SAP Appoints Claus Andresen as President and Managing Director of Southeast Asia

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SAP announced the appointment of Claus Andresen as President and Managing Director of SAP Southeast Asia, promoted from Chief Operating Officer of SAP Indian Subcontinent. Andresen will report directly to Scott Russell, President of SAP Asia Pacific Japan (APJ). Building on the 28-year establishment and growth of SAP in the region, Andresen will be responsible for driving SAP Southeast Asia’s sustainable growth strategy and operations. Based in Singapore, he will oversee SAP’s business across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Indochina and other emerging markets in Southeast Asia.

“Connectivity in Southeast Asia is growing at an impressive rate and we foresee a lot more customers accelerating their digital transformation and journey to the cloud in the next few years. While the level of digital maturity in Southeast Asia varies across the region, SAP has the extensive capability to help our customers scale and succeed in this new digital economy,” said Scott Russell, President, SAP Asia Pacific Japan. “Claus brings with him the experience and vision to help our customers translate their strategy into action. I am confident that SAP Southeast Asia will continue to shine under his leadership.”

Andresen was most recently the Chief Operating Officer of SAP Indian Subcontinent, where he provided leadership to the market unit’s multi-functional sales and operations organizations, and was instrumental in making India amongst one of the fastest growing market units in SAP. Prior to that, he was responsible for Business Operations across SAP APJ, where he led a high-performing team to improve Sales and Operational Excellence. Andresen has over a decade of experience in various global and regional senior leadership roles in the Global Services & Support organization (now Digital Business Services), all with focus on helping customers run better leveraging technology.

“Southeast Asia plays an important role for SAP’s business. There are plenty of opportunities for us in this part of the world as more organisations understand the value that digital innovations can deliver to their business and how they operate. Across the region, we are seeing the trajectory and we are committed to helping our customers and partners build a solid foundation for their digital future,” said Claus Andresen, President, SAP Southeast Asia.

He continued, “SAP has more than 45 years of industry and enterprise business software experience and an unmatched global ecosystem that empowers customers to scale and thrive in this time of constant change. I am honored to lead the Southeast Asia’s business and bring innovations to our customers that unlock their potential. I look forward to working with my Southeast Asia team to take SAP to the next level in this growth region, as we help the region’s governments and businesses achieve their vision of a digitally-enabled ASEAN.”

Petya, Wanna Cry, and Mirai—Is This the New Normal?

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This past year, cybercriminals have upped the stakes once again with the high profile, global attacks of Mirai, Wannacry, and Petya, launched one after the other.

Of course, large-scale attacks aren’t new. Attacks like the ILOVEYOU worm and Code Red and Nimda were massive attacks, some of which affected exponentially more devices and organizations that this latest round of attacks. The spread of WannaCry − which reportedly hit a couple of dozen companies in the Philippines − and Petya were quickly curbed unlike these worms of the past. But this isn’t just about scale.

Unlike in years past, the new digital economy means organizations rely on data as both a critical resource and an essential source of revenue. And these new attacks are more sophisticated than ever.

Attacks like Mirai managed to hijack tens of thousands of IoT devices, such as DVRs and digital CCTV cameras using known device passwords installed by their manufacturers. These devices were then aggregated and used as a weapon to take out a massive chunk of the Internet. More recently, Mirai’s lesser known malware cousin, known as Hajime, upped the ante by adding cross-platform functionality (it currently supports five different platforms), a toolkit with automated tasks, updatable password lists, and the use of thresholds to mimic human behavior in order to stay under the radar.

Wannacry pioneered a new sort of ransomware/worm hybrid, something Fortinet calls a ransomworm, in order to use a Microsoft exploit created by the NSA and publicly released by a hacker group known as the Shadow Brokers. Rather than the usual ransomware method of selecting a specific target, Wannacry’s worm functionality allowed it to spread rapidly across the globe, attacking thousands of devices and organization. While the potential was there, the damage was quickly curbed due to an embedded kill switch.

