Here's your guide to sizzling summer with SMDC

Enjoy this dish plus more in SM. 

THIS summer, it’s all about keeping things easy, fun, and close to home, and SMDC Malls & Retail Strips makes it all possible.

Whether you’re craving refreshing drinks, looking for your next foodie find, or planning a wellness reset, everything you need for a maxed-out experience is right within your community.

From laid-back café moments to energizing fitness sessions and crave-worthy bites, SMDC continues bringing moments to life at the mall, giving you more reasons to gather your barkada, spend time with family, and truly Gala To The Max all season long.

Cool sips and refreshing discoveries

Nothing says summer like a refreshing drink in hand.

Sip on the Tiger Pattern Brown Sugar Milk Tea or Thank You Milk Tea made with freshly brewed Taiwanese tea at Tea Melody (The Strip at Shell, Pasay).

Refresh your day with the bold Da Hong Pao Milk Tea or fragrant Bo-Ya Jasmine Green Milk Tea at Chagee (NU MOA, Pasay).

Enjoy a Thai twist with the indulgent Biscoff Cheese Salt Milk Tea or the classic Cha Yen at Cha Tuk Chak (The Strip at Shore, Pasay).

Cravings, comfort food, and café finds

Food trips hit different when they’re this accessible, and SMDC’s lineup delivers on every craving.

Enjoy nostalgic Cheese Rolls, indulgent Chocolate Chip Cookies, and a comforting cup of Spanish Latte at Masaderia (The Strip at Grass, Quezon City).

Dig into the savory Pow Chow packed with bold wok-fired flavors cooked fresh over live fire at Federation Fried Rice (Fame Mall, Mandaluyong).

Cool down with a refreshing Boracay Sea Salt Latte or Matcha Latte while enjoying laid-back catch-ups at Season Coffee (Light Mall, Mandaluyong).

Global flavors right around the corner

Take your taste buds on a flavorful trip with global favorites just around the corner.

Crunch into the crowd-favorite Snow Cheese Chicken or enjoy comforting bites of Signature Tteokbokki at Kokodak (The Strip at Shore, Pasay).

Warm up with the Ultimate Malatang Soup or savor the rich flavors of Braised Beef Noodles at Golden Noodle (The Strip at Shore, Pasay).

Bite into juicy boneless chicken coated in flavorful Snow Cheese or Yangnyeom sauce at BOK (The Strip at Mezza, Quezon City).

Move, recharge, and feel good

Start your summer on a high note by prioritizing your wellness.

Stretch, strengthen, and recharge with Group Reformer Pilates Classes designed for both beginners and seasoned fitness enthusiasts at Espace Pilates (Jazz Mall, Makati).

Unwind with a 90-minute Swedish and Shiatsu massage with hot rolling stones, then cap off your self-care session with a signature Spanish Latte at June and July Spa (Jazz Mall, Makati).

Refresh your glow with the popular Glass Skin Treatment for hydrated, smooth, and radiant skin this summer at iSkin (Air Mall, Makati).

Your summer, made complete

With a vibrant mix of dining, wellness, and lifestyle destinations, SMDC Malls & Strips proves that you don’t have to go far to enjoy a complete summer experience.

Whether you're exploring new favorites, reconnecting with loved ones, or simply taking a well-deserved break, everything you need is just steps away.

So gather your crew, plan your next hangout, and discover what’s waiting for you—because at SMDC, every day is a chance to Gala To The Max and enjoy a truly maxed-out experience.

Visit your nearest SMDC Mall or Strip today and see how they continue bringing moments to life at the mall.

Here's how Uratex stays on as 'gold standard' in foams

Uratex receives its Trusted Brand Award from Reader's Digest. Contributed photo

FOR 17 straight years, Uratex stomped its class as the Philippines' number one foam manufacturer as cited by popular magazine Reader's Digest in its Trusted Brand Awards list.

Already in the industry since 1968, Uratex's recent feat cemented its legacy as the go-to brand for high-quality pillows and mattresses.

"We really take care of our quality. We invest in the most advanced machines, and the most important thing is that we really control the quality. If we don't pass our standard, the product will not go out," William Lee, Uratex's executive vice president, told Stu Traveled over the weekend during the celebration of the company's latest citation from Reader's Digest at the Ronac Living Gallery in Mandaluyong.

The special Saturday began when selected members of the media visited one of Uratex's 39 manufacturing plants in Plaridel, where officials showed how the pillows and mattresses are made.

The Uratex Plaridel plant also takes pride in using purely renewable energy as its source of operations.

"Only standard products will go out, so every batch we have in production, we test the quality," added Lee.

He also said that Uratex is taking notes from how German and Japanese foam manufacturers make the beddings.

"Madalas, ang sinasabi ko, 'How come the Germans and Japanese get better quality than us?' So we adopt the system, we learn from them, and we put them up here in the Philippines," Lee further said.

The adoption of German and Japanese technologies is just part of what Lee coined as the "continuous improvement" Uratex is doing, which makes them the "GOAT" in foam manufacturing.

"There is no ending in learning and improvement," Lee further said, adding that some of the top Uratex officials attend various foam manufacturing events to check out some of the new innovations in making the pillows.

He also said that he wants to see continuous improvement going on by the next in line to running the Uratex business.

Something better coming up

Lee then revealed that Uratex has begun constructing its 40th manufacturing plant in Leganes, Iloilo, another testament to how the company grew from a simple office in Pasay into what it is now.

"Of course, it's hard work, challenging, and accepting improvements. Yun ang importante. We don't just stay here. We're happy today because tomorrow will be better. We always look for better," Lee added.

One example of "looking for better" is how they turned to renewable sources in powering some of their plants, including the one in Plaridel.

"If you stay here and you are not improving, that's your end, so it should be improving every year. A new technology is coming up," Lee further said.

He added that Uratex plans to have all its 39 running plants operated by renewable energy, especially solar energy, by 2030.

Huawei welcomes UST scholars

HUAWEI Philippines organized a virtual event to warmly welcome its first batch of scholars from the University of Santo Tomas (UST), the oldest existing university in Asia.

Thomasian students Hermil Gerard Calasang, Jia Anette Phi, Kryzha Lei Aguilar, Maricar Auditor and Matthew Gabriel Rabanes joined the Huawei family as scholars with a bright future ahead of them.

