Talk

ICT's important role in risk management in times of disaster

With the rainy season upon us, the local government units (LGUs) of various regions have kickstarted awareness drives and preparedness programs anchored on Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation (DRRM) for this year's Disaster Resilience month. The Asian Disaster Preparedness Center attributes the effectiveness of disaster reduction and response to the effectivity of managing information before, during, and after a disaster. However, utilizing relevant information is largely associated with the availability and, most importantly, the reliability of platforms for communication in place, according to Cisco Managing Director for the Philippines Karrie Ilagan. "A huge part of the government's DRRM measures for a disaster-prone country like ours is vigilant preparation as this is the foundation of our response to and recovery from disasters," said Ilagan. "While preparation may involve tasks like having survival kits ready at home or LGUs deploying early warning systems and transport syst

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Canon urges public to buy products only on legit sites

Canon Marketing (Philippines), Inc. (CMPI) warns the public about suspicious websites posing as Canon resellers that offer their line of popular consumer products such as cameras and lenses at absurdly low or discounted prices. It is reported that after accepting payment, these online stores do not fulfill the order and no products delivered to the customer. There is also no means to reach out to these entities to raise complaints or ask for refunds. “We at Canon urge the public to take precautions to avoid falling victim to online scams and fraudulent websites. We want to protect our customers from these unscrupulous websites thereby ensuring that our customers only get authentic Canon products from authorized resellers in exchange for their hard-earned money,” said CMPI Vice President Anuj Aggarwal. CMPI has also learned that these fraudulent websites are running advertisements in popular social networking sites to lure potential victims. “We have informed these social media platfor

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Honeywell empowers enterprises in the age of digital transformation

Investments are continuously gushing in the Philippines coming from both local and global enterprises with the promise of a more robust economic landscape for the country in the future. However, enterprises, particularly huge ones, are facing various challenges in managing their growing business facilities. In spite of the favorable conditions to conduct business in the country, unexpected disasters may still occur and damage enterprise facilities. In the case of the Philippines, the risk is higher, considering that it is visited by an average of around 20 typhoons annually and is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. At Honeywell's Philippines Technology Summit 2019, these challenges and other concerns that can cause unplanned downtime and skills gap in local and global enterprises in the country are addressed through an insightful, day-long discussion and demonstration of innovations that take advantage of data analytics, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) Internet of things

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Taiwan's ICT and IoT leadership can further PH and ASEAN growth

At the Asia IoT Business Platform held at the Manila Marriott Hotel in Pasay City, Taiwan Excellence took the occasion as an ideal opportunity to highlight Taiwan as a role model in the field of information and communications technology (ICT) not only for the Philippines but also for the entire Southeast Asian region. Organized by the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) and the Taiwan External Trade Council (TAITRA), the Taiwan Excellence showcase area provides businesses of different sizes a platform featuring a variety of Internet of things (IoT) solutions demonstrated by select Taiwanese technology companies. This year’s roster is comprised of Accton Technology Corporation, Apacer Technology Inc., Aver Information Inc., ICP DAS, and IEI Integration Corporation. The companies gave visitors an opportunity to consider how IoT solutions can propel businesses. “We see progress in the Philippine ICT sector and Taiwan will be happy to contribute to this growth and help Filipino enterprises fu

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HP LaserJet Enterprise keeps up with business demands

Much like personal computers and servers, network printers can be vulnerable to malware attacks, hacking, and other security threats that can cause sensitive files and documents to be copied, stolen or wiped out, leaving business operations crippled and in jeopardy. Thankfully, the HP LaserJet Enterprise M507 series printers enable you to run your enterprise smoothly, efficiently, and without worries, as it boasts of the world’s most secure printing system. Each printer has the ability to check its operating code and repairs itself from attacks. The printer's outgoing network connections are inspected to stop suspicious requests and thwart malware. The HP LaserJet Enterprise's memory activity is constantly being monitored to continuously detect and prevent any attacks while its firmware is automatically checked during startup to determine if it is an authentic code, which is digitally signed by HP. With the HP LaserJet Enterprise M507 series printers, companies can also save on ener

