in a 5-km radius to further power a digitally-enabled society via partnerships across financial providers such as Western Union, JoJo, cryptocurrency exchange providers, and core banking.

“In essence, we’re modernizing the way OTCs operate by creating a spread of financial services that address a wide spectrum of financial needs, all under one roof,” said Jack Ponce-Enrile, Chairman of First Shoshin Holdings. Strategically located along EDSA Makati, it is central to business districts with high foot traffic such as Rockwell, outer BGC, and Makati. First Shoshin will be investing $5M USD in the next twelve months to begin the development of the project.

Pushing FinTech progress amidst the COVID-19 crisis

Despite the current health crisis affecting the world, First Shoshin remains steadfast in its efforts to push FinTech progress as it recognizes the importance of effective access to a wide range of financial products and services for all Filipinos. “Promoting greater financial inclusion in the Philippines remains a pressing challenge. Our aim is to innovate and provide holistic and safe solutions to allow not just cashless payments but contactless as well, and the FinTech hub that we’re planning to build is something to look forward to. We’re positive that when the situation improves, we’ll be ready to be of service to the public,” said Ponce-Enrile.

Challenging the status quo with a tech-driven mindset

Apart from the FinTech Hub, First Shoshin has exciting plans in the pipeline including new product launches and initiatives to ramp up research and development of technologies like blockchain. Established in 2017, First Shoshin’s diverse portfolio brings together top innovators and problem solvers to create the future of financial technology, leveraging experience in different industries including logistics, banking, blockchain, crypto-exchange, fintech, gaming, software development, and real estate.

“We seek to disrupt, challenge, and transform the way things are done in our key industries and build solutions that harness the power of the latest technologies to make better experiences for everyone,” said Ponce-Enrile.

Church-goers find new ways to gather on live-streaming platform KUMU

��ý — Wed, 18 Mar 2020 04:58:07 +0000

This month, live-streaming platform KUMU partnered with Favor Church to extend it’s mission to foster inclusivity and promote community by connecting the church’s congregation online.

Favor Church is streaming all five of its scheduled Sunday services live via KUMU. Users can now attend the services online and send virtual gifts which will all go to the church.

Established in October 2015 by senior pastors and couple James and Kate Aiton, Favor Church started out as a small community that gathers for prayer meetings inside a small condo unit. After a year, the community multiplied into a full-fledged church family.

“As a community, we are excited to partner with KUMU to bring our church experience to the world through this amazing app,” said Pastor James. “KUMU has such a positive and uplifiting social family that we believe it’s the perfect fit for our message of hope. This will make church services and content accessible to those who would never have the ability to step through our doors, and for us to reach and help many people. You’ve never seen church done like this before.”

“KUMU’s partnership with Favor Church comes in a very appropriate time when everyone is encouraged to practice social distancing,” says Mica Pineda, Kumu’s head of campaigns. “KUMU is thrilled to be Favor’s online platform in making church more accessible to its members and reaching other users globally in spreading hope and the gospel.”

Google launches MSME Caravan to digitize small businesses nationwide

��ý — Thu, 12 Mar 2020 05:12:50 +0000

Google Philippines, in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), officially launched their MSME Caravan campaign last February 26. The project is under the banner of their Grow With Google program, which aims to make MSMEs more competitive through education on digital marketing.

The caravan has already trained more than 2,780 business owners through workshops across eight regions nationwide, in cities such as Makati, Tacloban, and Puerto Princesa. Aside from learning about the latest developments on the Filipino consumer, the participants are briefed on Primer, Google’s app that teaches digital marketing skills for free. They also set up their own websites through Google My Business, a free online listing that allows them to be visible on Google Maps.

Through this service, Michelle Mariano was able to expand Qmansi, her calamansi business based in Quirino Province. It helped her gain her first customers in Manila and a new partnership with a Korean businessman.

“We are humbled that Qmansi has gone places because of Google My Business. We are also proud at the same time that because of our products, more people now recognize the province of Quirino,” said Mariano.

Google MSME Caravan will run for the duration of the year and hopes to reach more cities and regions.

“Filipino MSMEs have the drive, the passion, and the dedication to succeed. Combine that with the new tools and opportunities of the internet, and there is no limit on what’s possible for them,” said Bernadette Nacario, Country Director of Google Philippines. “We hope that the MSME Caravan will help bring on board more trainees, visit more communities, and give more business owners the digital skills they need.”

Digital bank Tonik to launch in PH following $6-M funding round

��ý — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 09:14:50 +0000

Tonik, a Singapore-based digital bank targeting Southeast Asia, announced that it has raised US$6 million in an institutional funding round led by venture capital firms Insignia Ventures Partners and Credence Partners.

These funds will be used to launch its digital bank in the Philippines, with commercial operations starting in the third quarter of 2020. Its support and research & development functions will be based out of Singapore and India.

Tonik was founded in 2018 by current CEO Greg Krasnov. Its offerings include deposits, payments, loans, and current accounts.

According to Krasnov, a huge opportunity lies in the country’s huge unbanked market. “Over 70% of the adult population in the Philippines remains unbanked, and market research indicates that over 50% of existing bank clients would be keen to switch their deposits to a pure-play digital contender.”

Tonik will be competing in this market against some digital bank players who have launched previously in the country, such as ING Philippines and CIMB Bank Philippines.

Livestreaming platform Kumu expands into live audio with new podcasting feature

��ý — Mon, 17 Feb 2020 04:24:55 +0000

Livestreaming content platform Kumu has made waves as the fastest-growing Filipino social media app, connecting talents and audiences with their suite of app-based streaming tools. Their latest feature expands their content sharing into audio, enabling social radio or live podcasts on the platform.

With the audio streaming feature integrated within the mobile app, content creators and users can now join in on relevant conversations, exchange information on relevant topics, and share KUMU diamonds (the in-app currency for the app’s users), in six settings. Developers of the app also intend to highlight exclusive functions that allow audio streamers to accommodate guests and co-hosts in ‘public’ and ‘friends only’ options; as well as ‘mute’, ‘kick’ or ‘block’ listeners.

Recognizing how netizens who want to spark discussions of topical interests would prefer audio streaming over going live on the internet, developers are keen on launching the feature within the month to give users more leverage to stream their original and interesting ideas online.

The KUMU team is also well on track with the app’s combined audio and live streaming features as both forms are now used widespread globally with over 138 countries using streaming features to broadcast nearly 16,000 events.

While livestreaming remains one of the top choices for KUMU users who want to gain a wider following online and to show more content, the new audio streaming feature should see their community grow with aspiring Filipino podcasters all over the world.

Insurtech firm Saphron launches new “heartbreak insurance” product

��ý — Fri, 14 Feb 2020 09:57:27 +0000

In perhaps one of the more innovative product launches in the insurance market today, local insurtech startup Saphron today offers “heartbreak insurance” aimed at ensuring that your next breakup has at least a little silver lining (in this case, a one-night hotel stay to nurse yourself back together).

MONA, or “Move On NA”, is reportedly the first-ever heartbreak insurance product to hit the local market. It only costs P300 and assures one that, in case life gets in the way of love, the insured has a staycation waiting for them at any one of Saphron’s partner hotels.

Backed by Pioneer Insurance, MONA is actually a form of Events Cancellation Insurance, which secures a predetermined benefit for the insured if a similarly predetermined event is cancelled. Saphron says this product is designed to be attached to anniversary celebrations, weddings, and the like.

“In case your planned wedding or any relationship anniversary celebration gets cancelled because of a breakup, a critical illness, a cancelled flight, or any of our covered event cancellation causes, we intend to give you that break from heartbreak, with a one-night stay at one of our partner hotels nearest your locality,” the company shared.

Saphron is one of a number of startups under Talino Venture Labs, a venture builder focusing on inclusive and innovative enterprises.

You can find out .