In her speech, Dean Jerralyn Padua of the UST College of Information and Computing Sciences shared how the pandemic has affected all families in terms of their financial capabilities to support the education of their children. "This opportunity given by the Huawei team is really very helpful for them to be able to continue their education despite the current situation in the country."

Dr. Angelo Dela Cruz, Dean of College of Engineering, considered the scholarship program as "very timely" given the financial difficulties faced by many students amid the pandemic. "Actually, I have just received at least 20 promissory notes last week during our enrollment. We hope the scholarship program will be the beginning of many more activities and programs between Huawei and UST that will ultimately benefit our students."

Prof. Cheryl Peralta, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, said the program is "a great blessing and a beacon of hope in this very challenging time."

"We believe that effective and productive collaborations help enrich the experience of students and university staff and allow them to do their best in the Now Normal, not only to survive but to thrive in the new opportunities brought about by the rapidly changing world of technology."

Meanwhile, Asst. Prof. Maria Cecilia Tio Cuison, Director of the Office of Student Affairs, expressed her gratitude to Huawei for the opportunity to help Thomasian students realize their dreams. "We owe it to you as a solid partner in the educative mission. You have widened our doors for far-reaching opportunities that pave the way for us to fulfill our envisioned goals, especially to sustain our strong linkage with the industry to expand educational opportunities," Tio Cuison added.

For his part, Huawei Philippines Human Resources Director Peter Zhang congratulated the five scholars, saying they are bound for great things and that they play a key role in helping the society through ICT. Zhang also thanked UST for the partnership: "We look forward to having a continuous cooperation with UST in the coming years and supporting more deserving students as well as the talent ecosystem for the ICT industry."

The scholars are in their fourth and final year in their respective programs. With their passion for technology, they hope to continue their education despite hardships, with the goal of starting a career in the ICT industry soon and being one of those who drive innovation in the country.

At present, Huawei Philippines has 19 scholars from local universities. As a company that values education and talents, Huawei Philippines has been partnering with local universities and colleges to support Filipino students in various ways and help them achieve their aspirations. Huawei advocates for Education4All by providing educational institutions with digital skills workshops and scholarships, among other initiatives.

Master growth hacking, and you might win cash

IT seems almost every day we get bombarded with ads clamoring for us to download the hottest new app that will change our lives.

Need something to track your sleep, or something that can convert images to text? There’s an app for that! How about the note-taking app that’s somehow better than all the others on the market? There are quite a few of that, too! But which app should we get?

How can budding apps compete with already established titans in a market where recognition is everything?

Enter: Growth hacking.

It’s growing, growing, growing

But what exactly is growth hacking?

To put it simply, growth hacking is a strategy where creative tactics are employed in any part of the product development process and consumer journey to focus on growth. For startups and app creators, it’s certainly a viable alternative to reach a larger audience in a shorter period of time at a lower cost compared to traditional marketing.

Shane Shan, director of APAC Huawei Consumer Cloud Service, explains that “creativity at growth” means that developers must have a broader view of the entire process and they should pay close attention to every step in the product and user journey.

Perhaps the most important point of growth hacking, though, is its collaborative nature. It takes the efforts of everyone—from marketers, engineers, developers, to even the end-user—to optimize every step in the process and achieve growth quickly and effectively.

Applying their knowledge

Who better to peel away the curtain than the judges at AppsUP 2021: Huawei HMS App Innovative Contest? They will help budding app developers better understand the mobile app industry.

Nowadays, it’s not enough to just have a useful and creative app. It is also necessary to understand your potential user base by figuring out what they want. And delivering on that promise is an essential part of your app’s development stage.

“To grow your product, especially a video game, good community management is key,” shared Adam Ardisasmita, chief executive officer of Arsanesia.

He recommends having a platform like a Discord server, where users can actively give feedback and suggestions to improve the app.

Having actual user data to support whatever features you change or add to your product is important in ensuring your app’s continued success.

Jojo Flores, co-founder of Plug and Play Tech Center, asserts that app developers should be flexible when it comes to feedback.

I’ve got an app, now what?

Involving creative decisions even in the early stages of development can be a great boon.

Frequent testing from an early stage can prevent last-minute changes later in the timeline that could end up quite costly for both time and budget.

Gwen Guo, chairperson of Singapore Games Association (SGGA), advises new app developers to first study their target market well and then create their marketing plan based on that. Next is to “form relationships with the launch platforms, understand what features these platforms have to boost visibility, whether it’s a featured page, new apps list, or seasonal collections.”

These lists can really help boost their app to a larger audience. Figuring out how they work and using them to their advantage is what makes a user click the download button.

But the types of users are also important. “User engagement is important to sustain the business for an app. Sometimes, a high per-user engagement is better than having more users, which really doesn’t increase value. For example, it’s better to have one million paying users than having 10 million non-paying users,” Flores adds. That’s why over time, apps have updates that encourage increased app usage.

Guo also recommends taking the time to build a community around your app, “Building a nurturing community that not just helps drum up hype for the app but also follows up with responsive support for customers, helping with customer retention and eventually ratings.”

Hack it out with AppsUP 2021

Another common growth hacking strategy is forging partnerships.

“Establishing channel partnerships is one key step in making this (growth) happen, and a partnership with such platforms as the Huawei AppGallery becomes vital to product success,” Flores said.

Since its launch in 2018, the AppGallery now has over 550 million active users globally. And though it’s relatively new to the market, it’s much easier for apps to be noticed in a less saturated platform.

Huawei Mobile Services (HMS) is constantly introducing new features such as AI, AR and analytics in their open capabilities—HMS Core kits to help developers create better user experiences.

“Understanding these tools and their capabilities will be useful for production planning—developers can either create new apps that push the potential of these features or use these features to enhance what they already have in current apps,” Guo said.

HMS’ launch of AppsUP 2021 is a perfect opportunity for developers to take advantage of the HMS Core kits and earn a path to the third-largest mobile ecosystem.

AppsUP 2021 is open to all mobile app developers and app owners, whether they be students, professionals, or startups. Developers must be based in the APAC region and the submitted apps must be developed or integrated with at least one HMS Core kit and published to AppGallery to be eligible.

