Create Your Globe Coldplay Story on April 4, 2017

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Get an exclusive chance to win tickets and watch Coldplay live in Manila

The Coldplay fandom in Manila is undeniably huge. Tickets to their April 4, 2017 concert at the MOA Concert Grounds, presented by Globe were sold out in a day, but Globe will give all its customers another chance to watch the most-coveted concert of 2017. By registering to any GoSurf promo or subscribing to any Broadband plan, customers can earn raffle entries to win tickets to Coldplay’s “A Head Full of Dreams Tour in Manila”. For Globe Broadband customers, every P5 spent on their bill is equivalent to one raffle entry. Forty tickets are up for grabs as 20 lucky customers will win 2 tickets each.

“We know that music is an integral part in every Filipino’s lives and Globe is here to elevate your music experience by allowing you to enjoy music in a different perspective. With Globe, you can listen to your favorite artists like Coldplay on Spotify, or catch it via live stream from their L.A. concert on YouTube, or even watch them perform live by joining our raffle promo. We want all our customers to get this chance and experience watching their favorite artists here in Manila, or even abroad,” shares Globe Senior Vice President for Consumer Mobile Business, Issa Cabreira.

“This time, by simply registering to any GoSurf promo or subscribing to a Broadband plan, all our customers can get a chance to win tickets to the most-anticipated concert of Coldplay this 2017.” Cabreira added.

Globe takes entertainment to another level. Just recently, Globe awarded two of its loyal customers, Monique Lim and Cristina Santiago, to watch the band perform at the Allianz Stadium in Sydney Australia last December 13, 2016 through Globe’s “Fly-Away Promo.” 

Jr. NBA Philippines Presented by Alaska to Inspire Nationwide Youth Basketball Participation

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Jr. NBA Philippines 2017 presented by Alaska returns this year to the Philippines from Jan. 20-May 14 as part of the league’s effort to encourage youth basketball participation.

Jr. NBA, the league’s global youth basketball participation program for boys and girls, teaches participants the fundamental skills and core values of the game at the grassroots level in an effort to help grow and improve the youth basketball experience for players, coaches and parents. In addition, Jr. NBA Philippines will introduce a court refurbishment initiative that will revitalize a community court through the NBA Cares platform.

The Jr. NBA Philippines 2017 presented by Alaska is free and open to boys and girls ages 10-14 and is comprised of four stages: skills clinics in schools and communities, Regional Selection Camps, a National Training Camp and an NBA experience trip.

The skills clinics will be held nationwide from January through April with stops in Bacolod, Batangas, Cagayan De Oro, Cavite, Cebu, Metro Manila and Subic. The Regional Selection Camps will be held in Cagayan De Oro (Feb. 11-12), Lucena (Feb. 25-26), Cebu (March 11-12) and Metro Manila (April 1-2), with the top 37 boys and 37 girls advancing to the National Training Camp in Manila on May 12-14, which will feature an NBA and WNBA player or legend. The program will culminate with the selection of 16 Jr. NBA All-Stars, comprised of eight boys and eight girls, who will embark on an overseas NBA experience trip with fellow Jr. NBA All-Stars from Southeast Asia.

SAP Introduces Jump-Start Enablement Program for SAP Leonardo IoT Portfolio

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SAP SE announced a jump-start enablement program for its Internet of Things (IoT) innovation portfolio. The program is intended to help customers connect the emerging world of intelligent devices with people and processes to achieve tangible business outcomes. Following through on SAP’s recently announced commitment to invest €2 billion in IoT over five years, the IoT portfolio combines adaptive applications, Big Data applications and connectivity in packaged solutions across line-of-business and industry use cases ranging from connected products, assets and infrastructure to vehicle fleets, markets and people.

Named SAP® Leonardo, SAP’s IoT portfolio takes its name from a figure known for ushering in a groundbreaking era of science and discovery. For more on the SAP Leonardo brand, please see here.

“Moving from things to outcomes is about new business processes such as Industry 4.0, new business models and new ways for people to live and work,” said Dr. Tanja Rueckert, executive vice president, Digital Assets and IoT, SAP. “With SAP Leonardo, we connect ‘things’ with business processes that are instantaneous and proactive, and with people who can manage more effectively with augmented intelligence and autonomous systems. Our SAP Leonardo IoT portfolio delivers on SAP’s commitment to produce superior business value through enterprise IoT innovation.” 