DLTAP, FPH, government partners announce upcoming Philippine Fintech Festival 2020

��ý — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 08:46:48 +0000

A consortium of public and private partners announced today the upcoming Philippine Fintech Festival (PFF), a showcase of the latest tech innovations fueling the transformation of global businesses. The two-day festival is slated for May 20 to 21, and will be held at Shangri-La at the Fort.

The event is co-organized by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Department of Science and Technology(DOST), and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), along with private corporations and organizations such as the Distributed Ledger Technology Association of the Philippines (DLTAP) and the FinTech Philippines Association (FPH).

According to DTI Undersecretary Dr. Rafaelita Aldaba, the Philippines has all the necessary ingredients to be the next hotbed of fintech innovation. Listing a solid financial and business ecosystem, continued GDP growth, an innovation-ready regulatory environment, and a young tech-adopting population, the Philippines is poised to be regional leaders in the coming fintech boom.

“We strongly believe that this is a pivotal moment for us to become more relevant and competitive in the global marketplace,” she said. Usec. Aldaba explained that part of the government’s relentless drive towards financial inclusion is its readiness to work with private sector partners innovating in the field.

These include startups, telcos, and traditional banking institutions launching fintech products for SMEs and farmers in the underserviced agriculture sector, as well as mobile wallets and crypto-powered remittance platforms.

“Now, the Philippines is primed to move on to the next level and transition into a world-class digital economy through the Philippine Fintech Festival — an international gathering of experts and leaders in innovation,” Usec. Aldaba said.

PFF 2020 gathers innovation and tech experts, thought leaders, and business executives to discuss global trends, key executions, and cutting-edge solutions leading the digital transformation of global industries.

The festival’s key tracks cover: The Future of Finance, the trends that are Transforming Industries, and Blockchain for Enterprise.

Speakers at the event include:

Pia Arellano, President and CEO of Transunion Information Solutions
Matthew Gamser, CEO of International Finance Corporation
Lesly Goh, Chief Technology Officer of World Bank
Ron Hose, Founder and CEO of Coins.PH
Victor Paterno, CEOof 7-Eleven
Chatri Sityodtong, Founder and CEO of ONE Championship
and Tendayi Viki, award-winning author and Associate Partner at Strategyzer

In addition to plenaries and experiential zones, PFF 2020 will also feature a lineup of side events:

The Final Pitch: PFF Edition — an hour of lighting round pitches from startups and fintechs with angel investors and industry experts, in partnership with CNN Philippines’ The Final Pitch.
Business Matching
Trade Connect — a networking session for c-level executives, potential partners, industry regulators, and key stakeholders
Hackathon — focusing on the banking and finance industry and financial inclusion
and the PFF Awards — for top fintechs, startups, and innovative companies from Southeast Asia.

“We are working closely with the various government and industry partners in putting together PFF 2020 because this is an opportunity to showcase the Philippines’ capabilities in the fintech space,” said DLTAP and FPH Chairman Justo Ortiz. “Through the PFF, we are taking a shot at co-creating the future together.”

Registration and sponsorship opportunities) for the first Philippine Fintech Festival are now open. .

Facebook has big plans for APAC, and digital businesses need to be ready

��ý — Fri, 31 Jan 2020 09:16:58 +0000

In December 2019, Facebook brought in journalists from across Asia-Pacific to its Marina Bay offices in Singapore for APAC Press Day 2020. The event, a first for the tech giant’s regional headquarters, marked not only the announcement of a slew of new products and practices, but also a recognition of APAC as both the fastest growing market in Facebook and a clear focus region in the coming years.

Currently, Facebook (the company) is still best known for its flagship platform, Facebook (the app). But standouts in the company’s portfolio include Instagram and WhatsApp. Across these platforms, Facebook is seeing massive growth.

With over a billion monthly active users and likely home to the next billion too, nowhere is that more prevalent than in the Asia-Pacific.

According to Cathy Yum, Facebook APAC’s product marketing manager, that regional dominance is due in no small part to the millions of businesses thriving in the platform’s cross-border, digital marketplace.

Whether buying and selling on Groups or peddling goods over Instagram, small and medium enterprises are driving business through these social media platforms at unprecedented rates. Facebook officials shared that the platform currently supports over 140 million small and medium businesses across the globe.

“People in different markets are discovering new businesses and new brands in countries that they don’t live in,” she said. “Where we see the most impact from this trend is with our small businesses.”

Tackling the paradigm shift

Christine Chia, Facebook APAC’s head of commerce partnerships, describes her team’s mission at “the world’s largest social marketplace” as honing their platform to become “a space to experience the pleasure of shopping, without the chore of buying.”

Commerce in the social media age has truly transformed the way people buy and sell products or services. But Chia says this paradigm shift has come at a price.

“We’re not here to build warehouses, we’re not creating products,” she said. “We want to enable connections between businesses and people around the world.”

“And while buying has been made a lot easier, shopping hasn’t been. What we possibly gained in efficiency, we’ve lost when it comes to connections.”

She’s referring, of course, not only to the impersonality and anonymity of selling sans physical storefronts, but also to the difficulty sellers have meeting the new expectations of online commerce.

The need for on-demand information and same-day deliveries mean that automation-friendly businesses able to operate at scale win biggest. To paraphrase Chia, what we get in digital convenience, we lose in human connection.

To solve this, Facebook looked to another rising trend: the number of messages coursing through their platforms. In 2019, an average of over 20 billion messages were exchanged every month between people and businesses using Facebook’s different services, more than double the eight billion messages exchanged per month in 2018.

In 2019, the number of global users of messaging services on Facebook’s platforms surpassed the number of social network users. And while that should indicate a pronounced shift in focus for global businesses and e-marketers, it’s important to note that this is not new news for businesses operating in Asia-Pacific. In APAC, that same shift happened in 2017–and local entrepreneurs have been adapting to what’s become the new primary platform for commerce ever since.

All this leads to what Facebook refers to as the rise of conversational commerce.

In essence, conversational commerce is when people and businesses connect through chat or voice assistance with the intent to drive purchase of goods or services. Today, c-commerce plays a central role in not only facilitating business inquiries, but managing transactions and continued engagement with customers.

According to the company’s commercial insight platform, Facebook for Business, two out of three surveyed users claim to have messaged a business on one of Facebook’s platforms over the 2018 holidays. Of that number, 63% came from Asia-Pacific.

In the Philippines, specifically, these statistics paint a clear preference for personalized communication:

42% of c-commerce buyers use chat to make purchases, primarily via social and messaging platforms.
Similarly, 42% of c-commerce buyers say that chat was how they first started shopping online.
And a whopping 97% of c-commerce buyers plan to increase or maintain their c-commerce spending in the future.

Filipino buyers utilize chat not only to quickly and conveniently glean information from buyers, but to interact with them–looking for personal insights and negotiating prices. At the end of the day, buyers chat to establish trust, a currency that in many ways went out of circulation in the age of e-commerce, now resurging through c-commerce.

“At the core of messaging from a consumer perspective, is that people want to be able to express themselves, but they also want immediacy,” said Sarah Bennison, director of product marketing at Facebook. “For businesses, we’ve developed a lot of advertising tools and functionalities to make it easier for them to incorporate messaging in their strategies.”

“What we encourage brands to do is incorporate messaging not for messaging’s sake, but to really strive to make being helpful core to what they’re trying to achieve,” she said.

You can learn more about .

Beyond c-commerce

This is just one of many examples of how Facebook’s users are influencing how the company sees their platforms growing. According to Christine Chia, just as her group’s decisions shape how users interact on the platform, they too take cues from the myriad of ways the community uses their tools.

“For years people have been hacking our tools to be able to buy and sell,” Chia said. “In buy-and-sell groups, people would be creating post templates for things they’d need to sell and how to notify when they were no longer available. These user requirements are driving how we enable these people and ultimately improve Groups.”