Don’t miss this opportunity to launch your app to millions of screens across the globe and win from the $200,000 APAC prize pool.

For inquiries, visit AppsUP 2021’s official website at http://bit.ly/appsupapacpc.

Huawei donates PHP10M to PLDT Smart Foundation

CHINESE tech giant Huawei has donated $200,000, or about P10.11 million, to PLDT Smart Foundation (PSF) to help fund the corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs of PLDT Inc. and Smart Communications Inc.

The CSR initiatives for funding to be determined by both PSF and Huawei will include disaster response, rehabilitation and recovery, promotion and enhancement of education in the country, environmental conservation, and the use of technology in health services.

“I would like to thank Huawei for the $200,000 donation to PSF, which will go a long way in supporting our CSR programs like education, disaster relief, environment, telehealth, and many more,” PSF chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan said.

PLDT and Smart have been longtime partners with Huawei.

PSF and Huawei’s partnership started years ago when Chinese tech giant donated disaster relief equipment, such as tents, rechargeable lights, and other tools, for PSF’s disaster response program.

It has also contributed 13 sets of school-in-a-bag with Huawei laptops for Smart’s education program, and the recent telehealth equipment for Makati Medical Center and Cardinal Santos hospitals.

Huawei vice president Daniel Guo said the company intends to contribute more to the country through its support to the programs and initiatives of PSF.

Huawei is a leading global provider of ICT infrastructure and smart devices.

It operates in over 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.

“The initiatives were chosen to align with the program sectors of PSF, as well as to highlight the technology solutions of Huawei. These programs are also aligned with Huawei’s overall CSR strategy,” PSF president Ma. Esther Santos said.

“Moving forward, PSF projects will try to inject technology solutions enabled by technology companies Huawei and PLDT-Smart. This is also aligned with PSF’s vision-mission of a connected, empowered, progressive Philippines,” she said.

PSF, which serves as the social outreach arm of PLDT and Smart, has created programs focused on education, livelihood and social enterprise, disaster response and recovery, youth, arts, and sports development.

Huawei names PH among new startup hubs, to invest US$100M for support

A highlight from the Huawei Cloud Spark Founders Summit

SINGAPORE AND HONG KONG--Huawei announced its plan to invest US$100 million in startup support at the inaugural Huawei Cloud Spark Founders Summit, which took place simultaneously in Singapore and Hong Kong. Huawei said the investment would go towards its Spark Program in Asia Pacific region including the Philippines, which aims to build a sustainable startup ecosystem over the next three years. 

Huawei has been helping Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Thailand build their startup hubs. At the summit, Huawei also announced the Philippines, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, as four additional startup hubs – in with the overarching aim of recruiting a total of 1,000 startups into the Spark accelerator program and shaping 100 of them into scale-ups.

Huawei also launched its Cloud-plus-Cloud Collaboration and Joint Innovation Program, to further ramp up its support for startups around the world. Huawei will devote ongoing efforts and leverage its complete business portfolio in the cloud-plus-cloud collaboration space to foster technological innovation, global and local services, and business ecosystems, accelerating the growth of startups.

Three additional initiatives under the Asia Pacific Spark Program were launched: The Spark Developer Program, which aims to nurture a developer ecosystem powered by Huawei Cloud in the Asia Pacific region; the Spark Pit Stop Program, designed to onboard and support startups on Huawei Cloud to accelerate product development; and the Spark Innovation Program (SIP), focused on facilitating enterprise innovation through the Spark startup ecosystem.

Huawei Senior Vice President and Board Member Catherine Chen opened the summit by emphasizing how important startups are to social advancement and what Huawei is doing to support startups: "Startups and SMEs are the innovators, disruptors, and pioneers of our times. 34 years ago, Huawei was a startup with just 5,000 dollars of registered capital. Recently, we have been thinking: How can we leverage our experience and resources to help more startups address their challenges? Doing so would allow them to seize the opportunities posed by digital transformation, achieve business success, and develop more innovative products and solutions for the world."

Zhang Ping'an, CEO of Huawei's Cloud Business Unit, noted, "Since its launch in 2017, Huawei Cloud has been the world's fastest-growing cloud, and has driven the growth of countless startups. Last year, we launched the Spark Program in Asia Pacific. Through this program, we are working with local governments, leading incubators, well-known VC firms, and top universities to build support platforms for startups in many regions. Now 40 startups are participating in our program."

Zhang continued, "Starting today, we are stepping up our support for startups through four new initiatives, aimed at cloud-plus-cloud collaboration, continuous tech innovation, global and local services, and high-quality business ecosystems. Today, we launched our Cloud-plus-Cloud Collaboration and Joint Innovation Program, through which we will support startups with US$40 million worth of resources. Half of that investment is coming from Huawei Cloud, half from Huawei Mobile Services (HMS). In 2021, our plan is to support 200 startups in the HMS ecosystem, and share our network of channel resources with developers worldwide who together serve 1 billion Huawei device users. In addition, we will open an HMS Developer Innovation Center to support 100,000 HMS cloud-native developers."

Also present was Dr. Lim Jui, CEO of SGInnovate, who said, "The true impact of the Deep Tech Economy is realized when we're able to come together to catalyze new opportunities. Working alongside partners like Huawei enables us to accomplish our mission of supporting promising talent and emerging tech startups in Singapore."

More and more startups are pursuing end-to-end digitalization as they move towards a fully connected, intelligent world. Huawei Cloud infrastructure works in conjunction with Huawei Mobile Services to support startups from all industries. Huawei's cloud offerings help developers and partners to unify accounts, development platforms, and app distribution and operation. HMS is now the world's third largest mobile app ecosystem, and is helping many startups expand their global influence. Currently, 4.5 million developers from over 170 countries and regions rely on HMS.

Huawei recognizes startups as key partners. At the Huawei Cloud Spark Founders Summit, Huawei unveiled the latest data on its innovation research programs with startups. The data shows solid relationships between Huawei and more than 2,000 partners from across the Asia Pacific region, with ongoing initiatives to build support platforms in close partnerships with governments, top VC firms.

Huawei rounded off the series of announcements with a plan to build an HMS Developer Innovation Center. Through this center, Huawei aims to cultivate future talent in cooperation with 210 leading universities across the Asia Pacific region.

