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Create a rewarding workplace

JAYVEE BADILE
SLOCPI PRESIDENT’S CUP WINNER

“There is science between behavior and circumstance. The pandemic doubled the need for elevated morale and performance. Constant huddles for realignment, coaching sessions for innovation, top-tier communication for adaptation, and generously incentivized performance were very helpful in ensuring that the business ran as usual.”

At 27, Jayvee Badile is already a new business manager or branch manager in Sun Life. To be specific, he is the youngest and fastest promoted branch/agency manager in the Philippine insurance industry.

“As a branch manager, I ensure sustainability of our Standards, Systems and Structure,” he discusses. “I also make sure I know how they all feel on a personal level. That is why I build relationships grounded on the idea that we are all interconnected.”

He ensures that all his personnel’s hard work is rewarded generously, because for him, boosting the morale of the team—by creating a conducive, rewarding workplace—determines the trajectory of their performance.

Therefore, his award serves as a validation of his financial advisors’ strategic hard work under his leadership in Sun Life’s Phoenix Palm branch.

“While it increases our visibility, it also strengthens our purpose as agents of change, and it will serve as fuel to continue affecting more change. Finally, it proves that we have successfully delivered the advocacy of financial security to Filipinos especially amid a global pandemic.”

Coming from a poor family, Jayvee’s personal advocacy is to make financial independence inclusive for every Filipino. This starts by helping them make deliberate and informed decisions with the options Sun Life offers, regardless of their current financial standing.

“I want to amplify that success in general and in milestones is driven by mindset and habit. This principle is always guided by my purpose to change lives through inspiration and impact. If I had done it with bare grit and passion, anyone can do it,” he says.

“Take heart, push forward, and turn your face towards the sun,” he advises the new financial advisors. “So long as you are doing your best for the people you promised to serve, then you are on your way to that sweet success story that you are building.”

Hong Kong minister signals path to adopting China anti-sanctions law

Image via Wikimedia Commons/CC-BY-SA-3.0

HONG KONG — Hong Kong’s justice secretary said on Sunday that a mainland Chinese law to counter foreign sanctions could also be adopted in the China-ruled city by writing it into Hong Kong’s mini-constitution, pending a decision by the Chinese parliament.  

Justice Secretary Teresa Cheng’s comments are the strongest official indication so far that Hong Kong would embrace the mainland law, passed in June to counter foreign sanctions as the US and EU step up pressure over trade, technology, Hong Kong, and Xinjiang.  

Under the law, individuals or entities involved in making or implementing discriminatory measures against Chinese citizens or entities could be put on an anti-sanctions list by relevant departments in the Chinese government.  

Ms. Cheng wrote in an official blog entry that the “most natural and appropriate way” to introduce the anti-sanctions law into Hong Kong would be to add it to an annex of the Basic Law, or Hong Kong’s mini-constitution.  

She added that such a move needed first to be approved by the highest organ of China’s parliament, the National People’s Congress. Local media have reported that a decision would likely be made during a meeting in Beijing on Aug 17–20.  

Critics have warned that the anti-foreign sanctions law could undermine Hong Kong’s reputation as a global financial hub, and tarnish sentiment among foreign firms.  

Hong Kong, a former British colony, returned to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 with a guarantee of a high degree of autonomy and freedoms.  

The US government issued a business advisory last month warning firms that they are subject to the territory’s laws, including a China-imposed national security law, under which foreign nationals, including one US citizen, have been arrested.  

The US government has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Hong Kong and Chinese officials over Beijing’s crackdown on the city’s freedoms under the sweeping security legislation.  

Without naming the United States directly, Ms. Cheng wrote that countermeasures were acceptable.  

“Unilateral coercive measures are without a doubt at odds with the principle of non-intervention, unbecoming of any civilized nation,” she wrote.  

“In the face of international illegal acts, a State is justified in deploying any countermeasures as a response.”  

Under China’s anti-foreign sanctions law, individuals could be denied entry into China or be expelled. Their assets within China may be seized or frozen. They could also be restricted from doing business with entities or people within China. — Reuters 

Alibaba uses Cloud Technology to reduce heatstroke risk during Tokyo 2020

Multiple cloud services to support digital transformation of the Olympic Games

Alibaba Group, the Worldwide TOP Partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), today announced a new cloud-based solution to help Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 onsite staff reduce the risk of getting heatstroke during the summer in Tokyo.

Through an intelligent ear-worn device, the technology helps keep track of the body temperature and heart rate of the Olympic onsite staff in Tokyo. Based on the body temperature, heart rate, and the environment index, a cloud-based system will identify the level of heatstroke risk in real time for individual working staff. Alerts will then be sent to those being exposed to a high level of risk along with recommended precautionary measures – such as drinking more water – to reduce the chances of getting heatstroke. The heat index in the surrounding environment including temperature, humidity and direct or radiant sunlight will be monitored through multiple heat stress WBGT (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature) meters set up at 14 Olympic competition venues.

Hidemasa Nakamura, Chief of the Main Operations Centre (MOC) of the Tokyo Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, said: “The Tokyo Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games is working on various measures to protect working staff from the heat. Although it is expected to be extremely hot during the Olympic Games, we will provide support for the staff working for the operation of the Games. The cloud-based technology provided by Alibaba plays an important role here. The technology is used for WBGT measurement at the venue and the monitoring and prediction of the heat stroke risks for the staff. By working with Alibaba together with our other Worldwide Olympic partners, the organizing committee is determined to provide a safe tournament environment.”

