As one of the world's fastest destination for Business Process Outsourcing and a dominant player in the booming ICT industry within the Asia Pacific region, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines and Business Processing Association of the Philippines annually holds the "International ICT Awards - Philippines 2010" to recognize success in organizations and individuals who contribute to put the Philippines on the map.

Now in its 4th year, this event proves to be especially siginificant given the rough economic climate in the past years.

In 2009, the BPO industry registered over $7 billion in revenues, a 19% growth, and generated over 700,000 jobs despite the global financial crisis. Contact centers in particular earned revenues of up to $5 million and generated 280,000 jobs for Filipinos. The reasons for the impressive results were discussed by organizersof the event.

One major development in 2009 was the fact that the economy was already starting to recover from the slowdown caused by the financial crisis during the latter part of 2008. Back-office and KPO expansion also led growth in higher-value services delivery from the Philippines. The BPO industry itself proved resilient and grew over 20% in revenues, up 14% in 2008. ITO, in particular, faced with a tough financial environment coped by reducing prices to keep clients which resulted in lower revenue per employee. The fields of transcription, animation, and ESO meanwhile held steady during the financial crisis and are now diversifying and upgrading capabilities. Finally, an emerging industry of game development did particularly well in 2009.

To recognize the positive growth the outsourcing insutry has produced in the past year, organizers announced last Tuesday, March 9, the nominees for 8 categories: ICT Individual Contributor of the Year, Most Innovative BPO Company of the Year, Fast Growing BPO Company of the Year, Best New PO Locator of the Year, Non-Voice Excellence of the Year, Shared Services Excellence of the Year, BPO Employer of the Year, and BPO Company of the Year.

Nominees for BPO Company of the Year includes: Aegis PeopleSupport, Callbox, CCTP, Convergys Philippines Services Corporation, CyberCity Teleservices Philippines, ePerformax Contact Centers & BPO, Exist Global, Inc., GenPact Services LLC, Infosys BPO Ltd-Philippines, RCG Information Technology, SGS Gulf - LTD-ROHQ, Siemens IT Solutions & Services, Sitel Philippines Corporation, Stream Global Services, Sutherland Global Services, Teleperformance Philippines, and TELUS International Philippines.

The gala night will take place on Thursday, March 25 at the Grand Ballroom, Dusit Thani, Manila. For select members of this "sunshine" industry, their night is sure to shine a little brighter than the rest. And while projections for the Philippines' IT-BPO industry growth are pegged at USD12 billion in revenues by 2011, the challenges remain. Rapid build-up , greater diversity of services, and increased demands are expected, however, in order to take full advantage of the market, the Philippines still needs to beef up its country's branding, increase internal awareness on this growing industry, and possibly refocus government support.

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Maintenance eats up to 70% of an IT's operations -- blame it to rigid and aging infrastructure, application and information complexity, and inflexible business processes. A converged infrastructure that covers storage, servers, network, management software, and power and cooling is needed by today's businesses for performance, availability, reliability, and scalability demands.

Hewlett-Packard (HP) Converged Infrastructure comes to the picture as a disaster-proof and --tolerant storage infrastructure. HP Director for Engineering-Storage Works XP Division Chris Powers cites in a briefing with the Philippine press last Friday, March 5 that environments which are more complex with trapped management and capacity; legacy storage that cannot affordably scale capacity and performance; explosive growth resulting in sprawl, inefficiency, and facility constraints, and storage that cannot be managed in a silo exists to serve the applications, are the identified gaps in the existing storage environments.

Building a converged infrastructure which is virtualized, resilient, orchestrated, optimized, and modular will help fill those existing gaps. HP's Tier 1 storage for a Converged Infrastructure address these gaps. Its characteristics include:

Virtualized (provide greater infrastructure utilization via external storage and thin provisioning features and capabilities);

Resilient (demonstrate highest levels of availability and disaster recovery solutions);

Orchestrated (from seamless integration into data center management tools to policy based management and provisioning;

Optimized (broadest level of application and workload capabilities providing ability for massive storage, and

Modular (install once and scale via online HW scaling and FW updates).

The Tier 1 storage is both bulletproof and disaster proof, exemplified in a battery of tests HP performed. Powers cites that currently, HP is shipping their 5th generation of XP disk arrays, with more than 10,000 frames and hundreds of petabytes of capacity installed.