Jeffery Liu, President for Asia Pacific Region of Huawei, added that, "For the past two decades, we have remained committed to being 'In Asia Pacific, For Asia Pacific'. Leveraging Huawei's global customer base and full-stack technologies, the Spark Program will invest more than US$100 million over the next three years, and provide comprehensive support to the establishment of a sustainable startup ecosystem that creates new value for this dynamic region."

This summit was attended by representatives from many prominent Asian startups, academia, various industries and governments, and the media, as well as more than 50 regional top venture capitalists and over 300 startup founders. Speeches and panels at the event focused on the social value of this startup ecosystem and how startups can promote technological and ecosystem innovation, to contribute to local communities and drive socioeconomic development.

Huawei sets up digital economy intro webinar

PARTICIPANTS in the webinar entitled “Accelerate Digital Economy for Inclusive Integration in Asia Pacific – Connecting Digital Industries in Pandemic” called for leveraging digital opportunities to build an inclusive ecosystem and promoting regional integration, which is particularly important while still combating the pandemic.

A digital economy is increasingly perceived as the way to overcome disruptions caused by COVID-19. Representatives and thought leaders from governmental, industrial and academic sectors across Asia Pacific joined a virtual conversation organized by Huawei to explore the multiple facets of digital economy, from a market, technology, inclusiveness and sustainability perspective.  

Based on digital knowledge and infrastructure, the digital economy has powered a growing proportion of regional GDP and boosted resilience amid the pandemic. ASEAN predicts the digital economy will contribute 1 trillion US dollars to regional GDP by year 2025. 

Countries from the region have released future-oriented roadmaps on removing trade barriers, improving digital coverage and ensuring ubiquitous access to digital services to facilitate the implementation of the digital economy. 

Being part of the ecosystem, Huawei is committed to enabling ASEAN’s Digital Master Plan 2025 in three key areas, namely ICT connectivity, talent empowerment and ecosystem incubation, according to Jay Chen, Vice President at Huawei Asia Pacific. The digital economy unfolding in the region addresses inclusive access to digital service, a landscape facilitating startup scale-up, and a circular, sustainable economy.

Dr. Alvin P. Ang from Ateneo de Manila University agreed with the openly accessible approach on up-skilling public with digital knowledge. “The education system must put in context at the foundational elements of digitalization. Whether it’s in the basic education level or in the middle ages or those who are working already, trying to learn and upgrade themselves. We have to invest in them and give our rural areas an opportunity to catch up by at least providing them with the basic skills to get through the technology highway,” he said.

Huawei has long recognized the critical importance of providing everyone digital skills and leave no one behind as economies digitalize. Over the years, Huawei has launched multiple programs to train over 100,000 people with ICT empowerment in the region in cooperation with governments, universities, and NGOs. In the Philippines, during the past 4 years, more than 50 Philippine universities joined Huawei ICT Academy, over 6000 students benefited from the ICT training offered by Huawei.

Conveying the business perspective, Professor Jose Decolongon, COO & Managing Director of Corporate Foresight, Embiggen Consulting Philippines said “Micro, small, medium enterprises need to have understanding on digitalization to perceive the opportunities when it comes to exploring the digital side of the business. Challenges are faced by these enterprises but also the large organizations. It's related to coverage and speed of digital infrastructure. This is where telecom players such as Huawei and our local players can play an important role.”

For a sustainable digital economic ecosystem, new technologies such as 5G, Internet of Things and Cloud provide great promise in terms of enhancing de-carbonization and the circular economy. In the Philippines, Huawei has increased investment in sustainable green solutions, leveraging clean power generation, electric transportation, and smart energy storage. 

 “The next five years could see the ASEAN region make giant strides towards becoming a digital society, and the transformation will enable member states to recover faster from the pandemic. Huawei, together with ASEAN partners, is committed to enabling the ASEAN Digital Master Plan 2025 and create new value for the leading digital community and economic bloc,” said Jay.

UE, UV, CIT-U headline new Huawei Academy partners

UE is one of the schools that have become a partner of the Huawei ICT Academy.

HUAWEI Philippines continues to develop, build and strengthen the local ICT talent ecosystem as it welcomes 15 new partner universities and colleges to Huawei ICT Academy. 

In a virtual on-boarding ceremony, Huawei ICT Academy introduced its new partner schools from different parts of the Philippines. In Luzon, the Academy on-boarded the University of the East, STI College Alabang, Southville International School and Colleges, Colegio de Muntinlupa, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Muntinlupa, Southern Luzon Technological College Foundation, Angeles University Foundation and the University of the Assumption.

The Academy also reached the Visayas region with partnerships with the University of the Visayas, Marinduque State College from Luzon and Cebu Institute of Technology University. Further, Huawei brought its ICT Academy initiative to Mindanao through collaborations with Xavier-Ateneo de Cagayan University, Holy Cross of Davao College and Jose Maria College.

In his speech during the ceremony, Mr. Ken Bijianjun, Director for Channel Department of Huawei Philippines Enterprise Business Group, warmly welcomed Huawei's partner schools for the ICT Academy. He said that Huawei ICT Academy is a corporate social responsibility program that deals with opportunities and challenges in the ICT industry. It provides high-quality resources and certification courses in AI, big data, cloud computing, storage, 5G, security and so on for the benefit of both teachers and students. "Huawei cultivates talents for the ICT industry in the whole world. We also hope to build a strong and meaningful talent ecosystem in the Philippines for Filipinos," he added. 

Huawei ICT Academy was launched in the Philippines in 2018, with the University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP) as one of its pioneering partner universities. Dr. Randy S. Gamboa, Dean of USeP's College of Information and Computing, recalled 

USeP's journey with Huawei ICT Academy since joining in 2018. 

"From the designing of the memorandum of understanding to the hosting of the national ICT competition, Huawei and our university have been working together to advance the use of information and computing technologies in education. Sharing this information, generating opportunities and improving the ICT talent ecosystem are our important goals," Dr. Gamboa said. He noted that seven USeP faculty members obtained Huawei Certified Network Associate certification, and three of them are now Huawei Certified Academy Instructor.

Huawei helping BDO's online banking platform

Huawei has been a vital part of BDO's online banking platforms.

