Digital Pilipinas Convenor and GeiserMaclang Co-founder Amor Maclang, Tangere CEO and Founder Martin Penaflor, and the media partners and co-convenors of Digital Pilipinas recently gathered for an exclusive kick-off program as a prelude to the second Digital Pilipinas Festival and the inaugural Festival of Festivals this November 20 to 24, 2023 at SMX Aura and in various co-located venues and innovation hubs across the country.
As a precursor to the second installment of the Digital Pilipinas Festival and the inaugural Festival of Festivals, an exclusive kick-off program took place today together with the media partners and co-convenors of Digital Pilipinas, the largest private sector-led movement for creating an innovation and technology ecosystem and is the pioneering ecosystem-builder in ASEAN that is actively engaged and synergized in a global digital economy.
Amor Maclang, Convenor of Digital Pilipinas and Co-founder of GeiserMaclang, emphasized, “We’re not just fintech and so for the first time, we are rolling out and inaugurating a couple of equally important festivals that will stand side by side with the Philippine Fintech Festival in championing the Philippine digital economy.”
The Festival of Festivals, a weeklong celebration of multiple festivals highlighting key industries and priority growth sectors that will support innovation and growth in the country, is happening within the Digital Pilipinas Festival on November 20 to 24, 2023 at SMX Aura and in various co-located venues and innovation hubs across the country.
One of the standout events during the Festival of Festivals is the Sustainability and Climate Festival, which Digital Pilipinas will be launching together with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Transnational Diversified Group. Maclang stressed, “How can we ignore the fact that climate is an imperative that has to be permeated across various industries? Please help us as we embed climate and sustainability across 12 other industries. Please do help us because there is no planet B and there’s no plan B.”
Recognizing the importance of the Muslim community, another highlight during the Festival of Festivals is the first Philippine Halal Economy Festival organized by Digital Pilipinas together with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Halal Task Force and the Embassy of Malaysia.
In collaboration with DTI, Digital Pilipinas will also launch the Creative Digital and Esports Economy Festival. Maclang said, “Even though esports players and content creators have a lot of money, they don’t have a digital banking identity, insurance, or health services. We hope to change that in a Digital Pilipinas.”
The other inaugural festivals this year include the Philippine Investment Festival, Philippine Proptech Festival, Philippine Insurtech Festival, Philippine Digital SME Festival, Philippine Digital Government Festival, and the Philippine CyberSecurity & TrusTech Festival.
Part of the kick-off program today was the press launch of The Voice of Digital Pilipinas – Digital Bayanihan Awards, a collaborative undertaking between Digital Pilipinas and Tangere which aims to recognize tech-native and mainstream industry brands and individuals that champion digital economies and innovation within their respective fields.
Martin Penaflor, CEO and Founder of Tangere, shared, “In partnership with Digital Pilipinas, we’ve been conducting what we call the Tangere Voice of the Filipino. We’re now in our 5th survey. The first survey was about cybersecurity. In our survey result, the most trusted outlet for online applications would be government-made applications. That came from the survey that we did in two days. Because of that fast turnaround time, we are now able to conduct surveys almost every other week which we will be sharing with partners and co-convenors of Digital Pilipinas.”
The Voice of Digital Pilipinas – Digital Bayanihan Awards seeks to identify sentiments on nascent tech as well as recognize and celebrate the outstanding achievements of industry leaders, companies, brands, and individuals who have made significant contributions to the digital and innovation landscape as champions of the Digital Economies in the Philippines, backed by real-time data, sentiments, and insights from the Filipino people.
With 15 categories to choose from, the Voice of Digital Pilipinas – Digital Bayanihan Awards gives voters the opportunity to influence and celebrate excellence in various industries. Each category represents a significant facet of the digital landscape, showcasing innovation and expertise within these areas. The categories are: Innovative Company of the Year, Innovative Government Agency of the Year, Innovative LGU of the Year, Young Tech Entrepreneur of the Year, Local Agritech Company of the Year, Local Digital SME of the Year, Local Ecommerce Company of the Year, Local Fintech Company of the Year, Local Health Tech Company of the Year, Local Innovative Tech Company of the Year, Local Tech Startup of the Year, Local Urban Mobility Company of the Year, Innovative Academic Program of the Year, Tech Media Award of the Year, and OFW Service of the Year.
Voting for The Voice of Digital Pilipinas – Digital Bayanihan Awards is a straightforward process. The first step includes scanning the QR Code or visiting the website, and the second step entails filling out the survey form with votes by typing in the names of the organizations or individuals in each award category. Voting closes on November 12, 2023. The grand reveal of the winners will take place during the Digital Pilipinas Festival 2.
This signing ceremony and launch of the Voice of Digital Pilipinas – Digital Bayanihan Awards is one of the events leading up to the Digital Pilipinas Festival 2. Happening immediately after the Singapore Fintech Festival and coinciding with the Philippine Startup Week, the Digital Pilipinas Festival 2 is anticipated to be the biggest gathering of industry leaders and country delegations.
To learn more about the role of technology and innovation in shaping a more sustainable future, join the Digital Pilipinas Festival in November. To register, please visit https://digitalpilipinas.ph