VXI Victorious during the 12th International ICT Awards

(L-R) PETER MAQUERA – Senior Vice President for Enterprise Group, Globe Business; Jared Morrison – VXI’s Executive Vice President and Country Manager; Karen Ibasco – Miss Earth 2017

VXI Global Solutions, LLC (VXI) emerged victorious once again, winning a hat trick at the 12th International ICT Awards Philippines held at the Manila Marriott Grand Ballroom recently.

VXI Philippines (VXI PH) was awarded three major honor including the most coveted Best Employer of the Year premier award. The qualification criteria were structured around people practices including HR leadership, policies, practices, breadth of competencies and overall public recognition by clients and employees.

“To be recognized as the Best Employer of the Year is a validation of our belief, our operating ethos, Passion for People. For the last couple of years we have singularly focused on one thing – taking amazing care of our people. It’s all about building skills and careers, taking care of aspirations, and rest everything falls in place”, said Jared Morrison, Executive Vice President and Country Manager, after personally collecting the trophy.

“This recognition from ICT is a celebration of VXI’s transformation story during the past 3 years. We strived to shape VXI to be a great place to work by building a great culture, creating meaningful careers, paying fairly and competitively, and communicating with passion,” said Jovy Llanes, Vice President of Human Resources.

Competing with the industry’s largest and best companies, VXI also took home the Best Contact Center & BPO Company of the Year award for the second straight year. Echoing this year’s theme, “Exemplifying Excellence”, VXI cemented its stature as one of the top and fastest growing IT-BPO companies in the Philippines.

“We are immensely proud and truly humbled that our hard work has been recognized on the international stage. This award is for all of us at VXI, our employees who embodied our values and delivered high performance consistently and the management team for providing authentic leadership” said Eppie Titong, Vice President of Operations.

(L-R) Vice-President for Talent Acquisition, Debbie Rose Santos; Vice-President for Global Shared Services, Deanna Giner; Executive Vice-President and Country Manager, Jared Morrison; Vice-President for Operations, Eppie Cruz Titong III; Vice-President for Pre-Sales and Marketing, Prateek Hastir; Vice-President for Human Resources, Jovencito Llanes

The gala event was concluded with the announcement of VXI as the Most Innovative Company of the Year for focus on technology innovation, breadth and depth of R&D competencies and client profile. VXI was recognized for building several productivity and efficiency tools including Training SimulatorTM and PerformancePro360TM, which significantly increase speed to proficiency and drive KPI improvements respectively.

“This award is a great validation of the creative intelligence behind our tools and products. It will further our fascination to design more efficient solutions”, said Prateek Hastir, Vice President of Sales & Marketing.

The International ICT Awards Philippines are organized by The Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (CanCham) in close cooperation with the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP). The event is widely recognized as the most prestigious ICT Awards event in the Philippines.

About VXI Global Solutions

With 30,000 employees across 42 delivery centers, VXI Global Solutions is a leader in customer experience management and contact center solutions. With a diverse workforce and delivery centers in North and Latin America, Caribbean, Europe and Asia Pacific, VXI drives high Net Promoter Score (NPS) and positive bottom line impact through its customer management solutions, unified Omni channel communication platform, and purpose built productivity/efficiency enhancing IT applications.

Brave New World – How AI Will Impact Work and Jobs

There’s no doubt that the advent of broadly-available Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers businesses the prospect of increased productivity and accelerated innovation, whilst also enabling society to help solve some of its toughest - and most persistent – challenges: disease, famine, climate control and natural disasters.

AI is already delivering tangible economic benefits for many organisations across Asia Pacific. For example, leading global container shipping company OOCL reports that applying AI to their business is already saving them $10m annually, whilst Apollo Hospitals in India are using AI to help predict heart disease amongst its patients.

While the benefits of Artificial Intelligence are undeniable, AI is a disrupter, especially when it comes to the displacement of jobs. The ramifications of AI on the workforce is a regular topic of discussion among CEOs and government leaders across Asia Pacific.