And just this past month we saw the emergence of a new ransomworm called Petya. This new malware uses the same worm-based approach of Wannacry, even targeting the exact same vulnerability, but this time with a much more potent payload that can wipe data off a system and even modify a device’s Master Boot Record, rendering the device unusable. Since very little money was made during this attack, we can say that this attack was certainly more focused on taking machines offline than monetization through ransom. Machine availability ransom like Petya may become a much larger problem in the future when spreading through a rapid Ransomworm.

I believe that the Wannacry and Petya attacks were simply shots across the bow. They are part of an insidious new opportunistic strategy of targeting newly discovered vulnerabilities with massive, global attacks and increasingly malicious payloads. This is just being the tip of the iceberg and potentially the start of a new wave of attacks we are in for in the future in the form of Ransomworms.

GEM Dazzles This August with Exciting Shows from Japan!

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Catch the most entertaining dramas and variety programs from Japan this August on GEM. 

Overprotected Kahoko

A naïve university student, Kahoko (Takahata Mitsuki), is about to start her first job. The world is a scary place as she has been sheltered by her parents all her life. Their close-knit family begins to fall apart as they cope with this inevitable change in the only child’s life. Will Kahoko finally muster enough strength to emerge from her cocoon?

Overprotected Kahoko premieres 28 August, every Monday and Tuesday at 9pm, first and exclusively on GEM.



49

Dan (Sato Shori) is an average student who is not good at sports or his studies. Tragically, his father dies in an accident and his spirit possesses Dan. As his father excelled at everything he did, Dan begins to exhibit the same behavior. He starts to play basketball well and even gains popularity amongst his classmates. Will his classmates discover the reason behind his sudden change?

49 premieres 17 August, every Wednesday and Thursday at 9pm, first and exclusively on GEM.

BOMB BEE MEN

Kazumi (Oguri Shun) is a poor university student who has some unique priorities in life. He desires to make everyone happy and never rejects people when they seek his help. As he secures his first real job, he finds out that his debt could cost his job offer! A host club owner and money-lender, OmuOmu, and his cronies had conned a huge amount of money from him. Desperate to get his money back, Kazumi decides to play OmuOmu’s money game. Will Kazumi’s endless optimism help him overcome the odds?

BOMB BEE MEN premieres 13 August, every Sunday at 10.30pm.



GOCHI: Dinner is on YOU Tonight Season 2 Special

In this two-episode special, our celebrity guests get to indulge in a wide array of delicious treats prepared specially by world-renowned chefs. While the guests can order as many courses as they want, they must ensure that the total price of their dishes should not exceed their given budget. The guest who has the biggest price difference will be the one to pay for everyone’s meal! Who would be the ‘lucky’ one?

GOCHI: Dinner is on YOU Tonight Season 2 Special premieres 12 August and 19 August, Saturday at 7pm, first and exclusively on GEM.

TOKUSON: Life Hacks!

Follow the hosts as they show us simple tricks using everyday items to help save time and make life more interesting. Be amazed by the things you can do to spruce up your mundane daily routine. From cooking, cleaning, and organizing, to everything else in between, TOKUSON: Life Hacks! has all the answers! Life will never be the same again!

TOKUSON: Life Hacks! premieres 30 August, every Wednesday at 10:10pm, first and exclusively on GEM.



GEM is available on SKYCable Channel 116 in Metro Manila and on Channel 222 in Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Iloilo, and Baguio.

NPC: TELCOs and ISPs DPA Compliance Crucial to Data Protection and Privacy

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Telecommunications companies and Internet Service Providers (ISP) are critical industry segments that need to comply with the Data Privacy Act of 2012 (DPA). This was revealed during the first general assembly of Data Protection Officers (DPO) in the telecommunications and value added service (VAS) provider industry sector. The event entitled DPO3 is the third of a series of industry sector targeted DPO general assemblies. The first two were for government, and the banking and financial services sector.

Privacy Commissioner Raymund Enriquez Liboro mentioned that majority of data that traverse telco and internet providers’ networks is personal data; data that has to be protected under the DPA by entities in the business of transporting that data, like telcos and ISPs.