THE average person in the Philippines spends more time on the Internet than any other country in the world. Filipinos are online over 11 hours each day, compared to a global average of just six hours.

Indeed, with a total population of more than 100 million, 71 percent of Filipinos are active Internet users, creating the perfect environment to develop the country’s digital economy through Financial Technology (FinTech).

Despite being the most active online, more than 50 million Filipinos—over half the population—do not use any form of online banking.

According to an official government report published in 2019, only 8 percent of Filipino adults have an active online account.

This, combined with the 97 percent of Filipinos who still trade in cash, has created increased risks during the global pandemic when in-person interactions are limited.

In recent years, Huawei has been collaborating closely with the largest bank in the Philippines, Banco De Oro Unibank (BDO), to realize the bank's strategic ambition: to continue improving business efficiency and customer services through digital transformation, in order to bring inclusive finance to more Filipinos.

In April 2021, BDO rolled out BDO Pay, a mobile wallet and contactless payment solution that provides users with convenient and instant access to digital banking services.

On the path toward inclusive digital banking, BDO is actively embracing technological innovation to upgrade its legacy infrastructure, improve its competitive edge, and develop more innovative services across the entire business.

BDO's digital banking expansion is powered by Huawei's OceanStor Dorado All-Flash Storage Solution, which implements a reliable, secure, and future-proofed data-sharing platform that is virtual and in the cloud.

The Huawei Data Management Engine (DME) and OceanStor Dorado Storage make up the foundation of the solution, intelligently safeguarding the data of the bank’s growing customer assets and transaction history.

Overcoming the limitations of a legacy system

BDO’s refresh of its IT infrastructure was largely driven by the increasing capacity requirements that arose as the business grew.

The legacy system was limited in its capacity to fully process and make use of the data resources that could create new value; therefore an upgrade was required.

In addition, the bank was experiencing the effects of siloed IT suites, resulting in storage utilization of less than 40 percent and much lower throughout.

To remove this obstacle, Huawei OceanStor Dorado provides a high Solid-State Drive (SSD) configuration ratio with SmartTier, enabling a 1.3 GB/s bandwidth and significantly improving the performance of the data-sharing platform.

Moreover, OceanStor Dorado features HyperReplication and a Storage Area Network (SAN) + Network-Attached Storage (NAS) unified storage system to meet BDO’s file-sharing and backup requirements.

This helps achieve an active-passive system to protect all business data, from images and voice notes to scanned documents and more.

Huawei OceanStor Dorado also supports flexible service expansion, slashes service rollout times, and accelerates data monetization in storage resource pools. In fact, during a Proof of Concept (PoC) performance test for BDO, the entire backup service time was slashed from two days to just six hours.

In addition to performance requirements, Operations and Maintenance (O&M) was also in need of an upgrade, as the legacy infrastructure lacked an automation orchestration platform.

Over-reliance on manual O&M also made system fault diagnosis complex—not to mention inaccurate—resulting in the maintenance department being flooded with complaints.

Digitizing O&M improved diagnosis, accuracy, and problem-solving efficiency, as well as bringing down related management costs.

Now, using Huawei’s DME, BDO’s storage utilization has been boosted from 40 percent to 70 percent, and the intelligent fault diagnosis capability of the system has seen efficiency soar to 90%.

The DME also manages data resource pools, which are created and configured based on service levels to manage hot, warm, and cold data by layer, using algorithms to automatically convert hot data into warm or even cold data.

Such nonessential data is then stored on lower-cost media to reduce resource waste and improve service efficiency.

Put simply, Huawei DME effectively ensures the full lifecycle management of the storage system, with backup and recovery solutions available to unleash the full value of data.

“During the proof of concept test, I was impressed with the high performance and reliability of Huawei's product. We trust Huawei for its service-centric value, fast response to our demands, and its commitment to continuing to innovate future technologies for the Financial Services Industry. This is why we hope to build long-term cooperation with Huawei,” said Dennis Tangonan, the infrastructure operation head of BDO.

BDO's recent IT infrastructure upgrade and refresh of the Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) is another step in the bank’s digital transformation journey.

Meeting the constantly changing demands for capacity and services is at the heart of BDO’s business operations as industries enter the intelligent era.

BDO will continue to innovate its storage system in order to provide the best products and services for its customers.

Alongside BDO, Huawei will continue to support the bank on its digital transformation journey by providing leading-edge services and technology so BDO can maintain its position as the largest bank in the Philippines.

Davao school partners with Huawei to kick off 5th industrial revo

The Jose Maria College in Davao City will begin the fifth industrial revolution for the Philippines.

DAVAO CITY–To keep up with the latest innovations that technology can offer to today’s education, Jose Maria College (JMC) sealed a partnership with telecommunications giant Huawei last July 6 in an agreement to pursue the fifth industrial revolution of educational technology.

Through this partnership, students will soon be able to access the most modern educational tools such as state-of-the-art Learning Management Systems (LMS), Virtual Laboratories, Virtual Reality, Smart Campus, etc.

According to Ken Sentorias, the JMC Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) director, the opportunities are limitless because both JMC and Huawei are on the same page of commitment and that is to deliver the latest educational technology.

It can be noted that the Philippines is among the countries that is still in the third industrial revolution of educational technology. Students from developed countries such as Japan, China, and the United States are currently the only ones experiencing the fifth industrial revolution.

However, JMC believes that this partnership will bring the institution a step closer to realizing its goal of delivery quality education through the use of technology. “We are planning the best for the students. And next year, we are going to announce something really great,” Sentorias quoted.

STI named 'Partner of the Year' by Huawei

STI College at present has the highest number of students passing the Huawei certifications.

TRUE to its word of creating "New Value Together, Win Together," Huawei Philippines has recently recognized the significant contributions and exemplary performance of its industry and academic partners, conferring the ICT Talent Partner of the Year 2020 award to STI College, which has the highest number of students passing the Huawei certifications offered by Huawei ICT Academy.

Cultivating Filipino ICT talents at the early stage

As a tech-driven educational institution with a large network of schools in the Philippines, STI College understands the difficulties faced by students who are pursuing ICT-related courses.

Despite the increased adoption and use of digital technologies in the country, digitalization efforts in the education sector remain impacted by the broadband penetration and access to advanced technologies.