That said, it is also pertinent to examine the far-reaching implication that AI brings to the workforce. Will the social disruptions that AI can potentially create ultimately overshadow its benefits?

The Evolution of Jobs in the AI-Shaped Future

To put things in perspective: large-scale disruption is a challenge with every industrial revolution. Technology will always have profound implications on the creation, elimination, or evolution of jobs. For example, just a few years ago, it was common for offices to have a pool of typists. Clearly, this role is no longer relevant in today’s modern office, thanks to the proliferation of personal computing. The advent of AI will reshape jobs in a similar way.

Microsoft recently partnered with the leading technology advisory firm IDC to assess the digital transformation landscape across the region. Titled “Unlocking the Economic Impact of Digital Transformation in Asia Pacific”, the study surveyed 1,560 business and IT leaders from 15 Asia Pacific economies[i]. It showed that 85% of jobs in Asia Pacific will be transformed in the next three years. (See chart below)

Diving deeper into the results, the respondents said that over 50% of jobs will be redeployed to a new position and/or retrained and upskilled for digital transformation. What’s interesting is that the Study shows that 26% of jobs will be newly created roles from digital transformation, which will offset the 27% of jobs that will he outsourced or automated. In other words, the overall workforce effect will be broadly neutral.

These are clear indications that how businesses organize work, how people find employment and the skills people need to prepare for the workforce are changing dramatically. These changes are likely to accelerate in the decade ahead.

As AI continues to transform the nature of work, education, skills, and training will have to transform as well in order to ensure that people are prepared for the jobs of the future and businesses have access to the talent they need to succeed. And as traditional models of employment transform, there will be a need to modernize legal frameworks to recognize new ways of working, provide adequate worker protections, and maintain social safety nets.

Building a Better Future Together

The recently published, ‘The Future Computed, Artificial Intelligence and its Role in Society’, makes sense of this AI conundrum as it offers three conclusions on AI and the impact on work and jobs:.

(You can download the book here for free today).

• First, the organizations and countries that will fare best in the AI race will be early adopters. The reason is straightforward: AI will be useful wherever intelligence is needed and it helps us to be more productive in nearly every field of human endeavor, which can lead to economic growth. Put simply, new jobs and economic progress will favor those that embrace the technology, not those that resist it.

• Second, while AI will help improve daily life in many ways and help solve big societal problems, its important to remain critical when examining the issues that it can bring. Beyond AI deployment, what’s equally important is to prepare society and the workforce for the impending changes that AI will catalyze by addressing the need for strong ethical principles, the evolution of laws, the importance of training for new skills, and even labor market reforms. These aspects must all come together in order tomake the most of this new technology.

• Third, to fully realize the benefits of AI, and to minimize the negative outcomes, technology companies, private and public organizations need to come together with a sense of shared responsibility -- AI must be democratized.

The AI building blocks that Microsoft is developing today, such as computer vision, speech, and knowledge recognition, should be made available to all so that they can create their own AI-based solutions. AI should not be controlled by just a few organizations. The AI future should be built by everyone with a vision on how AI can benefit economies and societies as well as how we can tackle AI issues and their implications.

The future of AI can burn brightly or dimly. Disruption is a norm, and the ability to adapt to disruptions is what defines all of us. And to adapt to the fast-approaching, rapidly evolving AI future, all parties – from workers to enterprises to governments - will need to spend more time listening to each other, collaborate and constantly learn new knowledge and skills. 

Converge brings 13th annual FTTH APAC Conference in Manila 2018

The 13^th annual FTTH APAC Conference 2018 will happen on May 8-10, 2018 at Shangri-La at the Fort, Makati City, Philippines. Converge ICT, the pure end-to-end Fiber Internet provider in the country, together with FTTH Council Asia Pacific is proud to bring this innovative event.

Gathering all the companies active in the Asia-Pacific telecoms market and the over 600 senior executives participating this year is no easy task. Yet, this annual conference will serve as the meeting point for the region’s top operators, solution providers, and vendors as well.