“Leveraging our leading cloud technology, we hope to contribute to the safe and smooth operation of the Olympic Games,” said Selina Yuan, general manager of International Business, Alibaba Cloud Intelligence. “We believe our stable, resilient, elastic and secure cloud computing infrastructure will help digitalize the Olympic Games in various ways and bring new experiences to everyone involved.”

In addition, Alibaba has been offering various cloud services to support the digitalisation of Tokyo 2020:

  • OBS Cloud for broadcasters: Alibaba Cloud and Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) launched OBS Cloud in 2018, an innovative cloud-based broadcasting solution that helps transform the media industry for the digital age. During Tokyo 2020, it gives the Rights Holding Broadcasters (RHBs) access to the cloud hosted platform, which includes a variety of short-form, ready-to-air content produced by OBS, and is designed specifically for digital and social media platforms.
  • 3DAT for athletes: Hosted on Alibaba Cloud and leveraging Intel’s technology, 3D Athlete Tracking (3DAT) gives audiences professional insights into athletes’ performance as it happens. Without the need for motion tracking sensors, 3DAT leverages standard video, AI and Computer Vision to extract over 20 points in 3D on the athlete’s body, transforming that data into rich visualisations to enhance broadcasters’ storytelling for key Athletics sprinting events. 
  • Press Conference on Cloud:  This is a media service on the cloud for journalists who would like to watch and download the press conference videos during the Olympic Games if they cannot make to Tokyo. The service includes the video processing, audio/video editing and livestream/VOD distribution and video download function.
  • TOKYO 2020 Make The Beat!: In the run-up to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, global fans were invited to film themselves performing to the rhythm to cheer for their favorite athletes. A selection of the submitted material will be displayed during the event as a compilation generated using Alibaba Cloud technology.
  • Olympic Channel: Olympics.com, which is hosted on Alibaba Cloud, is designed to keep Olympic sports and athletes relevant in the years between each Olympic Games and attract new, younger audiences to a sports movement. 
  • Alibaba Cloud Pin: Designed to add new digital contribution to the traditional pin collecting and trading culture, this digital wearable is the first cloud pin designed to enable media professionals working at the International Broadcasting Centre (IBC) and Main Press Centre (MPC) to engage with each other and exchange social media contact information in a safe and interactive manner during the Olympic Games.

For more information about Alibaba’s efforts in digitalizing the Olympic Games, please visit: https://www.alibabacloud.com/olympics/home

Information Security Officers Group to hold month-long virtual interactive cybersecurity campaign in October

In celebration of National Cybersecurity Month, the Information Security Officers Group (ISOG) will once again hold the grandest and longest cybersecurity awareness campaign in the Philippines through a virtual summit to be held from Oct. 8 to Nov. 8, 2021.

With the theme “Securing the New Cyber Norm,” the full virtual event titled I Am Secure 2021: The Great Shift will bring together more than 3,000 enablers and decision-makers in the field of cybersecurity. This includes local and international C-level executives like Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and Chief Technology Officers, Data Privacy Officers, Security Architects, and Risk and Compliance Heads. Expected attendees also include experts in cybersecurity, data privacy, and banking & finance, as well as professionals from the academe, public, and private sectors.

The event will be a digital venue for attendees to engage with one another, establish standard procedures in the industry, equip themselves with new skills to promote information security, and empower Filipinos by strengthening legislative measures of fighting cybercrime.

“While the rapid shift to the digital world has helped various organizations thrive in the new normal, it can’t be denied that these connected digital technologies also come with a whole new list of cyber threats and risks,” ISOG VP and Summit Chairman Chito Jacinto said. “This event aims to equip and empower organizations and institutions to build a stronger cyber defense strategy that is essential in securing our digital economy against cyber risks, threats, and attacks in the new normal,” he added.

Three-dimensional (3D) digital venue

To veer away from being a boring webinar, the event will run through a state-of-the-art and globally awarded virtual venue platform. Through this technology, participants can enjoy a simulated event summit experience by entering three-dimensional virtual interactive lobby, plenary hall, breakout rooms, exhibition halls, and networking lounge.

Cybersecurity talks with augmented staging and presentations

Aside from an ultramodern virtual event platform, the cybersecurity summit will provide participants with informative webinars featuring topics such as password awareness, family home cyber tips, phishing awareness, and ransom awareness. To make the webinars even more engaging, it will come with augmented staging and presentations.

There will also be breakout and plenary sessions facilitated by reputable speakers who will be providing comprehensive insights on topics like defensive and offensive security.

Participants will also get to join and witness fun summit activities including booth exhibition, games, raffles, and Cyber Quiz Bee.

“Our efforts to make our digital cybersecurity awareness campaign as engaging and as empowering as possible is in line with our organization’s mission to strengthen information security through education and awareness programs. As we make the great shift towards digital, ISOG takes the lead in securing the new cyber norm in the country through programs like this,” ISOG President Archie Tolentino said.

Initial sponsors of the event are Trends, Globe Business, Cilynx, BlueVoyant with Microsoft, Huawei, Trendmicro with Netsec Technologies and VST ECS Phils Inc, Westcon with Palo Alto Networks, CyCognito, Tanium, Fortinet, Netpoleon with Netscout, F5, Nexus with Extrahop, MDI-Novare with FireEye, Group IB, Blancco, Tenable, Gigamon, Arcon, M-Security with RSA Netwitness, Aptsecure Technologies with Seclore, Everest IMS, IPV Network, Solarwinds, and Inspira.