Converge ICT Ties Up with Google, Facebook, Netflix, Akamai

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Converge ICT—a provider of world-class ICT products and services in the Philippines—recently tied up with several web giants in the US and Asia Pacific in a bid to bring a better internet experience to its customers in the country.

In an announcement made by the company, they now have a direct peering with tier-1 sites such as Google, Facebook, Netflix, and as well as with content delivery networks provider, Akamai.

“With these partnerships, our customers now experience seamless web browsing once they visit these sites. It also allows our network to have a better data traffic to achieve lower latencies, essential for diminishing internet lags,” said Emil Baniqued, Head of Network Operations of Converge ICT.

These developments are part of the latest upgrades made by Converge ICT, which focused on improving their customer’s internet experience. The company has amplified the bandwidth capacity of its core infrastructure all the way to the distribution of data.

“We have been doing these efforts in line with our thrust of improving the internet connectivity in the country,” explained Jesus Romero, Chief Operating Officer of Converge ICT. “These upgrades are a big leap for the company since we have quadrupled the bandwidth capacity of our network’s backbone. We are also doing these improvements to ensure that we provide best-in-breed ICT products and services to our clients, especially that we are now extending our capabilities to more communities.”

To date, Converge ICT has already connected its fiber-powered capabilities to communities in NCR as well as in Central Luzon.

To know more about Converge ICT internet packages, please visit their website at http://www.convergeict.com/about.ph.

Ayala SureSeats Partners with Globe Digital Ventures

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Customers can soon enjoy an enhanced cinema experience with the SureSeats website powered by Globe Digital Ventures.

Constant moviegoers now have a more convenient way of planning their movie dates and buying their tickets online as SureSeats seals its recent partnership with Globe Digital Ventures at Raffles Hotel, Makati.

Reinforcing the telco’s ties with its Ayala Corporation family, Globe Digital Ventures signed a contract with Ayala’s Sureseats for Globe Digital Ventures’ acquisition and management of its movie schedule and ticketing website, SureSeats.com. This latest partnership allows patrons to experience a faster and hassle-free process of purchasing movie tickets to Ayala Malls Cinemas with the technology that also powers GMovies.

“At Globe, we continue to strengthen our proposition to offer services that will enhance our customers’ digital lifestyle. Innovations like GMovies alongside our strategic partnerships allow us to achieve our objective and provide services that will upgrade the connected experience,” said Ernest Cu, President & CEO of Globe Telecom.

“We are very excited with the partnership of Ayala Malls Cinemas with Globe. We look forward to a rejuvenated Sureseats.com that will elevate the customer experience of our cinema patrons and bring significant growth in membership,” said Amir Precilla, General Manager of Ayala Malls Cinemas.

SureSeats is a complete online ticketing service for all Ayala Malls Cinemas in the country, allowing customers to reserve and purchase their movie tickets ahead of time. This kind of service lets everyone plan ahead, choose their preferred cinema, date, time, and even their seats. Through the partnership with Globe Digital Ventures, SureSeats users will be able to experience a new level of digital convenience and enjoy a more rewarding user experience.

"Partnering with Sureseats - a pioneer brand in the online convenience space for Ayala malls movie theaters, is a milestone for us as we are certain we can take the Sureseats brand to a whole new digital entertainment experience," said Glenn Estrella, Vice President of Globe Telecom Digital Ventures.

Through this partnership, customers can simply enter the cinema without the need for falling in line nor having tickets printed. For more information, visit www.sureseats.com.

Expanded Maternity Leave Bill to Benefit Dads

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"Ang Expanded Maternity Leave Bill ay hindi lamang para kay nanay, pwede din kay tatay."

This was the statement issued on Tuesday by Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros in response to questions whether the paid paternity leaves of working men can also be increased.

Hontiveros, who chairs both the Senate Committee on Women and Senate Committee on Health, filed Senate Bill 215 otherwise known as "The Expanded Maternity Leave Act" to double women workers' maternity leave from the current 60 days to 120 days, with extra 30 days for solo mothers, for a total of 150 days.


"Daddy quota"

The Senator said that fathers can avail of the benefits of the proposed Expanded Maternity Leave Law. She called this the "Daddy quota" of the proposed measure.