Students often fall short of meeting the industry's talent requirements, struggling to acquire up-to-date knowledge and credentials, such as virtual training and certification.

STI College took on the challenge by nurturing students to become job-ready, future-ready, and life-ready.

To achieve this, STI introduced its Enrollment to Employment System, wherein students get applicable education, job market skills, job preparedness, and job placement assistance. 

The first step is the Learning Systems Development, which ensures that the curriculum content is up-to-date and job market-oriented.

To complement this, STI implements the Academic Delivery System to guarantee that highly-qualified and certified faculty members, and state-of-the-art facilities of campuses are at par with the standardized courseware and curriculum.

STI integrates in-demand ICT technologies into its courseware materials to prepare students for their dream careers. 

The third step, Student Certification, assures that students are prepared for employment through rigid assessment, evaluation, and certificate programs.

Before the students leave the security of their four-walled classrooms, they are given the opportunity to undergo on-the-job training with  STI's reputable partner companies.

Connecting students with future employers

With its partnership with Huawei ICT Academy, STI College delivers Huawei ICT technologies training, encourages students to get Huawei certifications, and develops talents with practical skills for the ICT industry and the community.

Huawei helps STI College integrate in-demand ICT technologies into its programs to better prepare the students for future certifications.

The Academy offers more than 100 certification exams and 22 technical fields to pave clear the career development paths for STI students.

STI College has so far produced 299 students certified in five technology domains: cloud computing, Big Data, artificial intelligence, routing and switching, and storage.

Huawei ensures that its courses match the needs of the ICT industry in general and its partner enterprises in particular to guarantee employment for students.

An industry certification validates the skills and readiness of the students to join the ICT workforce.

Every certification is valid for three years, and the students' names appear on Huawei's online database as Huawei Certified ICT Associates (HCIA).

This improves students' competitiveness in the job market as well as schools' employment rate.

Regine Gila Cabeltes, a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering graduate of STI College, realized the benefits of being Huawei-certified soon after she finished her course.

"Being a Huawei Certified ICT Associate made it easier for me to land the job I aspired. The technologies covered in the HCIA courses are prevalent in the company where I work. When I was answering the technical questions during my job interview, it was like answering a certification exam," Cabeltes shared.

Prof. Beronika Peña, STI College's ICT and Engineering Courseware Development Head, is one of the teachers at Huawei ICT Academy. Peña received an Excellent Instructor with a Level A Award from the Academy in 2020.

"We are grateful to be an ICT Academy. Huawei has provided us the means to promote ICT talent development to our teachers and students. Through this partnership, we look forward to producing more competent and industry-ready graduates," she said.

Contributing to the development of the ICT industry

Establishing one's career in today's competitive industries has become a challenging pursuit to most job seekers.

Employers, too, are increasingly having difficulty finding the right person for the job. Too often, there remains a huge gap between the skills required by the industry and what a graduate has to offer.

Given the current state of ICT talent development in the Philippines, Huawei ICT Academy and STI College have committed to equipping Filipino students with the needed knowledge and skills to prepare them for their future career in the ICT industry.

In the long term, the partnership aims to bridge the gap in talent supply and demand toward the sustainable development of the Philippine ICT industry said Mr. Todd Liu, President of Enterprise Business Group, Huawei Philippines.

Huawei relaunches CSR project with US$150M investment

Huawei's Chairman Liang Hua speaks at the Tech & Sustainability: Everyone's Included forum.

HUAWEI on Thursday announced its Seeds for the Future Program 2.0, through which Huawei plans to invest US$150 million in digital talent development over the next five years. This program is expected to benefit more than 3 million additional people.

Huawei held a "Tech & Sustainability: Everyone's Included" forum, co-hosted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Representatives from Huawei, IUCN, the World Economic Forum, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI), and Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) participated to discuss the role of technology in driving sustainability and building a more inclusive, eco-friendly world.

Promoting equal access to education and talent development

According to a 2020 report by UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), about 2.2 billion people aged 25 years or younger still lack internet connections at home.

"Digital skills and literacy are not just the foundation for the digital economy; they are also a basic human right defined by the United Nations," said Huawei's Chairman Liang Hua at the forum. "Today we are announcing Huawei's Seeds for the Future Program 2.0. As part of our commitment to continuously developing talent, we will invest US$150 million in this program over the next five years and help college students and young people improve their digital skills. This program is expected to benefit more than 3 million additional people."

Huawei is committed to helping develop digital talent in the countries where it operates. In 2008, Huawei began to roll out talent development programs, through scholarships, technology competitions, and digital skills training, and has invested more than US$150 million in these programs. Huawei has since benefited more than 1.54 million people from over 150 countries.

The Seeds for the Future program is designed to inspire local talents and encourage seeds for the society to tackle digital challenges. The program has benefited more than 100 students in the Philippines. 

As an echo for the forum, Huawei Asia Pacific held the APAC Media Virtual Roundtable with laser focus on addressing digital inclusion and sustainable development of this region. Jay Chen, Vice President of Huawei Asia Pacific, announced Huawei’s plan to cultivate more than 40,000 ICT talent in the next five years through multiple programs including Seeds for the Future in the region.

“In the digital economy, digital talent is playing an increasingly important role in driving digital transformation and economic growth. The access to education is vital for creating opportunities that support sustainable and fair development. Due to the pandemic, we are moving the program online and opening it up to more outstanding students than ever before,” said Jay Chen.

In Asia Pacific, Huawei has been a firm enabler for building an inclusive talent ecosystem.Amid the pandemic, collaborations with top universities are accelerating. Till now, Huawei has built collaborations with around 200 universities in countries across Asia Pacific and over 40 universities in the Philippines.

Addressing environmental challenges and enabling green development

Climate change and environmental issues are becoming global challenges. Though carbon emissions declined over the past year due to the economic slowdown and worldwide lockdowns, emissions are rapidly rebounding as economies reopen. Shifting to a circular economy and achieving sustainable development is now a common goal for all countries.

"Green and sustainable development has become a top priority for global economies," said Liang. "Huawei has been leveraging its extensive experience in power electronics and energy storage as well as technical expertise in 5G, cloud, and AI, to develop its digital power business and provide digital power solutions for different industries. As of December 2020, Huawei's digital power products and solutions have generated 325 billion kWh of electricity from renewable sources, and saved a total of 10 billion kWh of electricity. These efforts have resulted in a reduction of 160 million tons in CO2 emissions."

