The Philippines strengthens its regional presence in the technology space as the Digital Pilipinas Festival (DPF) takes place on October 17-21, kicking off a month-long celebration of digital adoption in the ASEAN region with the hope of building an anti-fragile system.
It also supports the growth of the country’s digital economy which is projected to to reach P5 trillion by 2030.
Throughout the week, the DPF will also bring together more than 200 prominent ASEAN leaders from the public and private sectors including regulators, CEOs, CTOs, CIOs, venture capitalists, investors, tech and digital innovators, pioneering startup founders, entrepreneurs, and senior policymakers.
The DPF will kick-off the month-long ASEAN Fintech Festival and will be followed by similar festivals in Cambodia, Thailand, the annual Singapore Fintech Festival, and Indonesia.
The DPF is composed of two parts: the World FinTech Festival-Philippines (WFF-PH) in the morning which will highlight the development and advancement of fintech and various kinds of tech in the ASEAN region; and the inaugural Philippine Fintech Festival (PFF) in the afternoon which will focus on the challenges, issues, and innovations that are country-specific for the Philippines.
“DPF envisions making the Philippines a powerful player in the ASEAN region,” says Amor Maclang, convenor of Digital Pilipinas, the world fintech Festival-Philippines (WFF-PH), and the PFF. “The Philippine digital economy, which economists have forecasted to reach a value of $92billion by 2030, is poised to make our country even more competitive in the regional FinTech and other tech space.”
“Together, Digital Pilipinas and the PFF compose the country’s largest Digital Economies Festival,” Maclang adds.
The World FinTech Festival-Philippines sessions (WFF-PH) in the morning will highlight the advancement of various kinds of tech in the ASEAN region. Government and industry leaders from various countries such as Hungary, Israel, and Singapore will be flying in to share their best practices and seek collaboration on trends like regional transactions, the spread of e-commerce, cybersecurity, and AI and data privacy, among others.
Meanwhile, the PFF’s afternoon workshops will gather sectoral stakeholders, regulators, legacy players, technologists, and startups in individual technical working group discussions to address specific industry pain points—and then present their own unique solutions. The PFF will also explore how technology can tap the tremendous potentials that lie in the Philippines to improve industries, develop smart cities, and create a brighter future.
The WFF-PH and the PFF are convened by Digital Pilipinas, the largest private-sector movement for creating a technology and innovation system geared to tech-ing up the country, in partnership with Elevandi, an organisation founded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to foster an open dialogue between the public and private sector to advance fintech in the digital economy.
The WFF-PH and PFF are also supported by the governments and fintech associations of Israel, Hungary, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Cambodia.
A major highlight during the 5-day series is the launch of the MAS Hackcelerator Program, powered by Digital Pilipinas and think tank Oliver Wyman, which will recognise ground-breaking innovations that advance society towards Web 3.0. Trade associations such as the Decentralised Ledger Technology Associations of the Philippines (DLTAP), insurtech and regtech associations, and other relevant industry groups will also be launched.
All the events will showcase the unique nation-building capabilities and strengths of various kinds of emerging, innovative technology: tech for government, mobility and logistics, smart and connected cities, energy, web 3.0 (blockchain, cryptocurrency, cybersecurity, NFT), open data and open finance, e-wallets, suptech, AI and big data, SME digitalisation and e-commerce, wealthtech, fintech, esg and green finance, insuretech and healthtech, and marktech.
Frontlining the events are top companies, including coins.ph; ADVANCE.AI; Angkas; Brankas; ColFinancial; Digicoop; Etiqa Philippines; GCash; KPMG Philippines; NinjaVan Philippines; Paymongo, UnionBank, UNO Digital Bank, and StartUp Village. Other prominent institutions such as Mapua University, Fintech Philippines Association, BounceBackPH, FinScore, Tech Exactly, and GeiserMaclang have also lent their support to the event.
Francis Bignell