"The idea behind the bill is not only to give expectant mothers ample time to ensure the best possible conditions for a healthy delivery, recovery from childbirth and stronger mother-child bond, it also recognizes the role of fathers, adoptive parents and alternate caregivers, and contribute to a more equal distribution of child care among Filipino families," Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros said that 30 days of the proposed 120-day maternity will be alloted to alternate caregivers (spouse, common-law partner, relative up to the 4th degree of consanguinity). Adoptive parents are also included.

“Parenting is a collective effort, and pregnancy is both a delicate and precious time. Pregnancy and child care is not the responsibility of women alone. Fathers and other alternate caregivers deserve the opportunity to create meaningful memories with their partners as they welcome and nurture their children,” Hontiveros said. 

Mga tatay makikinabang sa Expanded Maternity Leave bill ni Hontiveros

"Ang panukalang batas na Expanded Maternity Leave ay hindi lamang para sa mga nanay, pwede rin ito sa mga tatay."

Ito ang pahayag ngayong Martes ni Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros bilang kasagutan sa mga nagtatanong at nagmumungkahing itaas din ang bilang ng paid paternity leave ng mga nagtatrabahong tatay.

Si Hontiveros, chairperson ng Committee on Women at Senate Committee on Health sa Senado, ay naghain ng Senate Bill 215 o ang "Expanded Maternity Leave Act" para doblehin ang kasalukuyang 60 araw na maternity leave sa 120 araw at karagdagang 30 araw sa mga solo parents, sa suma total ng 150 na araw.


"Daddy quota"

Ayon sa senador hindi lang ang mga kababaihan ang makikinabang sa kanyang Expanded Maternity Leave bill, maging ang mga tatay ay kasama dito. Sabi ni Hontiveros, may "Daddy quota" ang kanyang panukalang batas.

"Ang pangunahing layunin ng panukalang batas na ito ay bigyan ng tamang panahon ang mga nanay na magpagaling matapos manganak at masiguro din na may tamang oras na igugugol para sa mother-child bonding. Bukod sa pagbibigay halaga sa mga nanay, kinikilala rin ng Expanded Maternity Leave Act ang papel ng mga tatay, adoptive parents, at alternatibong tagapag-alaga o caregiver na may parehong responsibilidad para alagaan ang mga bagong silang na bata," ani ni Hontiveros.

Ayon kay Hontiveros, sa kanyang panukalang batas, ang 30 araw sa 120 araw na maternity leave ay pwede ibahagi sa mga miyembro ng pamilya na mag-aalaga ng sanggol (asawa, common-law partner, o kamag-anak hanggang 4th degree of consanguinity). Kasama rin ang mga adoptive parents.

“Ang pagiging magulang ay isang kolektibong pagsisikap. Ang pregnancy at childcare ay hindi lang responsibilidad ng mga kababaihan. Ang mga tatay, adopters at alternatibong tagapag-alaga ay kailangang mabigyan ng oportunidad na magkaroon ng makabuluhang panahon kasama ang kanilang mga partners para masubaybayan at maalagaan ang sanggol," sabi ni Hontiveros.

SEA-US Cable System Secures FCC License Cable is Targeted for Completion in 2Q 2017

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The Southeast Asia – U S (SEA-US) Cable System publicly marked key milestones and closed in on others with the completion of the installation of its state-of-the-art undersea fiber optic cable network by the second quarter of 2017. Last week, the Hermosa Beach, California shore-end was successfully connected. On January 12, 2017, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the SEA-US cable landing license. By the end of January 2017 the construction of California’s cable landing station will be completed. In February 2017 the installation vessel will arrive in Honolulu, Hawaii, after completing its main-lay construction between California and Hawaii.

Essential to the SEA-US Cable System’s reliability is the location and protection of mission-critical equipment on land. The SEA-US consortium members chose CoreSite (NYSE:COR), a premier provider of secure, reliable, high-performance data center and interconnection solutions across the United States, to house the SEA-US Cable System’s submarine line terminating equipment (SLTE) at CoreSite’s purpose built LA2 data center in downtown Los Angeles, California. The SEA-US Cable System’s unique design provides its users with additional protection between the Hermosa Beach, California landing and CoreSite’s LA2 data center over physically diverse dark fiber pairs.