ISOG, which consists of CISOs from different financial institutions and IT security professionals in the Philippines, has been organizing security summits since 2015.

To know more about I Am Secure 2021: The Great Shift virtual summit, you may send an email to isog2021@gmail.com. For more information on ISOG and cybersecurity in the Philippines, follow ISOG’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ISOGPH and website www.isog-summit.com.

ePLDT VITRO Data Center: Empowering enterprises across the country

ePLDT's premiere flagship data center VITRO Makati 2

Businesses nationwide now rely heavily on digital services to sustain their operations amidst restrictions brought about by compliance to health protocols and adherence to lockdown policies. This abrupt shift to digital means that their mission critical applications and services must be easily accessed by customers 24/7, which necessitate safekeeping in a secure, robust and reliable data center facility.

As the largest telco-neutral data center in the Philippines, ePLDT’s VITRO Data Center has been supporting businesses as they go through their respective transformation journey.

“VITRO is the pioneer and market leader in the Philippine data center market and for the past 20 years, we have earned the trust and confidence of enterprise customers both here and abroad as we enable mission critical applications,” said Jovy Hernandez, president & CEO of ePLDT and SVP & Head for PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups.

ePLDT pioneered its first purpose-built data center with the establishment of VITRO Pasig in 2000. Since then, the information and communication technologies arm of PLDT Enterprise expanded to 10 fully operational data centers with over 9000 racks that can be found across the archipelago.

VITRO offers server colocation for clients to locate their critical resources and disaster recovery seats that employees can access when needed. Such facilities and infrastructures hold several certifications that ensure VITRO’s capability of housing the needs of businesses. Three of the 10 VITRO facilities acquired TIA-942 Rated 3, certifying that the data center operates on two identical yet separate source of cooling, electricity, and connectivity.

Other compliances from VITRO are the PCI-DSS certification and its different ISO certifications for Business Continuity, IT, Information Security, Environmental and Quality Management Systems.

“From previous on-premise deployments, enterprises now realized the need for immediate access to critical workloads regardless of mobility restrictions. VITRO provides a robust infrastructure with 99.99% SLA, seismic zone 4 compliance, and with telco connectivity options for both local and international,” he said.

Among ePLDT’s data center facilities, the VITRO Makati 2 is its most prestigious and flagship data center. With its 3,600-rack capacity and a total data center floor area of 18,632 sqm, the facility assists businesses to rapidly improve their IT infrastructure, allowing them to accelerate their speed to market schedules and significantly improve service and operation uptime.

ePLDT also assures that organizations outside Metro Manila have data centers to rely on with its VITRO Clark and VITRO Subic, which in total contain more than 1,500 racks.

The company provides data center colocation services in Visayas and Mindanao as well. The VITRO Cebu 2 is its largest data center facility outside Luzon, with its 794 racks and 5,855-sqm data center space. The company also built Davao City’s first data center, which has a 44-rack capacity attending to certain business needs of local and foreign customers in the region.

According to Mr. Hernandez, VITRO’s infrastructures are ready for the always-on customers and the unpredictable workload demands. “Most commonly known as 2N redundancy system, a prerequisite for being Rated 3, the facility can perform maintenance and repairs without causing disruptions to client’s critical resources,” Mr. Hernandez explained.

In addition, ePLDT’s technical experts for data center, cloud, cybersecurity, and managed IT are always within reach to aid companies in digital transformation. The company built the biggest Security Operations Center (SOC) in the Philippines to protect critical apps of the PLDT group. SOC is also manned 24/7 to address the threats and unusual IT behavior at a rapid pace.

PLDT is likewise committed to further expand these data center facilities to serve more enterprises moving forward.

“Additional data centers will not only improve the strategic locations of the existing data center network but also increase the rack capacity to attract not only local enterprises but also global technology companies requiring a presence in the Philippines,” Mr. Hernandez said.

#BeeInformed: Colocation is paving the way to digital transformation

In a world where going digital is the new normal, cloud and data center colocation has emerged as a key component in achieving digital transformation, which has long been the goal of companies. Digital transformation bolsters productivity as it optimizes and speeds up business operations and tasks. Its “digital convenience” also opens up new possibilities and opportunities to serve as many customers as possible.

However, embracing new technologies under digital transformation requires the added use and expansion of IT infrastructure, which brings in several challenges. Luckily, cloud and data center colocation is there to assist in the digital transformation journey.

Less costs

Taking on digital transformation alone involves shouldering its hefty capital expense (CapEx), such as the rising real estate, power, and 24×7 upkeep costs. Companies also have to take into account the price of xpanding resources, as the new normal under the pandemic has led to increased digital use.

In colocation, companies no longer have to worry about spending for CapEx as the cloud and data center providers already have the facility and staff to house and maintain everything. Data centers such as Beeinfotech PH’s The Hive, which is the country’s largest telco-neutral facility, offer dedicated staff for upkeep and redundant cooling and energy measures to ensure everything runs accordingly.

Manage complexity

Each new addition of digital technology brings in added complexity in operations. Financial companies, for example, are inclined to add new digital solutions to serve clients continuously under the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this brings in the need to protect sensitive data that are transferred online against cyber-attacks.