Those who frequent local buy and sell groups may be familiar with some of the local templates Chia refers to. Posts bookended by “LF” (Looking For) or “RFS” (Reason For Selling) provided a shorthand for readers to quickly assess whether or not they’re interested. These informal templates have informed how Facebook designed the fields for product posts today.

“We want to keep making Groups useful for people and that’s led to developing special post formats for selling things, highlighting active users and so much more,” Chia said. To date, over 650 million people in the APAC region are active members of roughly 27 million Facebook Groups.

Recognizing digital businesses as primary drivers of their growth in APAC, Facebook has also launched a number of successful initiatives to support entrepreneurial ventures, many piloted here in the Philippines.

Among them is #SheMeansBusiness, an educational program that aims to empower women as they build their own digital businesses. Since launching in the Philippines in 2017, #SheMeansBusiness has facilitated the training of 92,000 women through online resources and in workshops across 10 cities.

By cultivating new businesses in APAC, funneling them into their social marketplace, and equipping them with the tools they need to succeed, Facebook is ensuring that SMEs continue to be a primary driver of growth in the region.

And on the buyer’s side, Facebook’s new unified commerce stack–a system designed to facilitate frictionless, secure transactions across all of the company’s different apps and platforms–promises a social shopping experience that’s never been easier or safer.

But user growth isn’t Facebook’s only goal. Dan Neary, vice president of Facebook APAC, says the company isn’t stopping at simply being a platform for transactions, it wants to play a role in facilitating those transactions as well.

This year, Facebook is launching a payment solution called Facebook Pay, that will be available within the Messenger app, WhatsApp, and as its own standalone mobile application. The wallet promises to standardize the transaction process across the entire ecosystem, turning their unified commerce stack into a truly end-to-end system.

And with ongoing developments around Libra, the cryptocurrency that will eventually be made available on Facebook’s social marketplace, as well as Calibra, Libra’s digital wallet product, Facebook may not just be facilitating transactions in the future, but owning the currency being exchanged as well.

Facebook Pay will only be available in the US come launch later this year, with no concrete news for when it will be coming to Asia-Pacific. Similarly, Libra and Calibra continue to be in development limbo for the time being.

But with their plans for the next decade laid out, it’s clear that Facebook continues to look at Asia-Pacific as their epicenter for innovation

“You see a lot of the trends that are global in nature, you see are much more pronounced in Asia-Pacific,” Neary said. “The things that drive connections and drive community-building are way more prevalent here than anywhere else.”

“We believe that the next billion people that are going to use our platforms will be coming from Asia-Pacific, and that’s the way that we’re going to be investing.”

Talino Venture Labs launches three new inclusion tech startups

��ý — Thu, 19 Dec 2019 06:12:22 +0000

Talino Venture Labs, a “venture builder” and incubator focusing on inclusion technologies, has launched three new startups in partnership with leaders in various industries.

These are Saphron, a digital insurance platform, Asenso, an MSME digital supply chain firm, and Unawa, a compliance automation platform—all aimed at supporting the nation’s poorest communities.

According to the study by Google, Temasek, and Bain and Company, inclusion tech will drive the region’s Internet economy to $300 billion by 2025.

“We have a large, digital-savvy and tech-driven population that now consumes online. But there is still a huge underserved market at the base of the pyramid,” said Winston Damarillo, CEO of Talino Venture Labs. “For us to fully realize the potential of our market, we need to empower the underserved with more inclusive digital products and services.”

Unawa, a regulatory and compliance automation platform for businesses, was co-created with PJS Law, one of the country’s leading legal firms. One of their products, Unawa RapidStart, takes care of incorporation for new businesses to help them focus on other important matters.

“Normally, when we think of legal compliance, we immediately either get intimidated or annoyed. So with technology, we hopefully try to make it easier and maybe even exciting to comply with law,” said Atty. Monalisa Dimalanta, CEO of Unawa.

There’s also the challenge of laws and regulations having to keep up with the fast pace of technology. “Very often, we find ourselves in the unique situation of being ahead,” said Lorenzo Chan, Jr., CEO of Saphron. “So what do we comply with? What law does that apply to? We just have to make sure that it’s still all above the law, even if it has not been defined.”

In order to overcome these barriers, it’s become necessary for businesses to cooperate and boost each other.

“There are all these things that compound the unnecessary complexity of starting a company here in the Philippines,” said Damarillo. “But I think what we need to do is just team up… because the challenges are enormous enough that if we don’t have this mesh of collaboration, it would appear daunting. But we have to deal with it, because we have to progress.”

As with Unawa, Talino Venture Labs’ two other new startups were borne out of collaborations with leading firms in the country, aimed at leveraging industry expertise to build products for those most in need.

Saphron, a digital insurance platform for the poorest sectors, was conceived with Pioneer Insurance and CARD Pioneer Microinsurance Inc. (CPMI), the country’s largest microinsurance provider. One of their projects is NAN.AI, a microinsurance agent platform that cuts down the onboarding process for new customers from months to minutes using artificial intelligence tools.

Asenso, built in partnership with CPMI, is a digital supply chain and enabler for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Puhunan, one of their products, is a loan platform that provides sustainable capital through fair microfinancing.

How IBM leverages latest tech for good

��ý — Mon, 16 Dec 2019 06:18:07 +0000

As one of technology’s leading innovators over the decades, IBM has long been helping shape the role emerging tech plays in regions across the globe—creating not only more efficient workflows, but also building entirely new industries.

But the potential of technology to reshape our world shouldn’t stop at simply improving businesses’ financial bottom-lines. With IBM’s “smart for good” thrust, the tech giant has developed a three-pronged suite of programs called Good Tech IBM, benefitting not only IBMers and their clients, but—they hope—the world at large.

IBM.org

This web portal empowers IBM employees, retirees, and community partners with the tools they need to organize social good initiatives across impact areas such as education, disaster resiliency, and health.

One activity launched through this platform was Project OWL (Organization, Whereabouts, Logistics). A hardware/software solution conceived by a team of developers, it helps create a temporary, low-cost network to keep people and emergency workers in touch post-disaster. Project OWL won the first Call for Code Global Challenge, which asked developers worldwide to create tools using open source-based technologies for humanitarian crises.

Other examples include two new initiatives targeting STEM education among Indian women. Working with seven state education departments, IBM plans to reach 200,000 girls over three years to build their confidence in pursuing STEM careers by developing their computational thinking capabilities and life skills. Together with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, they’re also enabling a two-year advanced diploma in cloud and data at 100 Government Industrial Training Institutes, 50 percent of which are intended for women. These and similar ongoing efforts are expected to benefit more than a million female students by 2022.

P-TECH

Because of the dizzying pace of technology, students oftentimes end up with know-how that’s already passé by the time they graduate. IBM is trying to narrow this skills gap through their pre-university education program, P-TECH.

Intended to complement the K-12 curriculum, P-TECH’s focus on emerging technologies prepares students for “new collar” jobs, careers opening up in the fastest growing fields in technologies.

The first P-TECH program in the Philippines is in Taguig City University. This year’s pioneer batch will learn the principles of AI, data science, cybersecurity, and all the latest tech from mentors in the industry. IBM Philippines hopes to eventually expand the program nationwide. Corporate Citizenship Manager Andrea Escalona says that they are opening the P-TECH model to other companies and can even help them incorporate it in their CSR plans.

Among the students enrolled in the said program is Mont Cedric Murillo, who at Grade 11 is happy about his career prospects: “I have an interest in art and technology, so I want to be a graphic designer. I think with the help of P-TECH my dream of achieving that is just one step away.”

IBM SkillsBuild

SkillsBuild is an online learning platform that helps learners and job seekers upskill and re-skill through learning experience and community. Those who sign up will be personally assessed for capabilities and personality, followed by a recommendation for role-based education for specific jobs and highly sought-after professional skills. Learners have the opportunity afterwards to apply their new skills on real projects as well as build up a portfolio and explore what they are most keen about. President and Country General Manager of IBM Philippines Aileen Judan-Jiao says “both P-TECH and SkillsBuild will not just focus on technical skills but also on soft skills like critical problem-solving, design thinking, and project management.”