The historic US $250 million SEA-US Cable System is being constructed by NEC Corporation. When completed, the system will deliver an initial design capacity of 20 Terabit per second (Tb/s) capacity, using NEC’s state-of-the-art 100 Gigabit per second (Gb/s) technology. This capacity will help to meet the exponentially growing demand for bandwidth between Asia and North America, while also enabling onward connectivity to existing and planned submarine cable systems.

The SEA-US Cable System investors consist of the following consortium members: Globe Telecom (Manila, Philippines), GTA (Tamuning, Guam), GTI (Los Angeles, California), Hawaiian Telcom (Honolulu, Hawaii), RTI (San Francisco, California), Telin (Jakarta, Indonesia) and Telkom USA (Los Angeles, California). More details can be found below.

The Role of Endpoint Security in Today’s Healthcare IT Environment

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This is the number of opportunities a cybercriminal needs to exploit healthcare network vulnerabilities, steal passwords, install malware, and ultimately work their way through the entire IT ecosystem. Once inside, they could hijack control of medical equipment, gain access to patient data, and much more, ultimately putting patient lives and organizational reputation on the line.

The shift towards deploying and managing a more patient-friendly healthcare environment that includes the myriad of devices being accessed by patients and employees can be very challenging, especially when it comes to endpoint security.

Let’s take a closer look at the role endpoint security plays in today’s healthcare environment, and why it needs to be part of the larger network security puzzle. 

Supporting the Patient-Centric Care Movement

Healthcare providers of all types are now being required to provide platforms that allow for seamless communication and collaboration between key stakeholders. As a result, information that needs to be securely shared and stored is now flowing at an increasingly rapid rate, and in many different directions, creating a need for security solutions that can support these exchanges.

This move towards patient-centric network services has decentralized the monitoring process and resulted in patients, providers, and other stakeholders accessing information that originates from outside the hospital’s physical walls.

The more information accessed and shared outside the hospital setting, the greater the risk of malicious content working its way inside. While some healthcare systems are adjusting to these changes by employing endpoint security and robust security solutions, there are still a number of organizations that have left the doors to their data wide open. Endpoint security is critical to keeping the patient and other stakeholders’ data secure.

Securing Endpoints Related to the Increased BYOD Interest

The growing number of connected devices used by employees in the healthcare sector is leading to more information sharing, but it’s also placing the endpoint at greater risk than ever before. It’s very common to see smartphones, tablets, and laptops being used inside today’s hospitals, and the data that’s being accessed needs to be secured, from the Internet to the endpoint. This data often contains sensitive medical information that’s being shared between healthcare professionals, including medical imaging data, transcriptions, prescriptions, and more, and typically needs to be vetted by a number of different individuals (physicians, employers, claims processors, etc.) to determine protocols and procedures.

This need for a collaborative digital workspace to enable internal and external collaboration makes it critical that endpoint security be taken seriously. Without appropriate endpoint security solutions in place, healthcare systems will not be able to enhance their existing systems and processes without an overabundance of risk.

An Endpoint Blueprint for Success

Solely deploying security end to end is simply not enough in today’s healthcare industry, as it lacks two key components – integration and automation. Endpoint security, today and in the future, needs to be part of a much larger security framework that can work together with other security elements, like threat intelligence.

From inside the network to the cloud, powerful and integrated end-to-end solutions need to protect the attack surface at all points along the kill chain. When different security sensors and tools are able to work together to collect, analyze, and coordinate a response to threats, the entire healthcare environment will be better protected. Security solutions must be ready and able to deal with the sophisticated threats of today in real time.

Let’s get a conversation going on Twitter! What role do you think endpoint security plays in today’s healthcare IT environment and where do you think we are headed in 2017 and beyond?

Written by Susan Biddle, Sr. Director of Healthcare at Fortinet

Hontiveros to Investigate Incident that Led to Woman Giving Birth in Cab

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The Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health vowed on Monday to investigate possible violations to the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law after a woman reportedly gave birth last week inside a taxicab in Quezon City after being refused by two hospitals.

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros said that the incident will be on the agenda at the second hearing of her bill that aims to strengthen Republic Act No. 8344, a law that prohibits hospitals from asking for deposits first before treating patients with emergency needs.

