Smart backs DevCon Summit 2016

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Leader in innovation Smart Communications supported the recent Developer Connect Philippines Summit 2016 at the SMX Convention Center, to help provide relevant information and resources to the growing developer community in the Philippines.

Dubbed as the country’s biggest developer conference, “Dev Future Forward” was participated in by more than 1,500 developers, students, and IT industry leaders.

“We appreciate Smart for supporting initiatives like this. We all know that Smart is at the forefront of innovation. By supporting DevCon, it is basically telling everyone that the industry welcomes up and coming developers to help spur innovation here in the Philippines,” said Mon Ibrahim, Program Director, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). “To all the developers, please continue acquiring knowledge and making meaningful innovations for the country.”

The two-day conference featured talks and panel discussions on The State of the Philippine Programming Talent, Developing Augmented Reality Apps, Best Practice in Software Development, Rediscovering Developer Opportunities in the Philippines, Government Initiatives for the IT Industry, Bridging the Gap Between the Academe and IT Industry, Service Leadership, Developing Apps and Platforms for Emerging Markets, Trends in Mobile and Web, and Philippine Developer/Tech Communities.

“A lot of the tools we have been using are actually created by these developers. This is a venue to open up new opportunities to innovate,” said Paul Pajo, Developer Evangelist of Smart DevNet, during the panel discussion on Rediscovering Developer Opportunities in the Philippines.

Aside from providing venues for innovation, Smart also provides training and equipment to partner educational institutions so that the culture of innovation starts at school. “Through this, we hope to bridge the gap between the industry and academe so that graduates can easily transition to become the country’s future innovators and technopreneurs,” said Steph Orlino, Smart Public Affairs Senior Manager.



During the conference, Voyager Innovations and PayMaya Philippines likewise showcased its growing suite of APIs for developers, including APIs for payments such as PayMaya Checkout and PayMaya vault, the freenet SDK for enterprises for easy whitelisting of apps and mobile website, as well as the Chikka API which allow developers to create and integrate SMS-based platforms and integrating multi-carrier SMS capabilities to their apps.



“I believe our developers as young as they are, can actually be the future in building this nation. Their technical know-how is very much vital in creating the products that can actually change or make a dent in the society, that’s why we at Voyager supports the DevCon,” said Justin Dayrit, Business Unit Head of Communications Technology, Voyager Innovations, the digital innovations arm of PLDT and Smart.



"It was a blast to be here in DevCon Summit for the first time. As students, a lot of what you learn from here motivate you to continue pursuing your course and never stop encoding your dreams. Strive hard even if it's difficult, because nothing is easy," said Alyssa Mae Marcial and Alex Alfred Villanueva, IT students from Cavite State University.



DevCon is a non-profit, non-government organization comprised of volunteer developers and non-developers that organize events and talks to improve the talent of Pinoy IT and create a community where they can interact with other developers.



This communication is intended solely for the use of the addressee and authorized recipients. It may contain confidential or legally privileged information and is subject to the conditions in http://www.smart.com.ph/corporate/disclaimer.

Life Hacks for a Worry-Free Undas 2016

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Whether you’re scheduled to pay your respects to your dearly departed loved-ones or you’re planning to go for that much-awaited and well-deserved long-weekend trip, there are several ways to keep your Undas 2016 experience much safer, more convenient, and worry-free.

Bring out the techie in you to make this happen. For long travels to the beach or your home province, use traffic navigation apps like Waze to check for traffic-free routes. Or keep your chat apps running for quick coordination with family and friends — especially if someone is getting lost!

Stay safe and stress-free this Undas long weekend and enjoy a solemn and/or restful time with family and friends — all you need to do is be Smart about it!

Twitter and Smart PH Launches New Customer Support Features for Businesses

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Twitter is introducing enhanced customer support features to help businesses globally provide even better customer service on the platform. Businesses can now indicate that they provide support, which adds that information to suggestions when people search for a business, mention a business in a Tweet, or find a business in Direct Messages.

Additionally, businesses can display hours of availability on their profile to help set people’s expectations for when they are likely to reply. These businesses’ profiles will also display a more prominent button to start a Direct Message so people know the business offers support privately. SMART Philippines is among the first in Southeast Asia to leverage the new support features for better customer service.

The latest enhancements complement previously announced improvements for customer service, including Direct Message links and Customer Feedback cards to help businesses provide better service on Twitter.

“Our followers used to go through multiple stages just to reach out to us, but Twitter’s Customer Service has allowed us to streamline our process and consequently increase our engagement with our beloved customers. Over the trial period alone, we saw a 32% increase in direct messages, which allow us to handle the concerns of our customers efficiently and get their feedback so we can continuously improve our service,” said Raymund A. Rivadelo, Vice President and Head of Customer Care, SMART Philippines.