The three available pathways are as follows:

Foundations: Working in a digital world – Learn topics such as new concepts in computing to how you can best craft email for a global team.

Customer service representative – From shopping to keeping servers online, learn the best ways to help people and make everything run more smoothly.

Web developer – Learn about the world of development and get on the path to writing your own code and solving meaningful problems.

SkillsBuild was developed by IBM in collaboration with key learning partners selected for their pedagogy expertise and innovative technology: CodeDoor, Coorpacademy, Credly, MyInnerGenius, SkillSoft.

From nightlife to tech life: Kumu’s Angelo Mendez on having fun at work

��ý — Wed, 27 Nov 2019 05:07:44 +0000

California-based Angelo Mendez first fell in love with the Philippines in 2006 when what was supposed to be a holiday turned out to be a six-month love affair with Manila’s underground art and music scenes.

Weaving through Manila’s club scene and spinning at destination spots like Boracay’s Juice Bar, Angelo’s entrepreneurial gears began to turn. Not even his return to San Francisco could stop the roots beginning to set in. “I packed up and left, but my love for the Philippines was already rooted and I knew I’ve always wanted to live here,” he said.

Today, Angelo is at the helm of live streaming platform Kumu, the fastest growing social media app in the country. Following his two-pronged journey as both a tech innovator and professional DJ, it seems it’s a role he was always meant to play.

By 2008, Angelo was reaping success in his own social media startup venture called Imeem which was the fastest growing website in the world in 2007. “We were a top ten site in a lot of Southeast Asian countries, but at that time there was no way to monetize these regions. I was sent out to Singapore to work with a few digital ad agencies. But in 2008 the market crashed and I decided to move back to Philippines full-time to build hotels and night clubs.”

From then on, Angelo’s journey as a marketing specialist, and eventually towards his role as a huge contributor to the growth of Kumu, had begun.

Angelo Over Pressure

Angelo is no stranger in building great things from scratch. Aside from his big roles in Sound in Color and Imeem, Angelo also developed the first 3D printed hotel room for Lewis Grand Hotel in Pampanga (which he also co-founded in 2008); created clubbing brand Black Market Manila in 2013; all leading to his role as head of programming in Kumu.

“Whether it’s throwing parties, building hotels, or DJing, I’ve always enjoyed creating. Coming up with concepts with my team and best friends and executing our ideas is exciting for me,” he said.

Aside from the fundamentals of entrepreneurship, what Angelo also learned from all his successful ventures is how to deal with pressure moments and how to find fun in everything he does. “You’re going to face a lot of pressure moments,” he shared. “How you deal with them can make or break you. I’ve always been a passionate person so learning to separate the passion from emotion and stay level-headed help a lot when venturing into the unknown,” he adds.

When asked how he exactly deals with work’s entailing pressure, he advises: “Don’t take yourself too seriously. It’s ok to mess up. Keep experimenting because eventually, something will stick.”

“Our office is loud and obnoxious to other people. But what I love most about being part of the KUMU team is that you can tell we’re having fun. It’s like a nightclub at the office,” he said.

Engaging a Fast and Loyal Following

As head of Kumu’s programming, Angelo is tasked to find new and exciting ways to make users feel welcome and extend loyalty to the brand. Angelo says it’s not too dissimilar to a previous project of his, Bad Decisions Wednesdays.

“When we started Bad Decisions in 2013, the entire Manila nightlife scene was entirely electronic dance music (EDM), and EDM copy cats that were generic and corny,” he said. “Black Market was trying to be an alternative venue. I asked my partners there to give me the worst night and let me do whatever I wanted, which ended up becoming Bad Decisions Wednesday. The whole point was: with everyone who goes out, there were a few outcasts who didn’t want to be part of that EDM scene and we were there to provide a venue where they could express themselves while listening to really dirty rap music. It was different and authentic and it showed especially in those early years,” he said.

Six years later, Bad Decision Wednesdays is still going strong.

“When we started KUMU, we knew that we were going up against companies where the perception was to have your photos faked to get ‘likes’,” he said. “Social media apps like that were everywhere at that time. We wanted to build a platform for Filipinos who wanted to have real conversations and be themselves- where they didn’t have to fake having a perfect life.”

And as time and again, Angelo succeeds in not only creating loyalty and excitement among its users, but also in providing them a welcoming community (or as they style it: kumunity) that supports each other and engages in campaigns, contents, and conversations. “Today, with over 1.5 million users in just over a year from launch, Kumu has become the safe space where Pinoys can be authentic, tambay and livestream to their hearts content.”

New features make IBM Cloud service of choice for highly-regulated industries–IBM

��ý — Thu, 07 Nov 2019 03:38:04 +0000

IBM today announced that clients in highly regulated industries, including Aegean Airlines, BNP Paribas, Elaw Tecnologia SA and Home Trust, are selecting IBM Cloud as their preferred destination for mission-critical workloads.

IBM also announced new capabilities that make its public cloud the industry’s most secure and open cloud for business, including:

- The industry’s only commercially available state-of-art cryptographic technology for the cloud called “Keep Your Own Key.” This gives enterprises the ability to retain control of their own encryption keys — and the hardware security modules that protect them — so customers are the only ones who can control access to their data.
- Increased bandwidth for its next-gen virtual servers on the cloud up to 80 Gbps, making the IBM public cloud hyperscale-ready. Designed so enterprises can access IBM public cloud services and scale their networks quicker than ever before, all within a controlled, secured environment that is suited for sensitive workloads.
- An expansion of IBM’s global cloud data center footprint with new multizone regions (MZR) planned for Toronto, Canada and Osaka, Japan by the end of 2020, building on the recently announced MZR in Sao Paulo, Brazil. These regions will help clients quickly deploy mission-critical workloads and applications across hybrid cloud environments, and gain access to a consistent set of IBM public cloud services – from enterprise-grade infrastructure to AI services.
- The same IBM Power Systems technology behind the world’s smartest supercomputers, Summit and Sierra, is expected to be available for select geographies by the end of 2019 in the IBM Cloud giving organizations a new, powerful option to begin developing and training their AI applications. IBM’s support of Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Power Systems reinforces our commitment to clients to provide a flexible, secure and open, hybrid multicloud platform for their workloads.
- New features to be made available for IBM Security Advisor to detect security misconfigurations so companies can better assess their security postures and take corrective actions.

IBM reported last week that its cloud business generated more than $20 billion dollars in revenue over the last 12 months. Today’s news complements IBM’s existing cloud offerings for private and on-premises environments – including those from recently-acquired Red Hat – enabling the company to provide comprehensive, open multicloud hybrid solutions.

“Open architectures, based on Kubernetes and containers, are driving the next wave of cloud-based innovation. That’s why IBM has just completed a two-year journey to enhance its public cloud on a foundation of open source software,” said Arvind Krishna, Senior Vice President, Cloud and Cognitive Software, IBM. “Today, we are going a step further by unveiling new capabilities for the IBM public cloud, designed to provide clients with the highest available level of security, leading data protection and enterprise-grade infrastructure to run Red Hat OpenShift.”

Aegean Airlines has adopted IBM Cloud to transform its internal business processes and further enhance its customer experience.

“IBM is the strategic provider that will support our determination and willingness to innovate and achieve excellence at both organizational and business process level,” said AEGEAN Group’s Chief Information Office, Aristeidis Kamvysis. “By utilizing IBM Cloud, we’re able to infuse IBM Watson into our applications in order to gain better business insights, while improving business operations in a reliable, scalable, and agile environment.”

With the consumer experience a top priority, banks like BNP Paribas must deal with the rapidly changing needs of customers, while also managing evolving security and regulatory guidelines, and a variety of complex data and workloads.