By colocating IT to cloud and data center providers, companies can get the protection they need to face online threats. A typical data center contains a Security Operations Center that immediately detects and responds to malicious activity. Meanwhile, several Cloud operators have multiple security protocols to protect customer information in every transaction.

Maximizing business potential

With colocation removing all upkeep headaches, companies have more time to focus on core business activities. Companies can divert expertise and resources towards where they’re most needed, therefore maximizing growth potential. The IT staff, for instance, can shift its attention to meeting business objectives, as the services of cloud and data center providers can do all the back-end IT tasks for them. In the end, all that’s left is to reap the benefits of digital transformation to the society as a whole.

Rising to the cloud

The Philippines as a cloud and data center market

By Bjorn Biel M. Beltran, Special Features Writer

Long has the country held the reputation for its young, skilled, and technology-enabled population. In fact, the annual We Are Social’s digital report regularly ranks the country as among the most active internet and social media users on the planet.

This bespeaks of strong economic fundamentals that could carry the country’s economic narrative to further heights post-pandemic. Given that the current pandemic situation is controlled, the World Bank sees the Philippine economy expanding at 4.7% in 2021, before accelerating to 5.9% in 2022 and 6.0% in 2023, contributing to renewed progress in poverty reduction.

The potential for future progress is also apparent in how the country’s openness to adopt digital innovation such as cloud and data center technology.

“The Philippines is no stranger to global technologies like cloud and data center solutions. Because of Pinoy’s exposure to social media and business process outsourcing (BPOs) servicing global clients, there is a very high awareness to these types of solutions,” Ace Yutuc, vice-president for Product Management and Marketing at Bee Information Technology Philippines, Inc., said in an interview.

Furthermore, the environment created by the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation across the country to a point where it has pushed both private enterprises and the public sector to adopt both cloud and datacenter solutions for their digital infrastructures.

Jovy Hernandez, president & chief executive officer of ePLDT and senior vice-president & head for PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups, told BusinessWorld that the global pandemic has been a catalyst for digital transformation, and that enterprises and public sector were required to take leaps to address their growing customers’ need in terms of online presence. Consumer applications from social media to video streaming, gaming, e-commerce and telehealth grew exponentially as people were forced to stay at home, and this has attracted the attention of global digital companies.

“The digital profile of the Philippines has motivated hyperscalers to build their infrastructure within the archipelago. As these tech providers strive for subscriber eyeballs, the population and digital economy of a country are critical considerations in terms of their data center road map,” Mr. Hernandez said.

“Globalization has erased boundaries, especially IT boundaries, and it is just a matter of time before businesses adopt these latest trends where the benefits outweigh the apprehension,” Mr. Yutuc added.

Allen Guo, country manager for the Philippines at Alibaba Cloud Intelligence pointed out that the Philippines has invested a lot of effort to encourage new industries to participate in the digital economy, especially with the introduction of initiatives like the Cloud First policy.

The Philippine Government’s Cloud First Policy promotes cloud computing as the preferred technology for government administration and the delivery of government services. Shifting to cloud computing is expected to foster flexibility, security, and cost-efficiency among users. Cloud computing also offers key advantages such as access to global systems of solutions, innovations, and services, as well as up-to-date cybersecurity.

“Thanks to its rapid economic growth in recent years, the Philippines has now progressed from having cloud discussions to experiencing cloud adoption. More businesses in the country are realizing how the cloud can provide transformative solutions and help them save money, while ensuring greater efficiency and flexibility to meet the ever-changing demands of customers,” Mr. Guo said.

“The Philippines is a large booming market with a big group of young while digital savvy population. The Philippine digital economy growth potential is enormous and local SMEs and enterprises are well-positioned to take advantage of these growth opportunities. There is a strong demand on digital transformation from local businesses in accordance with the Philippine government’s Cloud First Policy,” he added.

Seizing the opportunity
The Philippines’ prospects of becoming a digital leader in cloud and data center solutions are further improved by quite a number of factors. Mr. Yutuc pointed out that as “Pearl of the Orient”, the country is fortunate to have a strategic, valuable geographic location that places it at the crossroads of data traffic coming from the West and the Asia Pacific.

“Since undersea cables are the veins where all traffic come and go, the Philippines is the perfect landing area for Asia and worldwide traffic routes. Also, because Singapore and the surrounding regions have pretty much blanketed their areas with multiple data centers, the natural growth is towards nearby locations such as the Philippines. Plus, since the country is in a separate landmass, it serves as a natural redundancy site for all existing data center sites,” he said.

Furthermore, recent research show that due to the rapid pace of digitalization and a surge of demand, the country’s data center market is projected to grow faster than Southeast Asia, which is recognized as the fastest-growing region for co-location data centers.

Major data center hubs in Southeast Asia such as Hong Kong and Singapore paved the way for other countries such as the Philippines to market to cloud and data tech providers. Hong Kong is currently facing geopolitical risks out of the imposition of China’s National Security Law, while Singapore has issued a moratorium to freeze data center construction amidst high demand in response to sustainability concerns.

Further research by Global Data showed that from a Cloud Service Revenue perspective, the Philippines is anticipating a steep rise in cloud service revenues up to USD2.4 billion by 2024. This is due to the increase in cloud spending in the Enterprise segment and the government’s Cloud First Policy.