#InternetForAll: Cebuanos to Enjoy Future-Ready, World Class Network from Smart

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Residents, tourists and businesses in Cebu are set to enjoy future-ready and world class connectivity as Smart boosts the coverage of its LTE and 3G mobile data services in Metro Cebu. The biggest gain will be in LTE coverage, which will quadruple while 3G coverage will double in the country’s second largest urban center.

This initiative is part of Smart’s major expansion of its mobile internet coverage in Metro Cebu over the next three months as part of its three-year network improvement program that aims to bring high-speed internet service to 95% of the country’s cities and towns.

“The activities we are implementing will greatly improve the reach and quality of our mobile phone and mobile internet services in Metro Cebu which is the central hub for business, education, and tourism in the Visayas region,” said Joachim Horn, chief technology and information advisor at PLDT and Smart.

Even as LTE is the focus of the network improvement program in Metro Cebu, Smart noted that is just a part of a broader effort to improve the overall quality of service available to millions of Smart, TNT, and Sun subscribers in the entire Cebu province.

Horn also noted that in the process of this network expansion and upgrade, there may be bumps along the way that may affect the experience of subscribers in the region.

“As with every major network improvement program, some of the changes we will implement in both hardware and software might result in some service disruption and affect small clusters of subscribers from time to time,” said Ramon Isberto, head of public affairs at PLDT and Smart.

These activities are being done during the most inactive hours of the day, assured Isberto, and Smart is putting systems in place to minimise the impact on subscribers.

“We have a lot of work to do. But everyone in Smart is working twice as hard to make this entire exercise as painless as possible to our customers. We are also actively updating them, so they can prepare accordingly.

In the end, our commitment to all our subscribers is that they will have the best possible experience, particularly for mobile data,” added Isberto.

PLDT Enterprise Rolls Out eLearning Program to Aid Millennials' Studies

Wazzup Pilipinas!

PLDT Enterprise, via their Digital Mobility team, leads innovation in eLearning or digital technology-backed education as it recently launched SMART's new eLearning Program for the academe and training institutions. This consists of a suite of products that leverage the benefits of internet-based technologies in schools.

This erases the perception that many people have of technology such as gadgets as mere distractions to students' studies. The products in this suite are specifically developed to benefit not only students and teachers, but also administrators, parents, among many others.

"Our view is that the devices will serve more as effective study aids, and act less as distractions," said Gio Abaquin, Head of Digital Mobility, Disruptive Business Group (DBG), the emerging technologies business unit of PLDT Enterprise.

"Today’s millennials have learned to accept the role that devices play in their daily lives. It is important to bring in this new technology into the classroom, for both the obvious, physical reasons, such as lighter physical loads versus heavy books and notebooks, as well as for technological benefits," Abaquin explained.

"Mobile learning supports the learning process rather than being integral to it. Mobile learning can also be a useful add-on tool for students with special needs. It can be used as a ‘hook’ to re-engage disaffected youth," Chet Alviz, Head of SMACS (Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud and Security) added.

For the eLearning App, there will be package options such as app-only, app with SIM, as well as tablet bundles.

More than a Learning Management System (LMS), the SMART eLearning program creates an end-to-end Digital Campus Experience. SMART is set to roll out the eLearning program with select schools.

The whole suite offers PLDT iGate, SMART WiFi, SMART M2M SIMs, SMART Prepaid SIMs, customized website with eCommerce capability to help establish online presence, Vehicle and Personnel trackers for the school transport as well as for student use, customized App, including evolved learning solutions such as SMART's eLearning LMS and Microsoft Office 365. All these can be accessed by authorized teachers, admin, and students in and out of the campus.

“We are very pleased to have included in our service portfolio an educational digital tool that not only benefits students, but also the entire school ecosystem. Parents, for example, will be able to gain access to their child’s developmental progress.
​ ​Educators, on the other hand, will be able to freely interact with both students and parents on the more important aspects of today’s learning experience,” added Nico Alcoseba, Head of PLDT’s Disruptive Business Group.

PLDT Enterprise stressed digital technology-backed education is ever more rising and it believes the Philippines has a high potential for growth in eLearning adoption. Ambient Insight, an international market research firm that specializes in eLearning and Mobile Learning, said in a statement that in Asia alone, the market for learning and training programs supported by electronic technology is expected to reach $11.5 billion by 2016, or more than twice the $5.2 billion in 2011.

The two countries with the highest growth rates in the world are Vietnam and Malaysia, respectively at 44.3 percent and 39.4 percent. Also in the top 10 are Romania and China. The Asian region is also known for a high adoption in mobile technology, due to proliferation of low priced mobile devices.

Currently, the Philippines ranks at seventh place in terms of growth rate in e-learning. The country joins Thailand, India,Kenya, Slovakia, and Azerbaijan with growth rates of between 30 percent and 35 percent.

This shows that the Philippines is well on the way towards adapting eLearning for educational institutions – and even in businesses. SMART's goal is to be at the forefront of that digital change, at home, at work, and even in school.