BNP Paribas is leveraging the IBM Cloud and adopting a hybrid cloud strategy to overcome these challenges and support its development and innovation within the ever-increasing need for security and compliance. This includes a BNP Paribas dedicated cloud based on IBM public cloud technology that offers the best of both worlds: the security of a private cloud, with the breadth of catalog and economics of a public cloud. Due to launch in mid 2020, it will provide access to the full range of IBM Cloud IaaS and PaaS services, including IBM’s Watson AI services, and will run in a Multizone Region dedicated to BNP Paribas in the Paris area to provide high availability and resilience. BNP Paribas will migrate its IT and applications to this dedicated cloud, complementing it with the IBM public cloud in the US, Asia and Europe. Together, BNP Paribas and IBM look to define and establish the cloud platform to help meet the regulatory and security controls facing BNP Paribas’ critical banking workloads.

“With the increasing regulation restrictions in the financial services industry, institutions have been historically challenged to use cloud, and public clouds in particular. By working with IBM, we are able to provide the innovation and agility that public clouds can offer, combined with the security necessary to remain compliant,” said Bernard Gavgani, BNP Paribas Group Chief Information Officer. “This approach enables us to innovate faster, provide a better customer experience, enter into new business models and tap into new technologies, such as AI.”

Together with IBM, Elaw Tecnologia SA, a company that specializes in the development of corporate solutions for legal management, created a new cognitive solution that automates cumbersome and high-volume legal tasks, hosted on IBM Cloud.

“The strict labor laws in Brazil result in a vast number of labor lawsuits. To streamline legal processes, we worked with IBM to develop a AI-enabled legal process management solution to improve efficiency and productivity for our lawyers,” said Guilherme Bordon, Chief Executive Officer, Elaw. “The solution is hosted on IBM Cloud to enable Elaw to access IBM Watson APIs, automate processes and provide a secured platform for confidential information.”

Home Trust, a federally regulated trust company based in Canada, recently migrated its IT infrastructure to IBM’s public cloud to transform its operations, while still maintaining end-to-end visibility and management over its platforms and applications. By migrating to the cloud, Home Trust now has access to flexible and scalable computing services, as well as access to higher value technologies, including AI, to digitally transform its offerings.

“For many financial institutions, upgrading core systems can disrupt underlying business operations and impact efficiency,” said Victor DiRisio, Chief Information Officer at Home Trust. “By choosing IBM Cloud, we are able to modernize our IT environment while realizing the economic benefits of cloud computing. It ensures that new solutions are immediately useable, rapidly deployable and can ultimately offer a superior customer experience.”

Riding the next (mm)wave: the present and future of 5G

��ý — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 07:50:08 +0000

5G is fast becoming one of the most anticipated technologies for businesses and consumers alike. Touting wide coverage, high bandwidth, and low latency as its key features, various markets are eager to explore how they can utilize it in their respective industries.

Highlighting the technology, Huawei held its annual Asia-Pacific Innovation Day last September 3 at the Waldorf Astoria Chengdu in Sichuan Province, China. Experts discussed the progress of 5G development and deployment, its current applications, and its impact on industry and economy.

Taking strides

South Korea was the first country in the world to launch large-scale commercial services of 5G. Since it rolled out in early April this year, its 3 mobile carriers have amassed in total.

from North America and Europe have also been taking strides to commercialize 5G. Players like T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom are working on setting up infrastructure and developing services for different markets.

In China, however, the development of 5G has established a strong foothold. On Huawei’s end alone, it has resulted in an investment of USD 4 billion since 2009. Construction of infrastructure is also going steady, with 5G networks set up in Chengdu, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen

Across the pond, more than 50 commercial contracts have been inked with partners in the Asia-Pacific, the Americas, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. As a result, the company has shipped more than 200,000 5G modules hinging on Massive MIMO technology.

5G in the “real” world

Massive developments have given birth to several interesting applications. With speeds reaching as high as 1 Gbps, citizens are able to enjoy live broadcasts in 8K definition and cloud gaming (wherein games are accessed click-to-play on a cloud center and will no longer need to be installed on a device).

The serviceability of 5G goes beyond media and entertainment. For instance, remote ultrasound can be done between 2 doctors 100 kilometers away from each other, allowing them to inspect images at real time without any delay. This is greatly beneficial to rural areas which may not house the adequate and expert manpower in their hospitals.

5G may even be used for firefighting. Manually-operated drones that can break windows and release agents to help contain fires may be dispatched to burning buildings. This way, firefighters can do their jobs just as efficiently without having to endanger their own lives as well.

These are just some of various industries experimenting with 5G to help improve their operations. Others include transportation, energy, and environmental conservation.

An intelligent world

All of these innovations are working towards Huawei’s vision of an intelligent world. “In the intelligent world, all things can sense, and sensors will transform the physical world into digital signals,” said William Xu, Director of the Board for Huawei and President of the Institute of Strategic Research. “Networks will connect all things and all data will be online; and applications powered by big data and AI will make all things intelligent.”

The company has laid out specific goals for the next decade in this respect:

Increase communications, computing capabilities, and storage density by a factor of 100
Extend sensing capabilities so that they are 100 times better than a human’s sensory limitations
Achieve the fifth level of autonomous driving
Increase battery density of devices tenfold
Reduce the number of maintenance staff that telecoms operators require by 90%.

Through open innovation and inclusive development, Xu believes that such metrics are achievable.

“We will make this possible with initiatives like funding university research, building labs, and making technological investments along multiple paths. We need to consider industry challenges and academic insight, and also the confidence of venture capitalists to conduct joint innovations.”

Impact Hub Manila launches record attempt at world’s biggest hackathon

��ý — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 03:15:13 +0000

Since the were first set in 2015, each participating country has been pulling their own efforts to meet them by the designated deadline of 2030. And while the Philippines has made its , the country’s signals a need to push even further.

With roughly 10 years left, it’s going to take more helping hands to achieve the UN SDGs. And by gathering the nation’s most brilliant innovative minds, Impact Hub Manila hopes to hack together solutions for the future with their world record attempt at the largest simultaneous hackathon to date.

Increasing relevance

Impact Hackathon is a 24-hour, on-the-spot coding marathon that will be held from October 30 to 31. It’s an official Guinness World Records attempt for the title of biggest hackathon. Currently, that title goes to the Hajj Hackathon, with 2,950 participants. The Impact Hackathon is looking to gather over thrice that number, with estimates at 10,000 participants across the Philippines and Asia-Pacific — 3,500 of which will be stationed at its main venue of Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Aside from the central hubs like Taguig, secondary cities and provinces like Palawan, Iloilo, and Cagayan de Oro were included in a push for countryside development. “We want them to create their own ecosystem so that they don’t have to keep coming to Manila, Cebu, or Davao,” said Ces Rondario, founder and CEO of Impact Hub Manila. “We need to decentralize the opportunities and access.”

The goal of the hackathon is to generate a new crop of innovative solutions to some of the most pressing issues facing the human race today. Impact Hub’s hypothesis is that, as one of the global leaders in tech talent, the Philippines has what it takes to be a tech leader spearheading change towards a better world. The hackathon is set to put that theory to the test.

Participants will be challenged to create sustainable, tech-based solutions for problems anchored on the UN SDGs such as climate change, education, agriculture, smart cities, and health and wellness. In addition to being pressing issues in the Philippines and the region, they were also chosen for their relevance to certain areas. Participants from Visayas, for example, may be tasked with creating solutions towards digitizing coastal communities.

“I’ve met a lot of entrepreneurs in the past [that] offer a solution looking for a problem,” said Marc Lepage, technology innovations specialist at Asian Development Bank (ADB). “It’s really putting in front of those very talented youth [the] problems that they face everyday but they would not think about as potential business opportunities.”

