Tag: Opinion
The big barriers to global vaccination
We will not be able to put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us until the world’s population is mostly immune through vaccination or previous exposure to the disease.
Training for the jobs of the future
As we start 2021, COVID-19 is still with us, along with the many changes it has prompted in the way we do things. Many parents are still working from home, as children are also learning from home. Public transportation is still limited, and people are still encouraged to just stay home unless in need of essential goods or services. Many places and businesses have remained closed.
Big Tech’s swift reaction to Capitol rioters reveals new face of...
Big Business and Big Tech both reacted swiftly to the insurrection at the US Capitol, punishing and condemning those they deemed responsible for the riot or for creating the conditions that led to it.
Flying off the handle
WHAT FLIES OFF the handle is a loose ax head getting detached from its place, sailing dangerously into the air and hitting an unintended target. The phrase denotes a burst of uncontrolled temper.
Avengers game gives us a glimpse of life after Robert Downey,...
AT FIRST, the new Avengers video game from Square Enix Holdings, Co. is disconcerting, like watching a Tony Stark or Captain America impersonator at a children’s birthday party. After more than a decade of memorable performances from Robert Downey, Jr. and Chris Evans in Walt Disney Co.’s Marvel movies, the video game adaptation feels out of place.
The iPhone of 1939 helped liberate Europe. And women
LAST week marked the 80th anniversary of one of the most successful and consequential product introductions ever. On Oct. 24, 1939, nylon stockings went on sale to the public for the first time. The frenzied reception was comparable to the one that greeted the original iPhone, and so were the long-term consequences.
Bringing back the National Conference of Architects
MORE than a decade ago, the United Architects of the Philippines (UAP) and the Integrated and Accredited Professional Organization of Architects by the Professional Regulations Commission ended their National Conference of Architects (NCA) which gathered architects from around the country.
Nike’s risky stand on Kaepernick was a win
A YEAR AGO last week, Nike Inc. inserted itself into a smoldering cultural and political controversy: It unveiled an advertising campaign celebrating Colin Kaepernick, the former NFL player who had protested police treatment of African-Americans by kneeling during the national anthem.
Why Gucci and Dior want to rebuild Notre Dame
IF THE fire at Notre Dame cathedral had happened 20 or 50 years ago, France’s luxury fashion houses would surely have rushed to support its reconstruction as quickly as they did in 2019.
The ROI of a digital mind-set
GLOBAL SPENDING in digital transformation is expected to reach $1.7 trillion at the end of this year or a 42% increase from 2017, as data from research firm IDC show. While this figure illustrates how serious organizations are in adopting technology, it is alarming to note that companies still fail in the venture.
These K-beauty products work nicely
AT THE tail end of 2018, Korean skincare cult favorite Dear, Klairs, officially launched in the Philippines with the presence of its brick-and-mortar shelves in select Watsons and BeautyBar stores in the country.
Digital transformation requires digital talent — here’s how to get some
DIGITALIZATION OFFERS almost endless possibilities to communicate faster, work more efficiently, and be more creative -- in real-time. Groundbreaking digital business models also need pioneers: creators, forward-looking thinkers, and inventors.
I want to pay more for a Spotify subscription
SPOTIFY executives like to say they manage for growth rather than profitability. It was the growth, however, that disappointed investors in the latest earnings, released Thursday. As a user, I also worry that the music-streaming service’s ideas about growth are wrong.
How emerging technologies are creating a race for insights
IN AN INCREASINGLY digital world, a common denominator for successful organizations is the ability to empower its workforce and customers with the right information at breakneck speeds. With IDC forecasting that at least 50% of global GDP will be digitized by 2021, putting data to good use is no longer merely important, but a genuine prerequisite in order to compete.
Revelations In Hong Kong
By Jonee C. Bilasano
Trying to follow a packed schedule is akin to riding a car on full throttle. Every stop seems to be a...
Get smart: Are you equipped for the next workplace revolution?
AS MANY business leaders know, the workplace of today looks radically different than it used to be a mere five to 10 years ago. After all, today’s growth in technological capabilities, the exponential increase in computing power, and almost ubiquitous Internet connectivity, are changing the way employees and enterprises operate.
Simplifying fiber deployment in the Philippines with smaller fiber cables
MOST of the world’s fiber subscriptions come from developed Asia. In 2017, 73% of the world’s fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) subscribers and 48% of the world’s fixed broadband were in the Asia-Pacific region.
Man vs machine: Will AI put our humanity at stake?
THE VISION of an all-knowing, omni-present intelligent being that forms the backbone of our everyday lives has been portrayed in movies that captivate the...