“Personal data is not limited to email and voice communications, most users are not aware that before a conversation can happen over telecommunications networks, they have to provide their personal data; starting with their phone numbers, then the IMSI number of their SIM cards, the IMEI number and the MAC address of their device; networks also geo-tag users’ location based on the which cell site or street cabinet they used. That is just a voice conversation, subscriber activity within telco and ISP networks generate volumes of personal data as well.” commissioner Liboro said.

DPO3 was organized by the NPC in cooperation with the Philippine Chamber of Telecommunication Operators (PCTO). According to Atty. Roy Ibay, Vice President of PCTO; “After government, telcos are the largest processors of personal data, and as such; we need to be the vanguards of data protection and privacy, it should not be treated as a burdensome compliance task, but instead, should be inherent in our operations and adds value to our organizations, ensuring competitiveness in a dynamic industry.”

DOE Hosts Dialogue on Asia Energy Issues

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The Department of Energy (DOE) plays host to the three-day Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) that will tackle energy security, sustainability and resiliency starting Monday, August 7, in the island of Panglao in Bohol.

On the first day of the ACD, delegates will have four sessions. The first session is on renewable energy (RE) for a cleaner future covering RE efforts in China and Malaysia. China Renewable Energy Engineering Institute Director Xu Yifan, and Adjunct Professor and Nusantra Technologies Executive Chairman Dato Mohamed Razali Dato Yusoff will be the speakers.

The second session will discuss natural gas as a transition fuel and the best practices and challenges of natural gas infrastructure development. Institute of Energy and Economics Senior Economist and Manager Yoshikazu Kobayashi will provide Japan’s experiences and initiatives in their domestic natural gas sector and a regional situationer on the said resource.

Session three is on mainstreaming energy efficiency focusing on the conceptualization and development of a Low Carbon Model Town, an initiative following the 9th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Energy Ministers Meeting held in Fukui, Japan in 2010. Preliminary researches were done in six phases covering the cities in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, China, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, U.S.A., Peru, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Korea, Russia and Japan.

The fourth session is on the renewed role of nuclear energy with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director Dohee Hahn talking about the regional and global status and prospects of nuclear power and the role of nuclear energy in greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Currently, there are 446 nuclear reactors in operation spread in 30 countries, including 61 under construction in 15 countries. Approximately 2/3 of the reactors are located in Asia with two new ones in Belarus and the United Arab Emirates.

On the second day of ACD on Tuesday, there are three sessions. Session 5 is on Energy Access and Connectivity with Energy Economist from Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia, Dr. Yanfei Li, tackling initiatives that aim to improve energy safety, optimize the distribution of energy resources, integrate regional energy markets and push forward the green and low carbon development of regional energy. In the same session, Thailand’s Energy Policy and Planning Office-Energy Strategy Management Unit Director Tanongsak Wongla will talk about the challenges of cross-border energy connectivity, especially in relation to growing domestic demand.

Session 6 is on promoting energy resilience with Philippine DOE Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella sharing the Philippine experience in developing the country’s energy resiliency policies and programs, such as the E-Power Mo!, to ensure resilient energy systems and facilities as well as an empowered consumers.

In the same session, Dr. James VanCoevering of B-LEADERS will touch on the development of climate resilient distribution construction approaches. Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) Vice President and Head Energy Management Engr. Rolando M. Cagampan will talk about their efforts towards supply versus demand and disaster resilience. And lastly, SN Aboitiz Power Group President and CEO Joseph S. Yu will zero in on the issues beyond power, the food-water-energy nexus.

Session 7 is on the role of the future generation on sustainable energy. The Liter of Light will hold an orientation and solar build workshop. A total of 34 grades five and six students from Lourdes Elementary School in Panglao Island, and 12 teachers from various schools in Bohol will teach ACD delegates how to assemble a solar powered lamp, a project of the DOE in partnership with the Department of Education, Provincial Government of Bohol, MERALCO and Liter of Light Org.