Strong solutions today, maximum impact tomorrow

In order to hone the full potential of the winning solutions, Impact Hub created Impact 2050, an entrepreneurial program that aims to accelerate the Asia-Pacific impact entrepreneurship ecosystem. The four-phase program began in September with the Elevate National Startup Roadshow, continuing with the Impact Hackathon.

In November, the hackathon’s winners will present their solutions to a panel of judges at 2050fest, where they’ll compete for seed funding, networking opportunities, and hands-on mentorship.

Finally, the program will culminate with Incubate 2020, a year-long training program by Impact Hub’s mentors and partners.

Patterning the program after the natural progression of a startup — flowing from education, to ideation, to discovery and networking, and finally to incubation — the plan is for winning participants to grow their solutions into sustainable, stable businesses.

“After many years of being part of the ecosystem, we realized that there’s a need to focus on supporting entrepreneurs who not only had a purpose, but could scale their technology,” said Rondario. “And I thought that we needed to answer the question, ‘What solutions do we want to see created by our entrepreneurs by 2050, and how do we truly future-proof today?’”

Globe Telecom rolls out 5G services to select Metro Manila communities

��ý — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 08:18:57 +0000

According to Martha Sazon, Globe at Home’s senior vice president and head of broadband business, 5G promises to uplift Filipino families and businesses by unlocking new opportunities once only available to those from more developed economies.

“We are carefully but progressively rolling out 5G as we try to learn more about the technology and ensure its stability to ensure quality customer experience,” said Sazon, speaking at the recently concluded 5G Asia Conference at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.

Globe launched its first commercially available 5G technology for home Internet called Globe At Home Air Fiber 5G last quarter, cementing the Philippines’ place as the first country to experience commercial fixed wireless connectivity in Southeast Asia and second in the entire continent after South Korea.

Air Fiber 5G comes with fiber-fast speeds of up to 100Mbps and generous data allocations of up to 2 terabytes (TB) starting at around P1899 (USD 36) a month. The new service currently covers communities with 120 to 250 homes in selected areas in Metropolitan and Greater Manila with plans of rolling out in more areas soon.

5G technology enables the use of Internet of Things (IoT) for today’s intelligent homes. Internet connection that is faster, more secure and with lower latency brought by 5G significantly enhances entertainment and security systems at home, promising a digital experience that is more seamless, reliable and intuitive for the modern Filipino household.

Revolutionizing impact: 4IR and humanitarian efforts

��ý — Fri, 04 Oct 2019 02:55:06 +0000

The world of work is gearing up for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the era of high-speed internet, artificial intelligence (AI), big data analytics, and cloud technology. The impact of these new technologies go far beyond the production line. Experts have been discussing the impact of 4IR on the human workforce, considering aspects such as reskilling and the extent of automation.

While the importance of 4IR in the way we do business is unquestionable, there are other, equally meaningful ways that these new technologies are affecting lives. Institutions have been working on ways to use them for the greater good, coming up with humanitarian applications for various sectors.

A stronger culture

The documentation of human culture and history are constantly threatened by the erosion and destruction of artifacts. For instance, the that engulfed the Brazil National Museum in 2018 razed the country’s oldest human fossil and a 5.5-ton meteorite that was almost 300 years old. Through 4IR technologies, both preservative and preventive applications are being developed to protect these priceless treasures.��

During the Huawei Asia-Pacific Innovation Day held last September 3, Li Huabiao, director of the data management and analysis center for the National Museum of China discussed their Smart National Museum Project. Using big data, the Internet of Things (IoT), and AI, they are able to create personalized environments for each specimen and even identify potential threats, such as fires, which can cause damage to the infrastructure.

Preservation of written tradition is also underway. For instance, one work being done under the project is the digitization of physical manuscripts stored in archives and museums. In 2018, they even developed an algorithm which could outperform humans in transcribing ancient Venetian documents.��

These technologies can also be used to build the past– or at least, a comprehensive, intelligent simulation of it. The Venice Time Machine project, a prototype of Time Machine, , the first of its kind in the world. Time Machine aims to create a simulation of 2000 years of European history.

“Any records that were kept before 2000 basically don’t exist, because we have no means of viewing them,” Frédéric Kaplan, Director of EPFL’s Digital Humanities Laboratory, in a separate article. “We urgently need to bring our archives into the digital age. We mustn’t lose contact with the past.”

A smarter planet

While these efforts have only demonstrated the need to preserve the past, it is just as important to think about the future. Experts across various industries have been creating solutions for the different ways that the planet is being destroyed.

Take this from James Cook University that throws climate data to the cloud. By providing an inexpensive way for farmers to access such information in real time, they are not only guiding them through farming cycles but also preventing harmful chemicals from flowing into the ocean. Fertilizer run-offs often such as the Great Barrier Reef, which recently has been showing of deterioration.��

In India, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has created a centralized database of run-ins between humans and wild elephants. By analyzing trends such as hotspots and the average time of occurrence, appropriate authorities are able to formulate preventive measures for any more encounters.��

“You have an area with many incidents where elephants break houses to get the grain stored in there,” said Dr. Aditya Gangadharan, subregional support officer for the South Asia IUCN, India Country Program. “Now you know that there’s this hotspot for this particular reason, it’s been happening over these years, and so this is where we can focus on improved storage facilities.”

A more hopeful future

4IR tech-driven humanitarian efforts span across different sectors. The Clooney Justice Foundation uses an app in their project to help monitor for human rights violations in courtrooms all over the world, with the data being collected and analyzed to build a justice rank index.��

analyzes photos of printed text and translates it into sign language through a kid-friendly avatar, helping deaf children develop vital reading skills.

With such powerful technology at our fingertips, the possibilities are truly endless. But ultimately, it is political will that will keep the ball rolling for efforts outside the realm of business.

“Technology is one thing, but it can’t solve everything,” said Professor Xiang Wei, foundation professor and head of discipline of IoT Engineering at James Cook University. “We’ve been using very powerful artificial intelligence and internet of things technology to collect useful information and provide a very powerful predictive engine. But so what?”

“Eventually, it comes down to impact… People like you and me have to take practice.”

IBM, Red Hat accelerate clients’ innovation and growth through cloud-native software

��ý — Sat, 24 Aug 2019 05:36:28 +0000

IBM announced at its recently concluded Think Singapore 2019 conference that it has transformed its software portfolio to be cloud-native, enabling clients to take advantage of the newest and best technologies around distributed systems from different vendors. This multicloud versatility translates to faster innovation and growth, as clients can now build mission-critical applications once and run them anywhere.

The first outcome of this transformation are Cloud Paks: Pre-integrated sets of containerized software that provide a common operating model and set of services to improve visibility and control across different clouds. The first five IBM Cloud Paks — touted to reduce development time by up to 84 percent and operational expenses by up to 75 percent — include:

Cloud Pak for Data – simplifies and automates how organizations deliver insights from their data and provide an open and extensible architecture to virtualize data for AI��

Cloud Pak for Applications – helps businesses modernize, build, deploy, and run applications

Cloud Pak for Integration – assists in the integration of apps, data, cloud services, and APIs

Cloud Pak for Automation – aids in the transformation of business processes, decisions, and content

Cloud Pak for Multicloud Management – provides multicloud visibility, governance, and automation

These packages are easily deployed and delivered and are tailored for specific client use cases,” said Andreas Hartl, General Manager and Cloud Leader of IBM Asia Pacific. “Paks are packaged in the way our customers purchase.”

IBM and Red Hat’s OpenShift

The second outcome of this development is the optimization of IBM’s software portfolio to run on Red Hat’s multifaceted OpenShift, the industry’s most comprehensive Kubernetes platform.
Kubernetes is an open-source system for automating the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications, like IBM’s Paks.

OpenShift has been rearchitected to utilize advancements in cloud technology, most notably containers, which allow applications to run quickly and reliably from one computing environment to another. “Containerization is our first commitment for the future,” Hartl said.