In Singapore, for example, Huawei FusionSolar Solution has supported Sunseap Group, a solar energy solutions provider, to build the world's largest offshore floating Photovoltaic (PV) farms. With 13,312 solar panels, 40 inverters, and more than 30,000 floats, this five-hectare sea-based solar plant is estimated to produce up to 6,022,500 kWh of energy per year, supplying enough power for 1250 four-room public housing flats on the island and offsetting an estimated 4258 tons of carbon dioxide, according to Bruce Li, Managing Director of the Huawei Asia-Pacific Enterprise Digital Power Business.

 “By working together, countries can mutually support one another to meet their sustainability commitments. There are many areas where digital technology can support this, such as in enabling a transparent and verifiable carbon market. Singapore’s public and private sectors have expressed interest in working with its neighbors on climate action,” said Associate Professor Simon Tay, Chairman of SIIA at the forum.

How can you survive this lockdown? Here are 3 ways

IF you're like any other Filipino, the constant change from enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to modified ECQ to general community quarantine and now back to MECQ must have you on edge.

Do I still have a job? Do I still have work? How's my company? Will I be retrenched, laid off, or fired?

For some Filipinos who have had this happen, the one solution that they seem to have come up with is putting up their own business.

For some, it's all about baking and cooking. For others, it's buy and sell. Whatever choice you make, what is obvious is that online is the best way to go to survive the never-ending quarantine.

Here are some tips to help your online business succeed.

Marry your passion with skill

It's not enough that you feel passionate about something, it also matters that you learn the skills needed to market and sell your passion.

Passion is the most important thing because this is what will help you when the going gets tough and you're facing one challenge after another.

Passion will keep you going when its gets too tough to keep going.

Skills, on the other hand, will be the tools that you can use to slowly fix one problem after the other.

Fail to plan and you plan to fail

When doing business, it's no longer about you relying on a company. You don't get to just time in and time out.

Now, you are the boss, the employee, the accounting, human resources officer, and even the janitorial services.

This means that you need to plan how things will be including your daily schedule, pick up, and attending to customer feedback.

When you fail to plan things, the outcome could be one disaster after another.  

Find a partner you can trust

Project Commerce is composed of a group of people who know what it's like to fail, who knows how it is to overcome failure, and who knows what it takes to succeed.

They say that a smart person learns from their mistakes but a wise person learns from the mistake of others.

Project Commerce can help you go from shopping to shipping. They can help you build the online store of your dreams and they will guide you every step of the way.

At the end of the day, the one thing that matters most is you and your love ones are safe and sound. For other things, let Project Commerce help keep you on track, in business, and on the way to success.

You can contact Project Commerce in the details given below.

A trip to ALA Skin Care

RIGHT at the outskirts of Welcome Rotonda is Wellness City, a fitness gym and a beauty clinic that is strategically located right at the boundary of the cities of Manila and Quezon.

The beauty clinic goes by the name ALA Skin Care. ALA is named after the initials of its founder, dermatologist Alberto L. Adrales.

What makes the skin clinic unique, however, is that it has treatment specially made for men, and that was something I tried when I paid a visit there.

Because I had to attend a soccer coverage that time, I failed to meet Adrales in person, but the staff present still provided me with the facial treatment.

First, the usual things being done in a facial, like sprinkling your face with warm water and the removal of the pimples.

But what makes this facial unique, however, is the inclusion of a mask machine that aims to revitalize your face.

No! I'm not trying to cosplay Jason Voorhees for Halloween.

Unlike the other facial treatment that I've been, my face became clearer here at ALA.

Aside from the basic facial, ALA also offers specialized facials like the oxygen-revitalizing facial, the cryptofusion diamond peel and facial, and platinum peel and facial.

ALA also offers a fat-burning treatment called the multi-shape radiofrequency and thermal blanket.

ALA even offers fitness-oriented life coaching. After all, ALA's mission is "to provide complete healing of the body, mind, and soul."

ALA Skin Care--and the entire Wellness City area--is located at 4 E. Rodriguez Sr. Ave., Quezon City, just beside KFC. For inquiries, call (02)2561940 or 09178446060 or go to its Facebook page (Wellness City) and its Twitter page: @wellnesscityph.

Acer offers Christmas gifts for laptop buyers

GO chic and stylish this holiday season as global tech titan Acer unleashes its latest holiday promo for people who love to go swift and in style and go beyond trends.

Acer offers cool freebies every time you buy your favorite Acer laptop, 2-in-1, All-in-One, or projector until Dec. 31.

For the stylish set, imagine having the best laptop around and wearing a good-looking watch at that while inside your favorite coffee shop and you’ll surely grab attention. The smart Acer Liquid Leap Active Smartwatch is just for you, not just to keep you abreast of time but also as an attractive personal digital companion. Its 1-inch OLED (128 x 32) touchscreen display is a joy to look at, and is perfectly compatible with Android 4.4 systems and above, iOS 7 and iOS 8 and Windows 8.1. It is IPX4 waterproof certified and a full charge can last you 5-7 days. Just buy any Acer laptop with i3 processors or Acer 2-in-1 devices and this nifty gadget worth PHP850 is yours for free.

The Tomiko DigiBox is a cool addition to your home entertainment system and when watching your favorite TV shows and movies in superb digital format. And pairing this with an Acer projector or desktop makes it a truly excellent multimedia combination. The Tomiko DigiBox supports 1080P high-definition video, comes with a Multimedia Playback function (MPEG 1/2/3/4, MKV, MOV, JPEG, GIF, BMP, PNG) and multiple OSD language, with Auto and Manual Search Functions and powerful program edit capabilities. Best of all, you can get this home entertainment buddy worth PHP1,200 absolutely free when you buy Acer projectors or Acer All-in-One desktops with i3, i5 or i7 processors inside.

For those who want uninterrupted power and not lose their productivity at work and/or at play, just buy Acer desktops with i3, i5 or i7 processors or Acer Veriton desktops with i3 and i5 processors and get the Emerson UPS worth PHP1,400 for free. The Emerson UPS guarantees constant and non-stop power during outages for your desktop with high reliability, protection from power surges and overloads and best of all, the Emerson UPS comes in a compact and lightweight form factor. From hereon, no more worries about losing important work in your Acer desktop just because the electricity went out.