On the third day of the ACD, August 9, there will be a working group meeting to discuss the approaches and strategies to move forward the ACD Energy Action Plan. After the group meeting, there will be an Economic Research Institute Network (ERIN) meeting and the holding of the 1st East Asia Energy Forum, which will focus on energy issues of sub-regions East Asia and ASEAN and the role of fossil fuels in addressing global energy supply requirements.

The purpose of holding the event in Bohol is to give the ACD delegates a better presentation of the energy issues that is anchored on the rich culture and experience of the Philippines and the resilience of the Filipinos.

Discomfort Room Exhibit at District Gallery is Now Open

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More often than not, mental health illnesses are trivialized – to the point that it is apathetically dismissed and ignored as a mere attempt to bring an afflicted individual back on an emotional level that is more acceptable and manageable for the common man. Mental illnesses are frowned upon with a stigma which is harmful to an afflicted individual.

Discomfort Room is an experimental group show attempting to engage that stigma. It is an experiential acceptance; that these problems exist within our material plane of existence, manifesting in our daily lives like broken furniture inside our own homes. The room recreates the space inside our heads, decorated with the pains and illnesses depicted in different types of media. It communicates the ephemeral struggle against a constant burden in an individual’s daily life; and yet it is a safe-space, where the disturbed can realize that they are not alone in their fight.

As art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable, the room is set to comfort or discomfort the occupants.

Either way, welcome home. 

Siemens Sees Potential in Digitalization of Philippines’ Food and Beverage Industry

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Digitalization presentation on F&B industry by Roland Heymann, Head of Global Food and Beverage, Technical Account Management, Siemens Germany

At the full-day seminar on “Digitalization of the Food and Beverage Industry in the Philippines” held by Siemens last month, a team of global experts from the company showcased their technological expertise to current and potential customers in Philippines’ F&B industry.

Through interactive presentation sessions, Siemens presented how industry players can discover the potential of digitalization in food and beverage industry. Topics covered include “Digitalization - The future of manufacturing in Food and Beverage” and “Standardization – Set the pace for digitalization in Food and Beverage”. There was also a live demonstration to showcase how companies can “Reduce downtimes and cost with transparent operation”, where Siemens used the example of the dairy industry to demonstrate how both process and discrete workflows in the food and beverage industry can benefit from digitalization. Factors typically affecting the dairy industry are high cost sensitivity and mass production on the one hand, coupled with the growing diversity of available flavors and innovative packaging concepts on the other.

“We’ve been working with a number of global food and beverage players and learned from them about their demands and specific trends in the market. In order to respond to these needs, we are adapting our digital enterprise software suite accordingly and are implementing these functions into our applications, our solutions, and our products. While doing so, we aim to bring those solutions to anywhere in the world that has major expansions and investments ongoing for the food and beverage industry, to give all regions and specifically the Philippines an equal and fair chance to leverage our learnings,” shared Roland Heymann, Head of Global Food and Beverage, Technical Account Management, Siemens Germany.



Digitalization the Food and Beverage in Industry in the Philippines
The F&B industry in the Philippines is a highly competitive one, and it is expected to amount to approximately US$26 million in revenue this year. For manufacturers in the industry, operating productive production facilities requires many factors for consideration, including a consistently high level of product quality, maximum plant availability, optimum resource efficiency – and, increasingly, the greatest possible flexibility in order to meet more and more individual customer requirements.

Additionally, about 1.3 billion tonnes of food – which is about a third of all that is produced – around the world is wasted due to factors such as poor equipment, transportation and infrastructure, rejection due to aesthetics, and over purchase. The supply chain has to be more agile to allow companies to produce the right amount of products to cater to consumer demands, at the right time and at the right location.

Mastering all these challenges today and in the future is possible only with digitalization. Digitalization is the interaction of the virtual and real world. It is a major trend and innovation driver, creating completely new business and growth opportunities for companies. Digitalization of the entire value chain is crucial for catching new trends and ensuring competitiveness.