Among the services IBM has recently rolled out are the following:

Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud – enterprises will be assisted by this service of OpenShift on IBM’s public cloud on how they can modernize and migrate to a hybrid cloud environment
Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Z and LinuxONE – enterprise systems IBM Z and LinuxONE will now benefit from Red Hat OpenShift
Red Hat consulting and technology services – clients will be advised on how to move, build, and manage their workloads to cloud environments by Red Hat certified-consultants and cloud application services practitioners

The next chapter of business reinvention

Whereas “Chapter One” of digital reinvention dealt with the way a business’s services was experienced by a customer, “Chapter Two” involves taking mission-critical apps such as business intelligence and resource planning and moving them to the cloud. This next phase is where enterprises are currently moving towards.

IBM’s shift in its software portfolio plus its optimization to run on Red Hat OpenShift aims to allow enterprises to modernize their core infrastructure inside out and expedite the shift of their core business apps to the cloud in a consistent and secure manner.

One organization that has made such a shift is financial services provider Primerica. “Primerica has been on a journey to modernize our applications and rapidly deliver new services with the innovations our clients expect,” said Primerica’s CTO and EVP Barry Pellas. “The IBM platform is a key enabler for our hybrid cloud strategy, allowing us to mix public and private clouds to deliver exceptional experiences quickly while keeping our data secure.”

With technology continuously disrupting the way we live, businesses necessarily have to transform their operating models, infuse digital solutions, and keep pace with the rate of change. Cloud technology is a powerful facilitator in the journey to enterprise reinvention.

Coffee Project named one of the world’s most ‘instagrammable’ cafés

��ý — Fri, 23 Aug 2019 09:02:39 +0000

Coffee Project landed on the 24th spot on the “Top 50 Most Instagrammable Cafes in the World” listed by popular travel website, Big Seven Travel – the only one in the Philippines who made it to the prestigious list.

Besides its good quality concoctions of espresso based drinks and mouth-watering food, Coffee Project boasts of its exceptional interiors filled with flowers, greens, and rustic elements that create a vibrant and whimsical mood among its customers. With extraordinary concept and unique interiors, Coffee Project is dubbed by its loyal customers as the Most Instagrammable Cafe in the Philippines.

Coffee Project is the coffee chain under All Value Corp. of the Villar Group. To date Coffee Project has 37 branches across the country and continues to expand further to extend its passion of creating unique and beautiful spaces that is proudly Filipino.

Local fintech Cashalo launches national financial literacy platform, ‘Cash Academy’

��ý — Thu, 08 Aug 2019 05:47:26 +0000

Earlier today, local fintech platform Cashalo launched ‘Cash Academy’, a nationwide financial literacy program aimed towards developing a generation of more financially knowledgeable, responsible, and empowered Filipinos.

According to the latest Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Financial Inclusion Survey conducted in 2017, 77 percent of the country’s adult population remains unbanked. A 2015 Standard and Poors report shows that only 25 percent of Filipinos are financially literate. And as of last year, only 12 percent of Filipino adults borrowed from a formal financial institution.

‘Cash Academy’ comprises of eight free learning modules and training resources aimed at delivering a holistic and practical overview of sound financial management. These cover concepts like budgeting, money management, and credit through a short video series accessible on both YouTube and .

After finishing the modules, visitors take a localized version of the World Bank’s seven-point financial literacy quiz, gauging their basic understanding of the topics covered and awarding them a digital certification for completing the course. Cashalo hopes to establish in the near future this certification as a formally recognized means to increase one’s credit score.

‘Cash Academy’ also offers training on responsible and efficient use of financing for micro-entrepreneurs to start and grow their small businesses.

In addition to their online resources, Cash Academy conducts offline trainings, with roughly 30 sessions lined up to the end of the year so far.

In partnership with ASSISTAsia, Google, the Department of Trade and Industry, and Go Negosyo, Cashalo has already reached over 10,000 Filipinos through CashAcademy’s beta phase online and offline trainings.

The Cashalo team is currently looking to collaborate with government agencies willing to help expand their reach, and private partners to co-develop new learning modules.

“Millions of hard-working and underserved Filipinos are held back from building a better life because of poor financial literacy and access,” said Hamilton Angluben, general manager of Cashalo. “Through our Cash Academy financial literacy program, we strive to empower them with the skills, confidence, and opportunity to take control of their financial future.”

“Our programs are designed to be easily delivered where people are, scalable nationwide, and help drive socio-economic contribution through financial autonomy,” he said.

With the launch of Cash Academy, Cashalo intends to scale the program nationwide through strategic private and public partnerships. Over the last year, Cashalo has participated in training events with DTI’s SME Roving Academy (SMERA), while also supporting Google’s digital literacy training for women, Digiskarteng Pinay, and ASSIST’s digital empowerment movement, Digibayanihan.

“[These] partnerships are vital to achieving our goal, as we work as a collective force to drive inclusive, sustainable growth and strengthen communities across the Philippines,” said Angluben.

Newly rebranded EdTech firm conducts free interactive learning session

��ý — Mon, 22 Jul 2019 01:34:13 +0000

STORM Learning gathered HR industry experts in an exclusive event to discuss the latest in learning trends and innovative learning solutions through real-time workshops at the “Why Training Fails (without the right measures)” workshop in BGC last July 3.

The program showcased global learning trends along with STORM Learning’s report, developed to inform business leaders in the Philippine market how to better structure internal and external learning programs.

“The top barrier when it comes to building a learning culture within the workplace is access to learning the way employees prefer,” said DM Varun, STORM Learning’s Co-Founder and CEO.

“These learning programs not only up skill employees for better business impact but also encourage them to grow and collaborate with one another.”

Varun also announced the rebranding of STORM Learning to Skillbean in an effort to increase visibility and accountability in the training ecosystem in the Philippines.

“Skillbean takes STORM Learning’s two core products and combines them into one learning experience platform where employees can upskill themselves and track and reflect on their learning patterns and behaviors to be able to keep up with the demands of the ever-changing workforce,” said Varun.

The event included learning sessions on “How Workplace Affects Learning” by Riccardo Corsini of KMC Solutions; “Beyond Leadership and Management” by Sarah McLeod of Q2 HR Solutions; “Tools of Emotional Intelligence in Learning and Development” by Ruby Mañalac of
People Dynamics; and “The Human Part of Learning” by Francis Kong.

“When you build different flows and layouts based on how your employees engage and behave within the workspace, they’re generally healthier, empowered, and happier,” said KMC’s Corsini, who argued that workspace design is way more than a vanity expense. “It also helps employers and companies because employees work better and they become positive ambassadors of the company and its culture.”

The event highlighted listening to employees and maximizing learning and development as crucial operative factors for companies to improve revenues and productivity, as well as attract talents and increase retention.

“Why Training Fails (Without the Right Measures) is supported by KMC Net Quad, Office Essentials System Furniture Inc., LJC Restaurant Group, and Commune.

New device Rainshine produces renewable energy from (and despite) the weather

��ý — Wed, 17 Jul 2019 06:19:11 +0000

Two college students will be competing against delegates from 12 other APAC countries to field the most innovative idea for smarter and more sustainable cities.

Team Chinquapin, Yumi Briones and Gabby Ozaeta from Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), was declared grand champion at this year’s “Go Green in the City”, the annual student competition organized by energy management and automation leader Schneider Electric.

Their winning project, Rainshine, is an improved solar panel that can produce clean energy from both the sun and the rain. It was developed to be useful all year-round considering the Philippines’ alternating dry and wet seasons.

Aside from the opportunity to represent the Philippines, Briones and Ozaeta bagged a P100,000 cash prize and mentorship from Schneider Electric leading up to the regional leg in August.