Mr. Guo backed this with more data from Alibaba Cloud’s survey titled “The Role of Cloud in Asia and Confidence in Asian Innovation”. Results showed 88% of Philippine businesses are now more supportive of using cloud-based IT solutions to grow their businesses as compared to before coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In addition, a majority (94%) of Philippine businesses now also view cloud-based IT solutions as a crucial component in mitigating the impact of the pandemic.

Mr. Hernandez added that the Philippines, as it possesses a burgeoning digital economy, robust domestic and international infrastructure, progressive renewable power mix, and data centers at par with the technologically developed countries, is an ideal destination to support the hyperscale data center requirements of the cloud and content providers.

The country is, thus, well-positioned to take advantage of opportunities in a new, growing cloud and data center market, and its pivot towards digital and cloud infrastructures sets it on the right path to future-proofing the economy.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has served as the impetus for the acceleration of digitalization in the Philippines,” Mr. Guo said. “Digital transformation will buttress recovery and growth in the post-pandemic era and help local businesses to get back on its track toward long-term aspirations. As remote working and online learning becomes the new normal, and most Filipinos turning to online platforms from shopping to entertainment, there is a surge in the need for cloud-based services to provide robust, resilient, secure and flexible support.”

Be grateful for your struggles

Chester Ang Ma Ong 2020 Rookie of the Year MDRT member Producers’ League Qualifier

“If you are struggling, it means you are doing your job. Be grateful for those struggles. You need it more than success.”

This is Chester Ma Ong’s unorthodox advice to other freshly minted financial advisors. Entering the industry during the pandemic, Chester didn’t expect to top the rookies’ list and join the Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) early in his career.

“The award for me is just a bonus. It is a result of excellent service to my clients. This is a gift from God and I am so grateful,” says the 41-year-old father of two.

He shares that if someone works on his attitude, belief and character (the ABC), achieving success is not impossible. “I am just a simple person. If I can do it, you can also do it.”

Like in all industries, the pandemic became a game changer in the insurance industry. With everything dependent on the virtual platform especially in 2020, financial advisors “tested the waters” by applying new practices never before done in Sun Life, even in other companies.

Chester took advantage of the new strategies and studied the business before jumping into selling—which he suggests other financial advisors to follow, too.

Rookies should use their first six months to study. After that, they should apply the learnings immediately, he points out. “Good habits are crucial during first six months. Dream high but learn to discipline yourself.”

For Chester, looking for new clients is one of the challenges, as financial advisors are “faced with so many rejections daily.” Nevertheless, this career has provided him unlimited income, growth potential, and time freedom. “You are not boxed in,” he exclaims.

Sun Life financial advisors are trained not only to become insurance agents, but also advocates of something bigger than themselves. For Chester, his main purpose in life is to glorify God in everything he does.

“Sun Life has the same values and standards that I uphold,” he caps.

Understanding the cloud

Photo from en.wikipedia.org

As the wave of digitalization continues to surge in the Philippines as a direct result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, forcing businesses to move their operations to digital platforms, several conversations are emerging around the data being generated: the amount of it, how it is collected, gathered, and stored, how to use it properly, and the ever-looming aspect of cybersecurity over it all.

With trillions upon trillions of bytes of data being generated daily, these conversations are necessary. But for the once-brick-and-mortar family business that has just recently transitioned over to digital platforms, it is often daunting to understand how it all works together.

Cloud adoption is but one of the numerous aspects of going digital. What exactly is it, and how can it improve one’s business?

To start with the basics, one must understand how data is stored. In decades past, important files and photos were stored in folders and albums, tucked away in cabinets or storage vaults. It only differs slightly today.

Bytes of data, which could contain important documents, photos, audio recordings, or video, can be stored locally through hardware like disk drives, or internationally through the cloud. The cloud is essentially a storage vault where files are sent and received via the internet.

“At its most basic, the cloud refers to any type of software or service that isn’t located on your personal computer or devices but instead runs on the internet. The files, images and videos that you save on cloud services are stored on the servers of third parties, companies such as Amazon, Google, and Microsoft,” technology firm Norton wrote on its website.

“You can then get at these files whenever you are using a device connected to the internet. If you’ve saved photos from your most recent trip to the beach, you don’t have to wait until you’re at your laptop computer to access them. You can find them by logging onto the internet from any computer or device anywhere.”

In fact, cloud services are so popular that you might have been using it without knowing. Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services, Apple iCloud, and Microsoft Azure among others provide the cloud services of websites — from Hulu and Dropbox to Gmail and Office 365.

The benefits of the cloud
So why should businesses use the cloud? Or put in another way, why should you hand over your important, private data over to other companies through the internet?

Historically, many businessmen have asked the same question, citing the security of public cloud infrastructure as one of their top concerns and a barrier to cloud adoption. According to management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, however, in recent years all major cloud service providers (CSP) have made significant strides in assuaging fears over security.

“A CSP’s business model depends on best-in-class security, and they have each invested billions in cloud security and in hiring thousands of the top cyber experts. They have developed an array of new tools and methods to make cloud secure, in many cases requiring developers to take on the security responsibility, rather than relying on a traditional security team to carry the burden,” McKinsey wrote on their website.

McKinsey noted that this is particularly important because public cloud breaches have almost all been driven by enterprise customers’ insecure configurations.