This is particularly important for the Philippines, as the country is growing rapidly in terms of population and production capacities. Digitalization would lay the foundation of how the local food and beverage industry will perform in the next few years and be able to compete with other countries in the region.

The digitalization of the manufacturing industry, which is also known as “Industrie 4.0”, is a topic of global interest.

Siemens offers the products and solutions required fully or gradually integrate and digitalize the entire value chain. The Digital Enterprise Suite is Siemens’ answer to Industrie 4.0, and it enables manufacturing companies to streamline and digitalize their entire business process, seamlessly integrating suppliers into the mix. They can begin at any point of their value chain, from product design to service, and can extend digitalization gradually, depending on their current needs.

With the Digital Enterprise Suite, Siemens offers a comprehensive portfolio of software-based systems specifically for the discrete industries. It integrates and digitalizes the complete value chain from Product Design, Production Planning, Production Engineering, Production Execution to Services. The result of the integration and digitalization of the complete value chain is a perfect digital copy of the value chain – the Digital Twin. This enables companies to perform simulation, testing, and optimization in a completely virtual world – before ever committing any resources in the real world. The connection of the virtual and real worlds leads to shorter time-to-market as well as greater flexibility, quality, and efficiency.

Enrico Buergo, Vice President and Country Division Lead, Siemens Philippines, said, “Digitalization is an integral part of the industrial revolution. You have this shift coming, it’s about the analysis, integration and standardization. We’re bringing it here to kick-start a very vibrant market which is food and beverage... and we really want to use it as a way for each company to achieve whatever it is they are aspiring and not to be left in the game.”

“The future is always in motion,” explains Alexander Grimm, Head of Food and Beverage ASEAN, Siemens Singapore, during the beginning of his presentation session. “Digitalization itself, it’s a thing which is in movement. It’s a continuous development.” He later explains in detail how customers have become more discerning in terms of the wants, and how digitalization in production can address these needs at the quicker and more precise way.

Present in the seminar were key officials of Siemens from both the regional and global headquarters including Enrico Buergo, Vice President and Country Division Lead, Siemens Philippines; Alexander Grimm, Head of Food and Beverage ASEAN, Siemens Singapore; Roland Heymann, Head of Global Food and Beverage, Technical Account Management, Siemens Germany; Christopher Roppelt, Key Expert for Food and Beverage Automatic Concepts, Siemens Germany; and Lito Torres, Head of Factory and Automation, Siemens Philippines.

As part of the company’s commitment to the F&B industry in the Philippines, Siemens will be offering a two-day workshop that would showcase in detail products and technology that can be personalized and applied to their operating processes. The workshop will be conducted by product specialists and will be at no cost to participants of the seminar. Those who are interested can get in touch with their Siemens representative.


For more information on Siemens offerings in the F&B industry, please visit https://www.siemens.com/global/en/home/markets/food-beverage.html

Oracle Petroleum Corporation Officially Launches Platinum Lubricants

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Platinum Lubricants: the Ultimate Racing Performance finally unveiled its main products to the public last July 28 and 29, 2017, signifying its entrance in the retail lubes industry.

Held by manufacturing company Oracle Petroleum Corporation (OPC), the 2-day event served as an introduction to the public in recognizing PLATINUM as a new emerging presence as it is set to become the most sought out product in the lubes market in the upcoming years.

PLATINUM is an in-house brand made by OPC since 2002, with distribution of products catering to dealers and distributors. Such products catered by PLATINUM are automotive, industrial, mining, construction, and marine, with its grand reveal starting on its automotive line.

During the reveal, PLATINUM successfully revealed its products, ranging from premium to fully synthetic lubricants, such as gasoline and diesel engine oils, motorcycle engine oils, and general maintenance products. PLATINUM aims to cater to the nation’s motorists, with distribution of its products to dealers, distributors, and retailers happening nationwide after the event.

“After all these years, we’re finally ready to step out of the shadows and break into the lubes industry as a product that you will surely come to love and afford”, said by OPC President and CEO Frederick Christian O. Siy.