Driving the future of manufacturing in the Philippines through automation
By Shermine Gotfredsen
CHINA has long been the world’s factory, but as labor costs rise, manufacturers in the Philippines have the opportunity to establish themselves...
How Mickey Mouse and friends conquered China
By Adam Minter, Bloomberg View
TWO YEARS AGO, Wang Jianlin, once China’s richest man, referred to his network of theme parks as a “wolf pack”...
Spies on your phone? Don’t get shocked
By Stephen L. Carter
Bloomberg View
THE PRESS has been in a lather of late over reports that the US Department of Homeland Security had discovered...
Don’t worry: AI won’t soon replace your brain
By Leonid Bershidsky
Bloomberg View
NECTOME promises to preserve the brains of terminally ill people in order to turn them into computer simulations -- at some...
Why Facebook’s new move is not going to last
By Shira Ovide
It’s easy to imagine that powerful technology companies are all-knowing geniuses. Often, though, technology superpowers are merely a collection of mortals making...
The Chinese digital giants — coming to a store near you!
By Professor Michael R. Wade with Jialu Shan
BACK in 2010, almost all unicorn start-ups came out of North America or Europe, whereas Chinese success...
Family matters at the ASEAN Business Summit
We are in the Solaire Resort and Casino, on Aseana Avenue just beyond Roxas Boulevard on the reclaimed coast of Manila Bay. Banish any...
ASEAN: More than meetings
Now that Manila is gearing up for the series of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) meetings that will all but shut down the...
How is ASEAN Integration coming along?
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded on Aug. 8, 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, its...
ASEAN and returning to Internal Security
Could Southeast Asia be turning the page on its inter-state disputes to focus on its internal ones? This is one theme that emerged from...
Breaking the barriers in ASEAN Finance
Tun Dato Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, former prime minister of Malaysia was keynote speaker at the Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines (FINEX) 49th...
ASEAN — What’s in it for you?
Still many people think ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is about traffic, cancellation of work and classes, and just like the flak APEC...
‘Ascend beyond the Bar Exam’
By Rafael Conejos
THE bus ride going to UST felt as though we were paratroopers in World War II. Some of us were dizzy from...
ASEAN Expansion for small businesses
By Andrew J. Masigan
Quietly and beneath our noses, the influx of retail brands from ASEAN, Europe, and America have caused a bloodbath among small-...
Lack of empathy in Philippine business
By Rafael Lorenzo G. Conejos
“SIR, you need to wait for your replacement.”
The sales lady said. And I couldn’t have any of the dozen or...
On being a Filipino-American in Europe
If you’re Pinoys traveling through Europe with US passports, you invariably get asked interesting questions by locals, like this casual conversation with a fellow...
AWEN and its role in ASEAN
It is a tall order to gather the needs of over 300 million women in ASEAN so that policy changes may be suggested to...
The good, the bad, and the ugly
Grassroots & Governance
By Teresa S. Abesamis
After one year, it is time for stock taking on the Duterte administration. I see its impact...
Time for Pacquiao to retire?
Ad Lib
By Greg B. Macabenta
There is no doubt in my mind that Manny Pacquiao won against Australian Jeff Horn. The CompuBox statistics showed Pacquiao...
Getting to bottom line
Fence Sitter
By A. R. Samson
Of course life is more complicated than an income statement, if only because so much of it is unquantifiable and...
Japan’s proactive approach to maritime security: The case of supporting the...
Thinking Beyond Politics
By Renato Cruz De Castro
In July 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague announced its long-awaited ruling on the...
Our transport system, communal pride, and united future
Introspective
By Raul V. Fabella
I allowed myself a moment of elation at the announcement of the railway link between Clark and Metro Manila. Such moments...
A tribute to Tita Saling
Yellow Pad
By Filomeno S. Sta. Ana III
Her full name is Rizalina Bautista Boncan. Friends call her Saling. We call her Tita Saling -- the...
Dealing with Duterte
Streetwise
By Carol Pagaduan-Araullo
We have been getting “I-told-you-so” and “why-do-you-still-put-up-with-him” reactions from quite a number of well-meaning people here and abroad after President...
Keep saving HK, China’s coming for your best land
HONG KONG -- It takes around 35 years for a median-income household to buy a 90-square meter (970-square foot) apartment in Hong Kong. So,...
Feeding the PHL’s growing appetite for connectivity
TODAY, there are at least 3.6 billion Internet users in the world and more than 54 million are located in the archipelagic Philippines. In...
Killing me softly
Killing me softly
Fourteen years ago, my mother succumbed to cancer. She died eight days short of her 60th birthday. That was more than a...