“The key question for companies, therefore, is not whether cloud is more secure to begin with, but what measures they need to take themselves to enhance their cloud security,” the firm added.

Norton further explained that cloud services are backed by massive corporations that can provide robust and powerful security measures to protect their data. Usually, servers where data is stored are located in warehouses that are inaccessible to most workers. To add to that, most files stored on cloud servers are encrypted, or are coded to make it far harder for cybercriminals to access.

Cloud servers are also consistently updated with the latest security measures to keep abreast of cyber risk, and are using advanced technologies like artificial intelligence to protect your data.

“This is important: It’s not easy to find experienced security professionals to oversee data. Cloud providers, though, can instead turn to AI to tackle at least the first level of security analysis. These programs rely on built-in algorithms to seek out and identify possible vulnerabilities in security measures,” Norton wrote.

Finally, there is redundancy in the cloud, meaning that they copy data several times and store them on many different data centers, protecting them from outages and other problems and keeping the data in them accessible to their owners. — Bjorn Biel M. Beltran

Driving digitalization in public sector

The growing adoption of digital tools in public services becomes prevalent since the start of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Among the enablers in this digital transformation of the sector is cloud computing technology.

Cloud computing seems helpful for the government operations and services as the Department of Information and Communication Technologies (DICT) has already released a circular regarding the country’s cloud-first policy back in 2017, which then underwent some amendments for the shift towards the new normal in 2020.

“Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction,” DICT defined in the circular.

The purpose of the policy, as the department stated, is to reduce the cost of government information and communications technology, increase employee productivity, and further develop citizen online services by utilizing cloud computing technology.

The policy also promotes cloud computing as the preferred technology in government administration and online services.

As such, DICT noted on the circular some benefits that cloud computing could bring in the government’s services and budget.

The technology makes the sharing of resources easier, thus enabling more effective collaboration among the agencies. This connection can make the delivery of public online services with “greater efficiency, entrepreneurship, and creativity,” the department noted.

As shared in a working paper on cloud computing published by Asian Development Bank (ADB), DICT may have seen this benefit in 2017 when it used a cloud-based solution to automate its business permits and licensing system. Since the technology enabled the process of business permit applications and renewals online by local government units (LGUs), it reduced the duration of the process from two to three days to just 30 minutes to half a day.

Online services can also be delivered faster, DICT’s circular added. This is because the testing and deployment of public ICT facilities and services would be quicker and maintained more cost-effectively, compared if the government agencies possess and operate unique computing facilities themselves.

“Reducing the amounts of infostructures required to be built and owned by government agencies reduces overall deployment times and shifts the focus from management of infrastructure to delivery of online services,” DICT said.

The department further highlighted how such technology makes greater budget control for the government agencies. This utility-based “pay for what you use” model, according to the department, means that the agencies can acquire as much or as little resources as they need.

“Cloud scalability results in systems usage being dialed up or down throughout the year as it is required. Transparency of the utility-based pricing structure means that spending caps and alerts can be implemented to further assist in budget control,” it explained.

Additionally, cloud infrastructure, as the means to deploy online government services, can result in an immediate decrease of large capital costs for infostructure and maintenance.

As mentioned in ADB’s working paper, the Bureau of Customs in 2016, for instance, estimated that the rehabilitation of its aging internal data center would need about ₱200 million; whereas if it used cloud computing infrastructure, it would be able to get the required computing power for less than one-tenth the cost.

Cloud provisioning can also make more commodity solutions available to the agencies; and since a cloud service provider manages the version upgrades to both hardware and software, the cloud-first model can augment the government ICT resilience and security, the department added.

Having such centralized data storage, management, and backups, the technology hence also allows the data retrieval and business recovery in a faster, easier, and more cost-effective way even at times of crisis.

Apparently, cloud computing, like several technologies, proves itself efficient when the pandemic hit the country and disrupted operations. The DICT, in fact, recently amended the Cloud First Policy to make the instructions on coverage, data classification, and data security clearer upon recognizing the vital role of ICT in the transition to the new normal.

The amendments last year clarified which institutions that the policy shall cover. This includes the departments, bureaus, offices, and agencies of the Executive Branch; government-owned and/or controlled corporations (GOCCs) and their subsidiaries; state universities and colleges (SUCs); and LGUs. It also covers cloud service providers and private entities that render services to the government.

The Congress, the Judiciary, the Independent Constitutional Commissions, and the Office of the Ombudsman, meanwhile, are merely encouraged to adopt the policy, which the amendments also made clear.

Data classifications were updated as well, now comprising highly sensitive government data; above-sensitive government data; sensitive government data; and non-sensitive government data. With this amendment, there is a more consistent structure to guide the application of safety protocols on the access, storage, processing, and transmission of data in the cloud.

Moreover, the amendments stated provisions on ICT capacity building and essential skills development to meet local and international standards.

The department’s policy on sovereignty, residency, and ownership were also amended.

According to Gregorio B. Honasan II, secretary of DICT, these amendments to the Cloud First policy are expected to further enable the government agencies in serving the public more efficiently. Through these clearer instructions, the agencies can thus employ cloud-based services that are at par with global standards.

“We are continuously updating our policies to adapt to the present times. With the amended Cloud First Policy, we are paving the way to an ICT policy environment that is more responsive to current needs, further filling gaps in our country’s digitalization efforts,” Mr. Honasan said in a statement.