“We’re very familiar with how it is also on a global scale… so we also make sure that when we select, it’s [someone] that we know can go into the big game and will be able to address something for the country,” said Ruth Ramayla, Director for Industrial Business Automation – International Operations at Schneider Electric. “What we really want to highlight is the inventive capabilities of the Filipinos.”

The country has had its share of victories in the competition. In 2013, Alyssa Vintola and Enzo Payonga from ADMU won the global championships with the Oscillohump, a device that generates energy from cars going over road humps. The most recent was in 2015, when John Paul Santos and Christian Sto. Romana from the Polytechnic University of the Philippines bagged third prize for Electrifilter, which generated electricity and potable water from dirty water.

Addressing actual needs

Among 1,300 proposals sent in from all over the country, only three teams were selected for the final round. Each team had to undergo up to six weeks of training to improve their presentation skills and the concept of their projects.

TuBo, developed by first runners-up Seb Dela Cruz and Mary Cotoco of Team Brine Me Water from De La Salle University – Manila, is a self-sustaining plant that feeds off of waste brine and produces potable water. This brine is a waste product from desalination, often disposed into the ocean, creating toxic salinity levels. By utilizing this waste product, the device is also able to help preserve marine life while providing clean water for areas experiencing water scarcity.

P.O.W.E.R. (Piezo On Wave Energy Reaping), developed by second runners-up Angel Ed Ameril and Mycca Mae Valmonte of Team Young Innovators from PUP, utilizes mechanical energy from the movement of the ocean to produce electricity.

‘Take that first step’

While Briones and Ozaeta say their victory hasn’t quite sunk in yet, the team is excited to see where Rainshine can go in terms of providing new ways to generate clean energy.

“We’re just really thankful that we were able to even have this opportunity to be here,” said Briones. “We’re overjoyed, mostly at the fact that we’re able to get this idea out there in the world. Because we really think that this is going to make a huge change.”

The pair also hopes that other students like them can seek out and make the most out of similar opportunities, even if they may seem intimidating.

“It’s really just trusting the people that you’re around and developing your own idea, even if it came from something really vague,” said Ozaeta. “So just take that first step and really believe in it until it becomes [a reality].”

Building business partnerships on Burket’s B2B ‘market network’

��ý — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 05:03:01 +0000

Of the 52 startups shortlisted to compete at Pitch 2019, the official pitching competition of Asia’s largest startup conference RISE, two firms come from the Philippines. The first: Bookgini, a digital platform for authors looking to self-publish. The second: Burket.ph, an online marketplace-cum-business matching social network.

Roy Julian, Burket’s co-founder took the stage in yesterday’s initial rounds, pitching his team’s concept for what they’re calling a “market network,” fusing a marketplace and a social networking platform, with a unique Software-as-a-Service component. Essentially, it’s an online platform for businesses to find suppliers, and vice-versa.

At the conference, Roy is accompanied by his co-founder Herbert Bactong. But Herbert was nowhere to be seen at yesterday’s competition. He was busy courting investors to help get his startup out of the alpha stage. As with many startups presenting at these conferences, it’s an all hands on deck affair.

“Burket is a play on ‘Business’ and ‘Market’,” said Herbert. “Usually a marketplace is just where buyers and sellers meet. In our case, we have a social networking component where people can partner up, message each other, and find information just like one might on Facebook or LinkedIn.”

Let’s say you just opened a milk tea shop. You have the menu staples, a few unique offerings, and the requisite witty business name to boot. The next step is to find a supplier for plastic cups. Then perhaps a supplier for straws. Eventually you’ll need a wholesale supplier for milk powder. And, of course, you’ll need a supplier for the food-grade plastic seals that cap your drinks. That’s an entire network of B2B suppliers. Where do you start?

Traditionally, you could ask around for referrals. A quick Google search might yield good results too. But in both cases, you’re limited to either the size of your network, or the resources of your potential suppliers. Your friends may only know so many straw manufacturers. And the milk powder manufacturers with the resources to maximize their SEO on Google may not actually be the ones best suited for your business size and location.

This is precisely the problem Burket is trying to solve.

“We level the playing field so that big companies and mom-and-pop shops operate on the same platform.”

“With Burket, the restaurant owner, for example, makes a Burket account and lists their industry as F&B,” Herbert said. “Their feed is then filled with information about the milk tea industry. At the top of that feed will be suppliers that are closest to their business, geographically. Burket helps these companies discover more suppliers that could possibly give cheaper options because they could be closer, or small enough to not have too much overhead.”

“At the same time, the suppliers get the benefit of being discovered without going through the trouble of managing their SEO and without having to compete directly with the big guys online,” he said.

More than a network.

More than a discovery tool, however, Burket leverages proprietary AI applications to be an all-in-one, end-to-end procurement system for businesses and their suppliers. In addition to the market network, Burket is currently developing a vendor management platform and bidding system.

“Let’s say the business owner finds the supplier and messages them on Burket, saying ‘I want to be your customer.’ They add each other as partners and they transact. The buyer, because they’ll be connecting with a lot of suppliers, needs a vendor management system to organize all those transactions.”

Using Burket, these businesses can send out all their purchase orders from one terminal. The supplier receives and fulfills them, sending back delivery receipts.

On the vendor side, that same system gives them a central access point for all the orders coming in. They don’t need to rely on a combination of emails, chats, phone calls, and text messages. All those transactions, monitored and organized on one platform.

“What I’m describing is what we’re designing our product to be,” Herbert said. “What we currently offer in our alpha stage is the business matching and messaging platform. Here at RISE, we’re hoping to get the funding necessary to launch the vendor management and bidding system.”

The ambitious vision of Burket is to be the homepage for business owners and vendors managing their supply chains. Despite this, Herbert said the team is struggling to find like-minded investors interested in helping grow their platform. And he believes that has a lot to do with their strict principles.

Leveling the playing field.

Since launching their alpha product on March 18 earlier this year, Burket has gained about 800 unique users, primarily suppliers brought to the platform through word of mouth. Herbert says the feedback from that engaged group of users has really helped shape Burket’s offerings.

“Almost every week we get one or two emails asking us to send them lists of suppliers,” Herbert said. “Because of that, we decided to create a separate transaction-based service where we source suppliers for you.”

They call it DIFY, or ‘do-it-for-you’. Essentially, these businesses are paying the Burket team to use the free-to-use platform for them. But Herbert says it’s been a pretty lucrative offering so far.

“So for P5,000, the lowest plan, we send you three proposals from three different suppliers,” he said. “If you’re good with it, we send you the details so you can transact with them directly.”

Focusing on connecting smaller scale businesses with little experience navigating the B2B network, Burket’s founders see their company as a tool to empower other entrepreneurs. And that shows in their revenue model.

“We don’t want to dip our fingers into the revenues of other businesses,” Herbert said. Instead, the model deals with fixed, subscription based prices, with add-ons for extra services. They don’t take a percentage off of transactions facilitated through their platform.

“The resources we expend as the platform are the same regardless of the size of the transaction,” he said. “Whether the order size is P5,000 or P5 million, the resources we put into facilitating that are the same. So if we charge a commission on transactions, I feel it would be unfair. Even at one percent of P5 million, that would be huge. So that’s not helping at all, that’s more like taking advantage. We want them to save on costs with our platform, and earn more revenue. That’s the principle we’re keeping.”

“Many investors feel our business is too small for them, because we’re not into the transaction revenue model,” Herbert said. “They say there’s a ceiling for a subscription-based service, because we can only charge so much. If there are only two million businesses in the Philippines, let’s say, then that’s your cap.”

But just as with their do-it-for-you service, Herbert says that new revenue streams will continue to reveal themselves as they continue to grow their community of users.

“For us to be able to gain more customers, our focus is to give this out for free,” he said. “Eventually, if you’re satisfied with our services, you can start paying for a subscription package at roughly ten dollars a month. But we don’t want to dip into your transactions, because our goal is to be fully transparent and let you keep your revenues.”

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