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Exora employs digitalization to reduce electricity cost

With investments continuously gushing in from local and international enterprises, the Philippines is certainly moving toward a more robust economic landscape in the coming years. But in spite of today's favorable conditions that ease the experience of conducting business in the country, enterprises are still facing major challenges, one of which is the prohibitive cost of electricity. According to a report presented by Australian think-tank International Energy Consultant, the Philippines has the second most expensive price of electricity in the Asia-Pacific region after Japan, which is primarily due to the absence of subsidy from the government. Turning this challenge into an opportunity, pioneering startup Exora is presenting an end-to-end energy solutions platform that provides electricity through procurement and analytics with an aim to assist businesses in cutting down the cost of electric consumption and increasing savings. Established in partnership with the incubator progra

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Metrobank steps up promise by redefining Meaningful Banking

The Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank) recently launched its Meaningful Banking campaign with an aim to elevate its promise of “You’re in Good Hands” at the Grand Hyatt Manila. Since Metrobank was founded, its reason for being has always been to serve customers extraordinarily well by helping them spot opportunities and working together to realize their dreams, whether to scale up their business or achieve their goals wherever they are in life. “In this day and age, we see a lot of developments as our customers continue to evolve. Thus, to keep our promise of keeping them in good hands, the bank must evolve as well,” says Metrobank President Fabian S. Dee. “Today, we announce the start of the next stage of Metrobank’s transformation journey as we aim to deliver Meaningful Banking for our customers. It is our re-commitment to put customers at the heart of everything we do---to listen and understand them as we strive to move, change, and grow together.” As it begins a new journ

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Taiwan Excellence brings IoT innovations to PH

Taiwan has been the pivot of the global economy of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) since the 1980s, with huge partnerships among IT giants such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft, to name a few. The country has become one of the world’s largest sources of semiconductors, personal computing, mobile devices, broadband appliances and display markets, which have provided for 16% of its GDP. In the uprising of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT), Taiwan has widened its integrity beyond modern manufacturing chain, now as an inventive economy of intellectual property and innovators. This overall competitiveness includes first-rate talent, prolific value chain, and resilient entrepreneurial capability, ready to drive new industries of the future worldwide. Over 95% of Taiwanese companies are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that have adapted ICT applications and domain knowledge in sectors of manufacturing, services, education, healthcare, transpor

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Epson sets eyes on new targets for fiscal year 2019

Maintaining its bullish Philippine market share this 2019, Epson Philippines Corporation (EPC) shared its plans to build on new businesses, minimize dependence on mainstream product segments, and optimize its B2B operations. Last FY18, Epson Philippines posted an overall positive growth of 23%, topping FY17’s outstanding growth of 14%. In terms of product category, inkjet printers and scanners were the highest contributors at 70%, followed by point of sale (POS) and dot matrix printers at 14%, visual instruments at 11%, and commercial and industrial products at five percent. As it enters a new fiscal year, Epson Philippines sets out to penetrate niche markets while enhancing its operations to better address the requirements of the B2B segment. In a series of presentations during its annual media thanksgiving event, Fusion 10, EPC presented its plans under the build initiative and dove deeper with focused presentations on printers and visual instruments. “For Epson to become an indi

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Cebuana Lhuillier to award Happiest Pinoy next month

The Philippines is ranked 69th according to the 2019 World Happiness Report. For the past five years, the country’s ranking has been improving. As a matter of fact, we ranked 92nd in the World Happiness Index in 2013, far lower than the current ranking that we have today.   While the country’s improving ranking in the Happiness Index can be attributed to the growing economy, Cebuana Lhuillier is exploring a deeper meaning of happiness by searching for select Filipinos who have a positive outlook in spite of the many adversities and trials in life, and are able to bring a positive impact on the lives of others. After going through close to 800,000 applications in the last few months, the biggest edition of the Cebuana Lhuillier Search for the Happiest Pinoy has now come down to ten individuals who are already winners in their respective categories. Khaye Celine Maggay (youth), Francisca Tumampil (senior citizens), Fortunato Januto (overseas Filipino workers), Rodrigo Roble Jr. (lingk

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