“The shift to a truly digital government is much more pressing today,” he added. “As a member of IATF-MEID and lead agency in promoting the National ICT agenda, the DICT is committed to cover all aspects of this, primarily policies that would enable government digital transformation to ensure that we maximize ICT during this transition to the new normal.” — Chelsey Keith P. Ignacio

Building the future of businesses through fintech

In photo during this session of BusinessWorld Insights Fintech series are (clockwise, from top left) moderator Beatrice Laforga of BusinessWorld; and panelists Robertson Chiang, founder, COO and CTO of Dragonpay Corporation; Shailendra Soni, ICT and fintech head at Frost and Sullivan; Mitch Padua, chief product officer of PayMaya; and Frederic Levy, chief commercial officer of GCash.

Industry players see the value of fintech for MSMEs

By Chelsey Keith P. Ignacio, Special Features Writer

The integration of technologies in financial services emerge further in the past years. Such innovations, as expected, eventually become reliable partners for many small and large companies.

During the second session of BusinessWorld Insights Fintech Series with the theme “Fintech’s Role in Empowering Businesses of All Sizes” held last July 21, industry leaders explored the fintech landscape of Filipino businesses and how they can further develop.

The usage of fintech notably increased amid the quarantine that started last year, observed Robertson Chiang, founder, chief operating officer and chief technology officer of Dragonpay Corp.

“2020 was really a remarkable year, and this was primarily due to the pandemic. Our transaction almost tripled during this period, which is a reflection of the people changing their habits from physical retail to going online,” Mr. Chiang said.

The trend seemed to be continuing this year, he added. Assuming that their transactions in the first half of 2021 would be the same in the second, it would almost double their transaction count in 2020.

Payment methods also of course shifted. From the 21.1% e-wallet usage in 2019, it leaped to around 64% in 2020 and then around 71% in the first half of 2021, Mr. Chiang shared.

Similarly, GCash’s chief commercial officer Frederic Levy noticed that many people continue to use such technology, and this suggests that enterprises should incorporate it in their operations as well.

“It’s getting more and more obvious for any form of businesses — including the small ones up to the big, organized ones — that they need to have [a digital] form of payment proposed to the consumer,” Mr. Levy said.

Moreover, fintech would evidently make payment convenient for the consumers. “So the question is more, what reason that would push you not to jump fintech if you are a small business,” he expressed.

Fintech for small businesses

As such, Mr. Levy later shared his advice for small and medium enterprises on adopting fintech solutions.

“From an MSME perspective, simplicity and onboarding clearly are a critical component because it will look for a provider who can propose you an all-in-one solution,” he said.

“Make sure that you are going after the payment solution that makes sense for your business, and also going for the widest audience possible,” he added.

Similarly, PayMaya’s chief product officer Mitch Padua also suggested that MSMEs, or enterprises in general, should look for the widest reach in terms of various payment types since second-guessing what consumers will have is difficult.

“[Look] for a partner that can provide all types of payment, whether it’s online or offline, sometimes your business can have a mix of both. It’s very hard to reconcile if you have different terminals, payment gateways, [and] partners for each type of payment,” Mr. Padua said.

Another thing for MSMEs to look at is competitive rates. “At the end of the day, each partner or payment solution will have different rates. And someone that can help you lend all of those payment types into one simple rate will make your life a bit easier,” he added.

The growing presence of these digital payment solutions will be exponential, Mr. Padua also remarked. And according to him, PayMaya, with its end-to-end digital financial services platforms for merchants and consumers, is positioned to drive such growth through several factors.

Among these factors is that merchant payment is the next trillion-peso segment. “Accelerating business to consumer, business to business, and business to government payments is where PayMaya commits to address. Over the short term, we’re coming up with exciting innovations to make sure we can seamlessly enable businesses to send payments to other businesses and individuals by offering solutions that capture settlement, all the way down to disbursement, and to encashment,” Mr. Padua shared.

Another factor is that everyone can now become a digital entrepreneur with the transformation of MSMEs on the ground, he said. “We’ve begun the digital migration of our Smart Padala agents to become a one-stop-shop for digital financial services. So beyond remittance, they can now serve as agents for digital payments, digital lifestyle, and digital banking services,” he added.

Fintech’s growth

Likewise, Frost and Sullivan’s ICT and fintech head Shailendra Soni believed that fintech will continue to grow and thrive in the Philippines.

Though Mr. Soni deemed that the revolution started slightly late in the Philippines compared to its neighboring countries, he was certain the country will nonetheless catch up.

“There will be more and more [fintech] services launched [that are] particularly putting consumers and enterprises at the center to make them pay better, save money, invest money, and insure themselves,” he said.

When people began to experience these digital payment services and eventually realize the benefits, Mr. Soni considered that the migration to more fintech-related solutions will also start.

“I believe there is going to be infrastructure on the Internet that will become much better. There will be policies, rules, and regulations in place that will further accelerate the overall adoption of fintech. There’s no U-turn; it’s going to grow,” he added.

This session of BusinessWorld Insights was presented by Tata Consultancy Services and GCash with the support of Globe, InLife, and PayMaya.

PHL likely exited recession in Q2

PHILIPPINE STAR / MICHAEL VARCAS
Looser lockdown restrictions likely boosted economic growth in the second quarter. — PHILIPPINE STAR/ MICHAEL VARCAS

LOOSER LOCKDOWN restrictions, coupled with base effects likely lifted the Philippine economy out of the recession in the second quarter, economists said, adding that the outlook for sustained recovery remains cloudy due to the reimposition of tighter restrictions this month.   