Now is your rare chance to position your company as a market leader and take advantage of this event to build networks, partake in open discussions, and be aware of the latest regional market trends and technological disruptions.

Key topics to discuss:

-          The importance of fiber to the network edge for future proof telecom networks in the Philippines.

-          Digital services as a critical economic platform for the country and a launch pad for innovation.

-          Designing win-win partnerships between the Philippine government, carriers, “over the top” players and non-traditional investors.

-          What are the entertainment and connected living needs of the Philippines?

-          What are your visions for the future of telecommunications and entertainment in the country?

This event is hosted by the Republic of the Philippines Department of Information and Communications Technology, the Philippine Cable Television Association, CONVERGE ICT, together with leading Philippines ICT companies.

About Converge ICT

An ISO-Certified company, Converge ICT is the fastest growing fiber Internet and other digital consumer-centric services provider in the Philippines today. Their premium products and services run through the first pure end-to-end fiber Internet network in the country. Whether you are at home, in your business, or in the corporate world, Converge is the brand of choice!

Shopee is the exclusive e-commerce partner for Honor’s launch in the Philippines

Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and  Taiwan, has signed an official exclusive partnership with Honor for its launch in the Philippines. The partnership will allow around 11 million Shopee users in the Philippines to purchase the Honor 9 Lite, Honor’s first quad-camera smartphone, at 7,990 Php exclusively on Shopee on May 5, as part of the 5.5 Shopee Super Sale.

“We are pleased to be selected as the exclusive e-commerce partner for Honor’s launch in the Philippines, and for the premiere of the hugely popular Honor 9 Lite. This strategic partnership is in line with our goal to continuously expand and diversify our product selection to cater to the needs of Filipinos across the country. Also, being a major e-commerce player in the region, we aim to assist more brands in expanding their online reach and further growing their businesses,” said Terence Pang, Chief Operating Officer of Shopee.

“We are excited to partner with Shopee for our foray into the Philippine market and through the debut of the Honor 9 Lite, our very first four-camera phone. We believe deeply in the potential of the region, especially in the Philippines, and we are continuing to focus our efforts where we can have direct impact in providing consumers with top quality and innovative mobile devices”, said Wang Yang, Country Director of Honor Philippines.

“As a leading global smartphone e-brand, it is crucial for us to partner with a trusted platform of equal reputation and are confident that this partnership will be a fruitful one. We are excited for this milestone and to have the opportunity to cater to the Filipino people,” Wang adds.  

Users can look forward to the exclusive Honor flash sale on Shopee on May 5, in line with the biggest online mid-year sale - 5.5 Shopee Super Sale. The flash sale will feature the exciting premiere of the Honor 9 Lite and Honor 7X at unbeatable prices. First 500 users who pre-register their interest from April 25 to May 4 will stand to receive a 250 PHP voucher, which can be used to buy other products on Shopee.

Honor 9 Lite – The Fashion Icon (7,990 Php 

The Honor 9 Lite is the most sleek and stylish device there is and its quad cameras are perfect to record your lively moments. Featuring exquisitely designed 2.5D glass and 5.65-inch edge-to- edge Full View HD Display, the Honor 9 Lite is a fashion statement.

Honor 7X – The Ultimate Gaming Monster (10,990 PHP)

The Honor 7X is irresistible in terms of both performance and pricing. Equipped with the powerful octal-core Kirin 659 and graphics processing unit (GPU), coupled with Full View display, the Honor 7X is the perfect competitively-priced gaming monster. Its track record speaks for itself. 

Also currently ongoing is the 5.5 Shopee Super Sale campaign, the biggest mid-year online sale in the Philippines happening from now until 5 May; featuring massive promotions including 55 peso deals, daily in-app vouchers and surprises, as well as discounts up to 90% off across a wide range of categories. For more information, visit https://shopee.ph/m/55shopeesupersale

Visit the Honor Official Store on Shopee: https://shopee.ph/honorph.officialstore

Pre-registration for Honor 9 Lite and Honor 7X: https://shopee.ph/shopeexhonorsignups

Download Shopee app for FREE via App Store or Google Play