Or if you want a cool, light and groovy bag to carry your laptop around safely and securely, just buy qualified Acer laptops (Celeron and Pentium-powered) and you can get the Acer laptop bag worth PHP300 for free. You’ll get peace of mind knowing that your precious Acer laptop is with you all the time inside your green-and-black Acer laptop bag that you can carry anywhere.

To get the Acer Liquid Leap Active Smartwatch, Emerson UPS, Tomiko DigiBox, or Acer laptop bag, simply buy the qualified Acer products from any Acer participating stores and fill out all necessary information in the Promo Claim Form. Present this together with the Official Receipt, cut-out of Box Serial Number, plus two (2) valid IDs at any authorized Acer redemption area.

When claiming via email, simply submit a clear scanned copy of the Promo Claim Form, Original Receipt, Cut-out of Box Serial Number and two (2) valid ID cards to aphi.promos@acer.com. Follow up on your claim via email through (02) 815-3388 local 100.

Other authorized Acer redemption areas are the Acer Service Center along 1651 Paz Guanzon Street, Paco, Manila, Acer Service Center along F. Cabahug corner Almendras Streets in Mabolo, Cebu City, and Acer Service Center at the ground floor of Ateneo de Davao University, 8016 Roxas Avenue, Davao City.

Acer recognized anew by Dow Jones

ACER'S commitment to sustainability has been recognized once again with its listing on two global sustainability indices, the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and MSCI’s Global Sustainability Indexes.

This is the third time Acer has been listed on DJSI’s Emerging Markets Index, and it performed especially well in the areas of Supply Chain Management, Climate Change, and Corporate Citizenship & Philanthropy.

Acer also made it onto MSCI’s Global Sustainability Indexes again, and improved its rating to “AA” in the Technology Hardware, Storage & Peripherals category. MSCI made particular mention of Acer’s strengths in supply chain management, in addition to demonstrating strong initiatives in improving supply chain labor standards and conflict mineral sourcing transparency.

DJSI World is the gold standard for corporate sustainability indices and the first global index to track leading sustainability-driven companies. MSCI ESG is a leading ESG (Environmental, Social and corporate Governance) rating and analysis firm that serves the global investment community, covering more than 5,000 publicly traded companies worldwide.

Cyberzone opens in SM San Pablo

TO conveniently serve the techies without having to shop from afar, SM is set to reach out to more southern communities as it brings the Cyberzone to SM San Pablo on Friday.

Fulfilling its promise that "Everything's here at SM" and to stay at the forefront of the rapid industry evolution, the new Cyberzone will open at the second floor of SM City San Pablo, combining leading and established IT brands, dealers, and tech-related service providers, including the emerging IT trade players.

High-end gadgets like computers, smartphones, cameras, and gaming consoles will be made available in the new SM San Pablo Cyberzone.

SM San Pablo is located along Maharlika Highway in the said city.

Why you should save thresher sharks

DESPITE classifying a certain animal as an endangered specie, illegal trades continue to be rampant, further harming the said specie.

The thresher shark is one of them.

Because of their fins, fishing for thresher sharks has been very frequent in most parts of the planet.

One of the only places where the said sharks are considered "sacred" is the Monad Shoal in Cebu, where the residents of the nearby Malapascua Island have been continuously doing efforts in conserving them, eventually turning the spot into a diving haven.

However, that's just one side of the story.

The road to bringing back thresher sharks to life is long, but a new proposal will help in further saving the sharks.

The said proposal will regulate the fishing for the thresher sharks, and WE want you to support it.

I have been an advocate of saving the endangered species, and I believe the yes vote to this proposal, which will be presented at the Conference of Parties next week, is beneficial for our Cebuano friends.

Why? Aside from environmental factors, the Monad Shoal is responsible for 80 percent of the Malapascua Island residents' source of income, and for a group of people who have quickly moved on from the wrath of Typhoon Yolanda in 2013, your yes vote will further motivate them in conserving the sharks.

Meanwhile, a no vote could mean opening the doors of Malapascua to unsustainable thresher shark fishing, further sending the sharks close to extinction.

We should send a strong message to the Philippine delegation to the COP that we want thresher shark fishing regulated.

For now, here are some tips to help save the sharks.

Join me as we bat for further saving the thresher sharks. Make your yes votes count here.

Acer S7 laptop launched

ACER officially launched its new laptop, the Aspire S7, through a grand event at the SM Megamall Mega Fashion Hall in Mandaluyong on Saturday night.

Motivational speaker Francis Kong, beauty queen Megan Young, and singers Thor and Jonalyn Viray graced the said launch

The new S7 laptop weighs only 1.125 kilograms and has a 9.98mm ultra-thin factor, making it the world's thinnest laptop right now.

It is also built with the seventh generation Intel Core I5-7Y54 processor and the Windows 10 OS, making it still as effective as the other laptops.

Gamers need not fret about going for the S7 laptop as it is also compatible for DOTA 2 and LOL.

The new Acer Aspire S7 laptop is available for the suggested retail price of PHP64,999.

Change the way you see happiness

WHEN I started this travel and lifestyle blog, all I do is to post my happy moments inside theme parks, hotels, vacation places, and various events.

But when I activate my alter ego (my sportswriter self, that is), it's all sports in my news site.

However, there are times that my photographers want to take a day off, and I am in my lonesome and being forced to take photos... using my phone!

So, with all the photos I took on my mobile device, the photo below is the most memorable one.

This is a photo of one of the scheduled games during the 2015 UFL All-Star Saturday. One hundred kids from the UFL Youth League took on 11 players from the seniors. It was a cute moment to see the next generation soccer stars playing with their heroes. Everyone went home with smiles.

It may not be as beautiful as you think (my phone is kinda low-end), but it's simply memorable, and it changed the way I see happiness.

The 100 vs. 11 picture changed the way I see mobile photography, just like the Huawei P9.

Its camera is co-engineered with Leica. It has dual lenses that produces high quality photos and allow users to take amazing monochrome, slo-mo, colored, light painting photos among others.

So get ready for a revolution in mobile photography with Huawei P9.