A BusinessWorld poll of 20 analysts yielded a gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimate of 10.6% for the second quarter, a turnaround from the annual contractions of 4.2% and 17% posted in the first quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2020, respectively.

If realized, this would be the fastest year-on-year GDP growth rate since the 12% expansion in the fourth quarter of 1988. This would also be the first time the Philippine economy posted growth since the fourth quarter of 2019, right before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) brought economic activity to a near standstill.

This would also bring the GDP growth to average 3.2% in the first half, still below the government’s GDP growth target of 6-7% for this year.

The Philippine Statistics Authority is scheduled to release second-quarter economic data on Aug. 10.

While less restrictive than the first enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) last year, Metro Manila and its nearby provinces were once again placed under the strictest form of lockdown from late March to May 15 this year to curb a renewed surge in COVID-19 cases. These were gradually relaxed until a Delta-driven spike in infections forced the government to once again put the capital region under ECQ from Aug. 6-20.

Analysts were in agreement that the April-June period marked an economic rebound, although they offer different views on its extent.

Ateneo de Manila University economist Ser Percival K. Peña-Reyes gave a forecast of 15.2% growth for the second quarter based on a reading of other available economic indicators.

“The economy has been much more open in the second quarter this year versus last year, which was the height of the hard lockdown and when the economy bottomed out. Commercial and business establishments have been busier this year. As a result, employment figures have also been much better in the second quarter this year versus last year,” Mr. Peña-Reyes said.

Makoto Tsuchiya, an economist at Oxford Economics Japan, penciled in a 12.9% expansion in the second quarter, citing the “steady growth” in the Philippine manufacturing production.

“Moreover, the manufacturing PMI (purchasing managers’ index) surveys signaled that the business conditions for manufacturers continued to improve toward the end of the quarter and new export orders jumped, pointing to strong foreign demand. The robust recovery in the labor market should also support household spending,” he said.

“However, we expect the recovery in spending to remain relatively subdued given that much of the rise in employment has been part-time work, meaning average monthly earnings are generally lower and the unemployment rate is still elevated,” he added.

The country’s PMI, an indicator of manufacturing activity, sharply fell to 49 in April from 52.2 in March, slipping below the 50 neutral mark that separates deterioration from expansion and ending three straight months of growth. May saw a softer downturn with 49.9 before returning to expansion territory with 50.8 in June.

A separate data by the Philippine Statistics Authority showed manufacturing volume of production posting year-on-year growth rates of 154.3% in April, 263.2% in May, and 453.1% in June. These marked three straight months of growth following a 13-month losing streak.

Besides the gradual lifting of mobility restrictions, economists also pointed to base effects.

“While [GDP growth in the second quarter] is positive, it must be interpreted with caution given that we recorded an all-time high GDP contraction last year at 16.9%. It means that the growth for this quarter is just base effects,” said University of the Philippines Los Baños economist Jefferson A. Arapoc, who gave an estimate of a 9.5% growth in the second quarter.

ING Bank N.V. Manila Senior Economist Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa gave an annual growth forecast of 10.9% for the second quarter, noting that all sectors are expected to post growth led by capital formation, government spending, and household consumption.

“Despite the headline grabbing year-on-year print, the economy is expected to have slowed relative to [the first quarter] as tighter mobility curbs were implemented for all of April and most of May.  The impact of such measures manifested immediately in jobs and manufacturing numbers and we expect quarter-on-quarter GDP to actually contract by 1.5%,” Mr. Mapa said.

UNCERTAINTIES AHEAD
Despite the expected rebound in the second quarter, economic prospects in the next few quarters remain uncertain given the reimposition of tighter lockdowns due to Delta variant driving fresh COVID-19 cases, economists said.

Security Bank Corp. Chief Economist Robert Dan J. Roces said growth is “still expected to improve gradually” driven by better business and consumer confidence on the back of steady vaccination rate and election-related spending.

“The reimposed ECQ this August may complicate the overall growth picture though, and the Philippines will be hard-pressed to hit the 6.0-7.0% GDP growth target… [W]e expect the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) to keep monetary policy in place for the balance of the year and likely until the first half of 2022 until stable growth is seen,” Mr. Roces said, penciling in a 7.70% annual growth in the second quarter.

ING’s Mr. Mapa is less upbeat on the economy’s future growth.

“With the Philippines (in) yet another lockdown, and one that may be more stringent and protracted than the Alpha variant version, we are expecting the Philippines to post negative quarter-on-quarter GDP growth in the third quarter as well,” he said.

“In a year that started with so much hope for a ‘strong recovery’ and a ‘bounce back,’ 2021 is indeed turning out to be like 2020 with the Philippines likely headed for a lower growth trajectory once base effects fade. Our full-year GDP forecast is now at 3.8% from 4.7% previously, factoring in a four-week community quarantine style lockdown in August,” he added.

For Moody’s Analytics Senior Asia Pacific Economist Katrina Ell: “The Philippines is far from out of the woods when it comes to COVID-19 hurting the economic recovery as evidenced by daily infections once again rising,” she said, forecasting a 13% growth for the second quarter. — Abigail Marie P. Yraola

Analysts’ Q2 2021 GDP estimates

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