Fujitsu Philippines to Complement the Cloud Service Needs of Businesses

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Fujitsu Philippines, Inc., a global leader in information technology (IT) systems integrator and solutions provider, continues to expand its roster of cloud services to optimize business operations in the country.

Mark Oliver Pandy, head of Fujitsu Philippines’ managed services business unit, said that the company now offers an array of trusted Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud solutions that deliver high level of flexibility and security suited to address the needs of these businesses.

“We are taking the lead of introducing the benefits of cloud technology in the Philippines,” Pandy added, “And we know that this set of cloud solutions are suited not only for small and medium scale businesses but also for more established ones. These solutions can help them boost operations while cutting tremendous costs.”

Fujitsu IaaS cloud solutions diminish the spending for maintaining physical servers by reducing upfront costs. Companies usually spend large amount of capital for physical servers. As an asset, it can last for over three to five months. But, IT systems can only maintain them for a span of one to six months, which means that the company will have to spend another capital for buying or upgrading it.

By using IaaS cloud solutions, the company could align these costs to actual operating expenses rather than investing for physical servers or leasing co-location facilities, which both need a number of servers and administrators.

3 Startups Awarded on Impact Hub Fellowship on Sustainable Energy Solutions with PEF, WWF and ADB

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Three startups were awarded at the Impact Hub Manila / KMC MAG Solutions offices located at the 19th floor of Uptown Place Tower 2 in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) this morning of October 18, 2016, as the winners of the Impact Hub Fellowship on Sustainable Energy Solutions with World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) and Peace and Equity Fund (PEF), supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Incubation Program.

The winners were Cleverheat, HiGi, and Solar Sari-Sari Store.

CleverHeat aims to reduce the world's carbon footprint of the world by developing thermally-driven and energy efficient products. They create alternative refrigeration/air-conditioning system that is driven by heat from the sun. You can get to know more about them at their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/cleverheat.io and at the video we took during the awarding ceremonies which will be uploaded at our YouTube channel at http://www.YouTube.com/user/wazzuppilipinas

HiGi has a mission to bring energy closer to people’s heart by creating more accessible clean energy to BoP & establishing credible channels for economy flow across the social pyramid. They convert water hyacinth (abundant pest plants) into cooking energy centralized by the compensation business model. As of starting point, Philippines has more than 100 million people and 65% still cooking with firewood and charcoal, targeted market currently is over 35 million across Luzon, and Mindanao, in the first year of operation. You can also get to know more about HiGi at their official web site http://www.cleverheat.io/ and at our video on our YouTube channel.

Solar Sari-Sari Store empowers communities and individuals through renewable energy. They focus on delivering products and services that deliver great value and produce highly positive social impacts for all their customers through a profitable, sustainable, and innovative social enterprise. They also provide research and development services and technical advice on the design and deployment of renewable energy products. As a Filipino company, they take pride in utilizing local talents and resources in delivering world-class solar energy consulting, research, design, and deployment in the country. Learn more about them at their official site: http://www.solarsolutions.ph/

All three startups will each receive Php 800,000 worth of prizes of which Php 500,000 is a cash prize.

In the cohort phase of Impact Hub's second Fellowship, the best experts in their fields mentored 8 teams where they trained these disruptive energy entrepreneurs for 8 weeks and 10 sessions. The eight teams faced each other in a final pitching session on October 6, 2016.

The startups were also invited to pitch at another event, Bootstrap Manila, an innovation event to be held on October 22, 2016 at Axon of Green Sun Hotel located in Makati, where the fellows will pitch infront of a international delegation coming from Berlin, Bangalore and Jakarta.

The government of Berlin, together with GIZ has initiated a program that seeks to bring together the start-up ecosystems of Berlin, Manila, Bangalore, and Jakarta. The Manila leg of the initiative is being organised by Impact Hub Manila and Launchgarage.

Formed and organized in Berlin during this year’s Asia-Pacific Week last May, its vision is to provide cross-city exposure, collaboration, knowledge sharing, and market immersion. A road show in these Asian cities is being organized where every city hosts the international delegation.

Below is the official press release of the event:

 

Impact Hub Manila, one of the country’s leading innovation labs and startup incubator and accelerator, joins the energy conversation with its second fellowship program focusing on Sustainable Energy Solutions. In partnership with the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), Peace and Equity Foundation (PEF), and supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Impact Hub looks for the best and most innovative ideas and business enterprises designed to address the need for sustainable energy solutions in the country today.

”Impact Hub’s fellowship program is unique in the startup incubator space as we are topic-centered. When we started this program last year, we focused on innovations in mobility and logistics in partnership with LBC Express, which SkyEye Inc won. This year, we are looking for more highly-scalable and impact-oriented disruptive ideas geared towards finding sustainable ways of producing and consuming energy,” LizAn Kuster, one of Impact Hub’s co-founder states.

CLEVERHEAT, HIGI, AND SOLAR SARI-SARI STORE PROCLAIMED WINNERS

After receiving over fifty applications, the fellowship announced on a high note the three startups getting the unanimous nod of the selection jury during the awarding ceremony held on October 18, 2016. These are Cleverheat, a solar-powered refrigeration system; HiGi, makers of environment-friendly briquettes for cooking; and Solar Sari-Sari Store, portable solar energy stations for lighting, water purification, mobile phone charging, and refrigeration. These 3 Fellows will now enter the incubation phase, where they receive prizes valued at PHP800,000 each team.

”Another uniqueness is that we do not take shares, to really support the start-ups,” Kuster says.

Coy Navarro, Cleantech Expert and ADB consultant stated, “We are excited to partner on the endeavor of harnessing awareness in the cleantech sector and promoting sustainable energy solutions that will benefit the country. We are delighted about the quality of the startups.”

