Small
and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which employ nearly all of South East Asia’s
domestic workforce took center stage yesterday at the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) SME Summit at the Green Sun Hotel in Makati. Prominent
businessmen here and abroad were in attendance as various speakers shared their
life stories and secrets centering on the theme “Innovation and Big Ideas:
Pushing Boundaries.” Giving the keynote address was President Noynoy Aquino
himself who encouraged the SME’s to continue what they have done to bring
progress to the country. Here are the speakers of the conference.
JOSETTE SHEERAN
President, Asia Society
“The Megatrends that are driving
new consumer Demands”
Josette shared that individuals can now be a forece since people
can create things to power the world. She also mentioned that opportunities are
coming in ways not predicted in the past so we better be ready for those
opportunities.
DAVID PLOUFFE
Chief Advisor and Board of
Director, UBER
"UBER’s response to new consumer demands"
From simply providing a vehicle for friends to providing the
people around the world with a ride, David Ploufee shares the story of Uber.
David singles out the Philippines as the first country to put up regulations on
Uber.
TONY FERNANDES
CEO, Air Asia
“Air Asia’s response to
New Consumer Demands
Tony was all about branding. From the time he gave his first joke
about being low-cost to the time he gave out free tickets to someone asking a
question, Tony stressed that branding is very important for Air Asia.
SHEILA MARCELO
Founder and CEO, care.com
“Building a caring and sharing
economy
Sheila's story is inspiring! Inspired by the challenge of finding
care for her children and ailing parents, Shiela founded Care.com in 2006.
Today, this public company is the World's largest online care destination with
millions of members in 16 countries.
SANJIT BUNKER ROY
Founder, Barefoot College
Innovative, Inclusive Education
for all
Sanjit quotes Alvin Toffler. “The illiterate will not be those who
cannot read or write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.” From that quote he laid down the
foundation of Barefoot College in 1972 and his intention was to establish a
place of learning and unlearning where the teacher is the learner and the
learner is the teacher.
DIOSDADO BANATAO
Managing Partner, Tallwood
Venture Capital
"Inspiring story of Innovation and
Creation"
From his humble beginnings coming from a poor family in a small
barrio in Cagayan to his success in the US, Dado Banatao’s story is an
inspiration to all. He mentioned that he really enjoyed challenging himself
especially when he designed what we now call semi-conductors. His innovations
make up about 30% of every computer in the world today.
JONATHAN SWANSON
Co-founder and President,
Thumbtack
“Connecting People in the Global
Marketplace
What was surprising for Jonathan and his team was that they found out that the best proofreader they hired was a Filipina who was even better than the Americans when it comes to the English language. They took their innovations, reached greater heights and hired a lot of Filipinos because of their incomparable talent and work ethics. Truly a very inspiring story.
MARIA RESSA
CEO
and Executive Editor, Rappler.com
“Building
a Network of Relationships”
Maria
Ressa has a thousand and one stories to tell about Innovation. Rappler in
itself is a product of that and because of technology they were able to bring
news in many different ways. Her story on Mary Jane Veloso and how Rappler
changed the views of many Filipinos about her made all the difference in saving
the life of Mary Jane.
NIX NOLLEDO
President
and CEO, Xurpass, Inc.
"Building
a Network of Relationships"
Despite
being a below average student, an Assistant Manager for a KFC branch, despite
the fact that he can’t even program a single line of code and never
raised money through a venture capitalist, Nix Nolledo told his story on how he
turned Pinoy Exchange into one of the country’s biggest Pinoy online community.
From there he also took time to work with the Ayala group which also paved the
way for him to have his own technology company that creates digital products
for the mobile consumer.
Multi-awarded Journalist Karen Davila of ABS-CBN was there to provide more insights as she carefully asked her former Boss Maria Ressa and Nix Nolledo various questions on how they have survived and continue to own their field of expertise.
DEXTER LIGOT GORDON
Co-Founer and COO, Kalibrr, Inc
“How Innovation shapes Business
Visions”
As a problem
solver Dexter used his strengths in workforce development and public systems to
co-found Kalibrr. He said, instead of having the people look for jobs, why not
have a portal for jobs to match those looking for one and with that Kalibrr was
born. He said “they have to Flip the switch, make the jobseekers the heroes. Instead
of them looking for jobs, we will have the jobs look for them! The high demand
of skilled Filipino workers became easier because the process is now easier,
thanks to Kalibrr.
ANGELO UMALI
Co-Founder and CEO, Simple
Wearables
“How Innovation shapes Business
Visions”
Angelo recounted how his parents supported him and his siblings
just to be able to study in the USA. One
day his grandmother just fell down and eventually died. He said, with the
technology that they have now in wearable devices, it might have saved her grandma
back then. Simple Wearables is a healthcare tech startup based in Hong Kong
focusing on wearable technology that provides peace of mind.
Karen Davila once again interviewing the two Fil-Americans.
Question and answer of the day was "Why did you start your business in
Hong Kong? Was it hard for a foreigner to do that in Hong Kong rather than in
the Philippines?" Then Angelo said "Its easier in Hong Kong because
in two days I got what i need unlike here!"
BARBARA NAVARRO
Director
of Operations and Strategy,
Public
Policy and Government Relations
For
Asia-Pacific, Middle-East and Africa,
Google
“SME
and Innovation”
Google
is a company that thrives on Innovation. Starting from their Search engine
which organizes information to develop a better world, to their Tools that
provides services to improve communications to content, mobile and Google
Glass- that’s fifteen years of innovation. What Google is thinking now is what
would be the next big innovative product? Barbara shared 5 forms of Innovation
namely new business models, new efficiencies, new ways of marketing, new
experiences and new markets.
SCOTT ANTHONY
Managing
Partner, Innosight
Innovation
and the Future
Simplify,
Enable, Disrupt. These are just a few of the tips that Scott Anthony expounded
on with regards to innovation and the future. He then said “the best
way to predict the future is to create it!”
ALOK SHETTY
Architect
and Principal
Bhumiputra
Architecture
Innovative
building solutions for tomorrow’s homes
One of the more visually impressive presentations came from Alok
Shetty who showed various animations of the structures that he designed.
Imagine designing hospital at the age of 19, fitting a hotel, football stadium
and mall in a cramped space and finding ways to transport an auditorium by
innovatively fitting all elements in a cargo container. His innovative ways are
quite limitless at the age of 29.
ERIC ROSENTHAL
Vice-
President Business Development
ABRA
“Financial
Inclusion via the Digital Sharing economy”
Eric
just prepared for four hours since Bill Barhydt his boss had him take his
place. Eric talked about Abra which
became the first global cash money transfer app. Imagine sending cash through
your mobile app instead of going to the remittance centers. Soon to be in the Philippines, sending cash
from OFWs to their families is just a click away.
WENDY KOPP
Co-founder
and CEO, Teach for All
“Cultivating
future leaders through Innovation”
Wendy said, one day, all children
will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education. For Wendy,
leadership is important to cultivate a good culture in education that will
eventually lead to good students. We need innovative leaders in education so that students will be able to follow suit
KAREN REDDINGTON
President,
Fedex Asia Pacific
“How
we work: Innovating ways to connect”
Karen
Reddington shows the power of Fedex and how they have touched lives by reaching
even the farthest of regions to make a difference. The video Karen showed of an
entrepreneur who wanted the world to taste his red pepper sauce was very
powerful in showing how people from far flung areas can connect to the world.
