3 Selected Teams Get A Chance to Fly to Switzerland for Kickstart: The Swiss Accelerator

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Being recognized internationally for a groundbreaking business idea is every entrepreneur’s dream. And this dream may come true for three startups from the Philippines and India: Ascendant Technologies Inc. (Philippines), HDC Agri (Philippines), and Fat Cat Robotics (India), as they have an advantage to be shortlisted and fly halfway across the world to Switzerland to participate in Kickstart: The Swiss Accelerator, an 11-week program that will help scale their promising business ideas related to one of the program’s pillars: Food, FinTech, Healthcare, Robotics and Intelligent Systems and Smart Cities.

Photo above shows the start-ups, Ascendant Technologies Inc. and MachiBox Inc., get mentored by John Lagdameo (Director, JGSOM Business Resource Center, ADMU).

Impact Hub Manila, an incubator and co-working space provider, is the outreach partner for Asia of the Kickstart: The Swiss Accelerator, one of Europe’s largest multi-corporate, zero-equity technology accelerators. As part of this regional campaign, Impact Hub Manila hosted a Roadshow event where 12 teams were pre-selected to get training from three mentors and to showcase their innovative solutions to a jury panel.

“Being part of the largest global network of entrepreneurship and innovation centers, we partner with international organizations and Impact Hubs across the world to give opportunities for Philippine startups and entrepreneurs to showcase their talents,” shares LizAn Kuster, Co-Founder of Impact Hub Manila.

We believe Filipinos have the skills and knowledge to be part of the growing startup scene in a global scale and so Impact Hub creates the platform for them through collaboration,” adds Ces Rondario, Co-founder of Impact Hub Manila.

The Roadshow Event is in partnership with the Embassy of Switzerland in the Philippines, in celebration of the 60th year of Diplomatic Relations between Switzerland and the Philippines. This collaboration is born out of the commitment of the Swiss Embassy to harness creativity, and support enterprising solutions. Deputy Head of Mission Raoul Imbach represented the Embassy of Switzerland in the event as one of the judges. He is a big supporter of the entrepreneurship landscape in the country.

I Can Sing in Japanese! Spring 2017’ and ‘Your Home is My Business! Returns

Wazzup Pilipinas!

This May, Sony GEM brings back all the drama that unfolds with the return of two popular shows - the Finals of the Spring 2017 edition of Nippon Television Network Corporation’s (Nippon TV) singing competition I Can Sing in Japanese!, and the sequel to the highly acclaimed drama Your Home is My Business! Returns.

Filipino singing sensation Krissha Viaje, who won the Asian search of I Can Sing In Japanese! in February, will make her debut in the international stage as she showcases her singing prowess in her own rendition of a hit Japanese song, together with 11 other finalists representing the U. S. A., Belgium, Norway, Argentina, Chile, and from other parts of the world.

This season’s panel of judges consists of R&B and pop singer May J, singer-songwriter Tatsuya Ishii, and famed musician Tetsuya Komuro, who is widely regarded as one of the most successful producers in the Japanese music industry.

Now on its seventh year, the latest edition of the prestigious competition will be hosted by multi-talented artiste, Nakai Masahiro and TV announcer Yukari Nishio. 

DOTr - PPA Moves Toward the Use of Renewable Energy in its Ports Nationwide

Wazzup Pilipinas!

The Department of Transportation (DOTr), through the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), is pursuing the use of renewable energy in all its controlled ports nationwide in a bid to reduce the carbon footprints from ports and to to be at par with international maritime stakeholders.

The “Green Port” project is in accordance with the 25-year port development roadmap adopted by Philippine port stakeholders in a summit held in April this year.

This is also a commitment of the PPA to the Ambisyon Natin 2040 program adopted by the current administration.

“Our international shipping counterparts have already agreed to reduce carbon emissions by a certain percentage in the next decade or so and it is only fitting to do the same in our ports,” says PPA Assistant General Manager for Operations Hector E. Miole.

“The initial outlay might be overwhelming, but its long-term effect to the financial aspect and environmental conservation outweighs all of that,” he added.

For a start, the PPA will replace all its existing fluorescent, incandescent lamps, and bulbs with LED (Light Emitting Diodes) lights in its Corporate Office Building by the middle of this month.

PPA is likewise making an inventory of all streetlights from the South Harbor Expanded Port Zone, the access roads going to its VTMS control tower, as well as the PPA offices at the South Harbor and the North Harbor.

The agency is looking at forging a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Philippine National Oil Company-Renewable Corporation (PNOC-RC) in enforcing this notable project.

Under the proposed MOA, PNOC-RC will provide technical expertise, review and design for the best kind of renewable energy sources, which will be used by the PPA in bidding out the said project. The result of the review is expected to be operational in 6 months upon signing of the MOA. The PPA, for its part, will determine the initial ports that will undergo the same ‘greening’ project.

Initially, the PNOC-RC is offering a guaranteed 100-kilowatt solar panel to be installed at the PPA Head Office, which is enough to cover at least a third of the agency’s lighting requirements. The facility, however, will still be connected to the current electric grid system to source out the remaining power requirement of the office.

Aside from the ‘Greening project’, the 25-year Development Roadmap also includes plans for cruise shipping, industrial ports/zoning management, long-term infrastructure development, inter-connectivity, and supply chain development.