All the partners are aligned and Roberto R. Calingo, Executive Director of PEF says, “PEF is always on the lookout to finding ways and means to really give the underserved communities access to solutions. We believe it is in encouraging entrepreneurship that we can maximize our impact.”

Representatives from the program’s partners compose the board of judges who chose the winners, namely: Jose Angelito Palma, President and CEO of WWF-Philippines; Dr. Ria Adoracion Lambino, VP for Sustainable Production and Market Engagement of WWF-Philippines; Ferdinand “Ding” Fuellos, Senior Portfolio Officer at PEF; Coy Navarro, Cleantech Venture Capital Expert (Consultant) of Asian Development Bank; Michael McCullough, Managing Director of KMC MAG Group; Jaime Ayala, Founder and CEO of Hybrid Social Solar; and Mathias Jaeggi, Impact Hub Manila Co-Founder.

“Energy is a pressing issue not just in the Philippines, but globally. Especially after the historic Paris agreement, there is more knowledge and growing interest about climate change and clean technology. And WWF is honored to be taking an active part in the discussion together with esteemed institutions like PEF, Impact Hub and ADB,” Ria Lambino from WWF states.

BOOT CAMP AND INCUBATION STAGE

Prior to the announcement of winners, eight finalists went through an intensive 2-month accelerator program called Kick. Kick is the ultimate startup boot camp intended to develop business models and other necessary key entrepreneurial competencies and skills. It culminated in a final pitch day on October 6, 2016.

Only the winning enterprises move on to the next and final phase of the program – the incubator stage, as part of their fellowship prize. Apart from a substantial seed funding of PHP500,000.00 each, Cleverheat, HiGi, and Solar Sari-Sari Store also get access to the collaborative co-working community of Impact Hub, facilitated introductions and connections to like-minded peers, investors, and experts on energy and entrepreneurship, and continuous training, mentoring, and coaching over the course of six months, all in the hopes of making their individual enterprises successfully thrive and impact the industry.

BOOTSTRAP MANILA - INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION EVENT, October 22, 2016

Besides of incubation support they will be also exposed to a greater audience, to inspire more entrepreneurs. The first exposure will happen this October 22, 2016 in Green Sun, Makati at Bootstrap Manila, where they will be pitching in front of the international audience.

Bootstrap is an initiative of the City Senate of Berlin and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) revolving around the startup ecosystems of Berlin, Bangalore, Manila, and Jakarta. 30+ delegates from each ecosystem visits on the StartHubs Asia Berlin Roadtrip each other's cities to immerse themselves in the network, share their best practices and experiences, and establish relationships that will mutually benefit their respective startup cities. Manila is represented by Impact Hub Manila and Launchgarage Slot are available here: http://bootstrapmanila.com. 

Globe Seeks Support of Vice Governors in Building Telco Infrastructure

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Globe Telecom is seeking the support of the League of Vice Governors of the Philippines in building telco infrastructure in the country in line with its vision of ushering the country to become a digital nation by 2020.

Specifically, Globe is looking to rationalize the permitting process to mitigate bureaucratic red tape and other political hurdles that stand in the way of deploying telecommunication infrastructure such as cell sites and fiber optic cables. If implemented, this would enable the company to improve data connectivity at lower rates.

Emphasizing that data connectivity is a key driver of economic growth in the Philippines, Globe President & CEO Ernest Cu emphasized that a collaboration with the government in developing key telecommunications infrastructure would enhance digital capabilities of the country, enabling local industries and communities to access services and improve productivity. He pointed out that existing telecommunication infrastructure in a given locality, or the lack of it, is oftentimes a direct result of the LGU permitting environment. Securing different permits at LGU level could be very challenging, from the sheer number of permits to the different political personalities that mobile operators have to deal with, said Cu, adding that it takes at least 8 months to complete the permitting process, involving around 25 permits. “We would like to reiterate our call for a closer collaboration with the government as we set out in building a telco infrastructure that would provide world-class data connectivity even in areas outside our major cities,” said Cu.

Early this year, Globe launched a plan to create an internet superhighway nationwide. The plan aims to deploy fiber optics in 20,000 barangays by 2020 to provide ultra-fast internet access to around 2 million homes nationwide. Globe plans to deploy fiber optics in 1,000 sites before the end the year. So far, deployment of fiber optics has been completed in about 300 sites. One of the most important advances in broadband technology, fiber optics offer the fastest way to access data, providing consumers with higher download and uploads speeds, lower latency and faster internet browsing,

Globe is also maximizing the use of additional frequency assets obtained from the sellout of San Miguel’s telco assets. This is in line with its commitment to the National Telecommunications Commission to deploy about 4,500 multiband, multimode software defined radio base station equipment to 95% of total municipalities and cities in the country, for the improvement of overall customer experience in terms of the speed and reliability of mobile internet services.

To date, Globe has completed the deployment of LTE 700 in 200 sites, mostly within Metro Manila, and LTE 2600 in 900 sites, mostly within Visayas and Mindanao. According to Cu, the sites where the LTE 700 and LTE 2600 have been deployed cover major business districts, and highly-urbanized and populated areas in the country. Cu further disclosed that Globe also expanded its GoWiFi network to 500 sites that include Ayala Malls, fast food chains, bus terminals, convenience stores and other public places. He added that Globe is working on widening its WiFi coverage and plans to deploy GoWiFi services in close to 1,000 sites across the country. This will provide WiFi coverage not only for Metro Manila but also for Davao, Cebu, Bulacan, Cavite, Cagayan Valley, Cagayan de Oro, Nueva Vizcaya, Dumaguete, Zamboanga, and Boracay.