Activities and seminars were held during PLATINUM’s product launch to better increase brand awareness and product knowledge to the public. Interested dealers and distributors, as well as small entrepreneurs and start-up businesses, were invited to PLATINUM’s Distributorship program and its “Ready, Set, NeGOsyo!” program to extend PLATINUM’s reach to the market.

“PLATINUM has existed long enough to cater to its clients, and now we are bringing our products to your hands,” Mr. Siy said.

PLATINUM also held a motorcade on the second day composed of various bike clubs that helped generate exposure along the Metro. All participating riders were given PLATINUM products such as the new 4T X-Race, a premium multi-grade motorcycle engine oil, and 4T Nitro, the best-in-class fully synthetic motorcycle engine oil. Bike clubs in attendance were the following: El-Tigre Riders Club, Inc., Kawasaki Rouser Owners Society, Soul Matte Ph, MIMC Zone 2 Team Angat, Honda Beat PGMFI Nation, Honda Beat Enthusiasts PH, Skydrive Society, Club CB110 Philippines, Like Owners Society, Tribu Pabelat Riders Club, NMAX Club Philippines Inc., Rouser Club of the Philippines, Euro Motor Riders Club, Tamaraw Riders Club, Wave 100 Underbone Club, Team Bets, Team Gala, Philippine Riders Club, Kabalikat Q.C. Chapter, Bulacan Patriots, Brotherhood Philippines, Predator Philippines Riders Club, Bulacan Motorcycle Riders Federation, SZ-R Bulacan Riders, and the Riders Safety Advocates of the Philippines.

For more information regarding PLATINUM’s products or business inquiries, you may contact the following: 448-5746 to 49 Local 503 and +63917-958-8945 or visit PLATINUM’s website at www.platinum-oil.net and Facebook page at @PlatinumRacingPH.

DOE Girds for Comprehensive Power Industry Audit

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The Department of Energy (DOE) together with various power stakeholders recently conducted a 3-day intensive workshop on the appropriate conduct of the performance assessment and audit of the entire power supply chain.

Under instructions of Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi, Undersecretary Felix William B. Fuentebella, Assistant Secretary Redentor E. Delola with the DOE personnel led the workshop that started last Friday and concluded on Tuesday (1 August) in Mandaluyong City.

Cusi said: “We need a comprehensive performance assessment and audit on the power generation, transmission and distribution system and facilities to better picture the real state of the Philippine electricity industry. Our objective is to have a solid foundation towards data-driven planning and decision making."

"The workshop equipped us with necessary knowledge and strategies to enable us to conduct the audit as one strong energy family,” Fuentebella said.

Participants of the workshop had a thorough discussion on the framework in crafting the guidelines for the assessment of the performance of the generation, transmission and distribution systems and facilities.

The framework identifies the scope, parameters, process, responsibilities and timelines for the conduct of the audit pursuant to Department Circular No. DC2017-05-0008, the governing policy of the audit.

Once finished, the proposed guidelines will undergo focus group discussions with the electric power industry participants.

Representatives from the Energy Regulatory Commission and other energy experts from the GOCCs served as resource persons during the workshop.

The DOE assures electricity consumers that it is committed to act on the inefficiencies in the power supply chain in order to ensure reliable, secure, sustainable and reasonably priced energy.

Join Kabataan Night 2017: Voices of Youth

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Come, witness and experience YOUTH POWER!

In celebration of International Youth Day on August 12, Voice of the Youth Network (VOTY) brings you "Kabataan Night 2017: The Voices of Youth". VOTY's brainchild activity is back this year with bigger, better and bolder surprises for the Filipino Youth.

We have a whole day of fun, learning and entertainment lined up for you, including:

- open mic to showcase your talent in singing, voice acting and spoken word poetry
- motivational talks from some of the country's most sought-after youth empowerment speakers
- performances from local bands and musical groups
- meet and greet with fellow youth from different schools and organizations
... and so much more!

Witness the launch of VOTY Awards, a recognition program to acknolwedge various organizations and their advocacy.