According to the initial field investigation conducted by Hontiveros' office, a certain Aira Arellano was turned away by a public hospital in Caloocan City last January 11 after its staff allegedly assessed that she went into labor prematurely. They said that they had no incubator for the baby.

Arellano proceeded to the next nearest hospital but eventually gave birth inside a taxicab. Rescuers and media on the scene then brought her to a private hospital in Fairview, Quezon City. However, the attending staff allegedly only cut the umbilical cord of the infant and said that Arellano could not afford their fees prompting them to transfer to the East Avenue Medical Center (EAMC). The EAMC staff that admitted Arellano and her infant, however, said that she had a regular childbirth.

Hontiveros said that based on these accounts, it is worth investigating if the hospital in Fairview, Quezon City, violated the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law. The Senator also said that Arellano and her child were twice victimized.

"She was a victim of a private hospital that refused to admit her because she couldn't afford the deposit demanded of her, and a public hospital that lacked facilities. We cannot tolerate hospitals denying mothers and their children health services in their time of urgent need. Where will our people go if they can't get medical help from either public and private hospitals?" Hontiveros said.

Hontiveros said that she will mobilize the resources of her committee to get to the bottom of this matter. She will also coordinate with the Department of Health (DoH) to get an inventory of the facilities at public hospitals and determine legislative and budgetary interventions that can improve health services.

"No life should be unnecessarily put at risk, no person should be denied adequate and quality medical care just because they are poor and our government-run hospitals cannot adequately respond to their emergency medical needs. We have heard this unfortunate story so many times already. It's time we put an end to it," Hontiveros added.

Hontiveros filed Senate Bill No. 216 otherwise known as "The Amendments to the Anti-Hospital Deposit Act" that seek heavier penalties on hospitals that continue to demand any deposit or other form of advance payment, as a prerequisite for admission or medical treatment of an emergency patient.

Phoenix Petroleum Taps Globe Business to Boost Employee Productivity

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Leading independent and fastest-growing oil company in the country Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. (PNX) has tapped Globe Business, the corporate information and communications technology arm of Globe Telecom, for the use of G Suite to maximize business efficiency.

Through the partnership with Globe Business, PNX was able to acquire G Suite licences that allow its employees to work better together via secure and reliable workplace tools for email, calendar, text and video chat, document creation, project websites, and online storage and sync.

“We are a growing company, making it necessary for us to acquire a simple yet powerful office tool that would enable easier communication and collaboration among our different departments. Through the help of Globe Business and G Suite, it is now easier to keep track of our progress and to keep up with numerous projects. I recommend it to anyone who wants to level up their productivity at work,” shared Alfred Reyes, PNX’s AVP for IT.

Since the establishment of its first station in Davao in 2005, PNX has expanded nationwide to build a wide network of retail stations and commercial and industrial clients. Its business covers the trading of refined petroleum products and lubricants to retail and commercial channels, operation of oil depots, storage and transport services. Its integrated logistic services include hauling and into-plane services of Jet-A1 fuels to airports and airlines and refuelling of aircraft in key cities.

Globe Senior Advisor for Enterprise and IT Enabled Services Group, Mike Frausing added: “Globe Business is all about using technology to maximize our clients’ operating efficiency which may translate to increased savings and profitability. Through G Suite, we are able to help PNX to increase productivity, reduce information technology cost by eliminating the need to purchase and maintain servers as well as keep their most important corporate data safe.”

Powered by Google Cloud, G Suite allows users to communicate faster and more conveniently with Gmail. It provides storage for up to 30GB of email per user, advanced spam filtering, lightning-fast message search, integrated text, voice and multi-person video chat.

G Suite users can also arrange meetings and organize schedules with Google Calendar, experience hassle-free file management with Google Drive which can be accessed anytime and anywhere from any device, conduct real-time collaboration with Google Docs and Google Sheets, and make beautiful presentations together with Google Slides.

At the same time, employees can create and share project website and intranet pages without any programming skills or technical support through Google Sites, connect to the right people, ideas, and information with Google+, and manage business critical information with Google Vault retention, archiving, and eDiscovery tool.

To know more about G Suite, contact your Globe Business Account Manager or visit business.globe.com.ph


PHOTO CAPTION: Globe Senior Advisor for Enterprise and IT Enabled Services Group Mike Frausing (left) and Phoenix Petroleum AVP for IT Alfred Reyes (right) display G Suite on their mobile devices.