The Feb. 2, 2021 gathering aimed to enable stakeholders across the
Philippine government and broader public sector to accelerate digital
transformation on a national scale. These support the Philippine government’s
ambitions to reignite economic growth in 2021 and beyond and return the
Philippines to the ranks of high growth developing economies.
"We confront the same challenges in 2021 that we did 2020,” said
Microsoft Philippines Country General Manager Andres Ortola. “Management of the
COVID-19 public health crisis will drive daily agendas for months to come.
Meanwhile, as access to vaccines becomes more prevalent, the transition to
economic recovery will be the top concern for governments across the world,
including the Philippines. We at Microsoft seek to serve partners across the
Philippines’ public sector guided by three core principles: Reset, Rebound
& Recover.”
“We envision Asenso Pilipinas to be a catalyst event,” added Ortola. “By
working closely with leading private and public organizations across the
Philippines we know we can jointly and successfully drive innovations and power
purpose-driven digital transformation whenever and wherever it is needed.”
Upskilling public sector
professionals for better governance
The gathering enabled different departments
and sectors from across the Philippine government to accelerate efforts at
reigniting economic growth in 2021 and beyond by achieving digital
transformation on a national scale. The summit highlighted innovative solutions
available to reinvent, reimagine and transform the framework and processes in
the public sector.
The event featured four
learning tracks focused on a) People: how to close skills gaps and enhance
productivity and employability; b) Process: how to stimulate digital
transformation across the board; c) Data: building stronger coalitions for
responsible digital innovation; and d) Technology: leveraging technological
advances to create societal impact sustainably.
An esteemed roster of
national leaders from both public and private sectors joined the sessions.
Department of Education
(DEPED) Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones, delivered a keynote speech focused
on digital transformation and how education in the Philippines will look in the
post-Covid 19 environment.
Department of
Information & Communications Technology (DICT) Undersecretary for Legal
Affairs, Policy, Planning & Finance, Jose Arturo de Castro participated as
well, discussing plans to upskill
government employees with digital skills, in partnership with Microsoft.
In addition, the learning tracks featured Supreme Court of the
Philippines Court Administrator, Justice Jose Midas Marquez, Department of
Environment & Natural Resources (DENR) Undersecretary Analiza R. Teh, and
Asian Development Bank (ADB) Director for Digital Innovation and Architecture,
Ozzeir Khan.
Preparing students with
digital knowledge and skills
Meanwhile, thousands of students from across the
Philippines’ 7,600-plus islands attended a parallel student track, gaining
valuable, inspiring insights, and learning how to access the right tools,
experiences, and learning opportunities to build the digital skills necessary
to fuel the future.
The student track featured
three skilling sessions aimed to empower students in job-seeking and
professional networking, digital tools, and resources to strengthen job
readiness and essential skills and competencies needed in real-world settings,
led by DITO CME Chief Operating Officer Donald Lim; LinkedIn Channel
Partnerships Lead Chi Ming Loh; Grab Philippines Country Marketing Head RJ
Cabaluna; Western Digital Country HR Director Gil Paolo de Guzman and PJ Lanot
of Pino Group of Concepts.
How a Culture of
Innovation Can Build Resilience and Accelerate Digital Transformation
The study surveyed 213
business decision makers and 231 workers in the Philippines within a 6-month
period, before and since the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The
Philippines study comprised part of a broad survey of 3,312 leading business
decision makers and 3,495 workers across 15 markets across Asia Pacific.
Since the COVID-19
pandemic began, 56% of organizations in the Philippines—like leaders across
Asia Pacific (64%)—have found innovation to be easier. The study also indicated
that 88% of business decision-makers in the Philippines remarked that
innovation is now a "must" for them to quickly respond to market
challenges and opportunities and ensure business resilience.
‘Microsoft Para sa Bayan’:
Empowering and enabling better government through technology
The summit forms a core service offering from
Microsoft Philippines’ “Para sa Bayan” initiative. “Para sa Bayan” is a
nationwide, holistic series of programs, technology interventions, and skilling
efforts to empower stakeholders across the Philippine government, public and
private sectors.
Four core strategies
drive the Para sa Bayan program: stimulate digital transformation; build
coalitions for responsible innovation; close the skills gap to enhance
employability; and create societal impact sustainability. The program was built
to support and empower the different national digital initiatives of the
government and strengthen the Philippines as a digital nation--ready to meet
the challenges and capitalize upon the opportunities that will become available
for post Covid-19 pandemic governance.
"Through Para sa Bayan, our national goal is to serve as a
proactive agent of positive change for at least 25 million Filipinos by 2023.
By working closely with government and stakeholders across the public sector,
we can help deliver improved digital skills, inclusive opportunities, and
digital citizen services for every single Filipino," said Microsoft
Philippines Public Sector Director, Joanna Rodriguez. “In 2020 Microsoft
celebrated its 25th consecutive year operating in the Philippine
market. We are committed to continue our service for the Filipino people and
look forward to building—through technology—a stronger, more resilient nation
together.”
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