The HP StorageWorks XP Disk Arrays is also pegged to mitigate risks with constant data availability; lower costs through efficient data management, and accelerate business growth with swift adaptability. "[We like to reverse] the equation of 70% spent on maintenance and 30% on budget. [Our product is here] to slice the impact of interruption to the business continuity," Powers cites.
-- with L.C. Corpuz

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Oracle, the world's leading supplier of software for information management and the second largest independent software company, introduced to the Philippine press last Friday, March 5, the Exadata Database Machine 2, dubbed as the fastest machine for both data warehousing and online transaction processing (OLTP).

The Sun Oracle Database Machine 2 is pegged to be twice as fast as the version 1 for data warehousing and is made with with Sun's FlashFire technology. Beyond data warehousing applications, it has the Exadata Smart Flash Cache based on Sun Flashfire technology.

Other features of the Oracle 11g Release 2 include a hybrid columnar compression for 10 to 50 times data compression; scans on compressed data for even faster query execution; storage indexes to further reduce disk I/Os; offloading of query processing to storage using Smart Scans; Smart scans of data mining models in storage servers, and applications running on the Sun Oracle Dabatase Machine achieve up to 1 million I/O operations per second to flash storage.

The hardware features from Sun include: Flashfire memory cards that enable high performance OLTP; 80% faster CPUs (Intel Xeon [Nehalem] processors; 50% faster disks (600GB SAS disks at 6 gigabits/second); 200% faster memory (DDR3 memory); 125% more memory (72 gigabytes per database server); 100% faster network (40 Gigabits/second InfiniBand), and raw disk capacity of 100TB (SAS) or 336 TB (SATA) per rack.

Major clients like the Commonwealth Bank of Australia; LGR Telecommunications; NHG Singapore; Allegro; SK Telecom, among many others, is more than impressed to the performance of both Oracle Exadata Database versions 1 and 2.

Oracle Asia Pacific General Manager for Exadata and Appliance Solutions Christopher Chelliah says that the compelling differentiators of Sun Oracle Database Machine/Exadata include lower continuing costs and fastest time to value and lowest risk. "Everybody can deliver performance -- ours is 'predictable' [and that's the difference]," he says.

"Exadata Version 2 is twice as fast as Exadata V1 for data warehousing, and it's the only database machine that runs OLTP applications. Exadata V2 runs virtually all database applications much faster and less expensively than any other computer in the world," Chelliah adds.

Exadata Version 2 is available in four models: full rack (eight database servers and 14 storage servers); half-rack (four database servers and seven storage servers); quarter-rack (two database servers and three storage servers), and a basic system (one database server and one storage server). All four Exadata configurations are available immediately. -- with L. C. Corpuz

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 5, 2010) - The new design for the $100 note will make its debut on Wednesday, April 21 during a ceremony at the Department of the Treasury's Cash Room. The U.S. government redesigns currency in order to stay ahead of counterfeiters and protect the public. Decisions about the redesign of each denomination are guided by the government's close evaluation of the range of ongoing counterfeit threats, whether from digital technology or traditional printing presses.

The ceremony in Washington, D.C., will be held at 10:00 a.m. U.S. EDT and will feature:

• Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner
• Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System Ben Bernanke
• Treasurer of the United States Rosie Rios
• Director of the United States Secret Service Mark Sullivan

When the new note begins circulating, it will be important for people to know that it is not necessary to trade in old-design notes for new ones. All U.S. currency remains legal tender, regardless of when it was issued.

The unveiling of the $100 note is the first step in a global multi-government agency public education program implemented by the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board and the U.S. Secret Service, to educate those who use the $100 note about its changes before it begins circulating. The $100 note is the highest value denomination of U.S. currency in general circulation, with up to two-thirds of $100 notes held outside the United States. Public education is an important component of the government's redesigned currency program because a well informed public is our first and best line of defense against counterfeiting. Free training materials for cash-handlers as well as other public education resources will be available in 25 languages at www.newmoney.gov beginning at 10:30 a.m. U.S. EDT on April 21.

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Thailand has succeeded in attracting some of the top global names in solar energy to SolarBusinessBangkok2010, the country's first ever national conference on solar, in Bangkok on 22/23 March. The conference aims to build on evidence that a rapid growth phase is starting: recent announcements include plans to build the largest PV solar farm in the world near Bangkok. Thailand is the largest energy-producing country in South-East Asia, and adopted a National Renewable Energy Plan in 2009.

Global interest in Thailand's solar growth prospects is evident in the list of speakers, sponsors and exhibitors.Thai speakers start with the country's Minister of Energy, and also include the major national utility (EGAT) and a number of speakers from business and technological institutions. International speakers include the head of Morgan Stanley's global solar energy practice, who will talk about criteria for financial success in solar; senior executives in two major international developers and operators of solar plants; representatives of major global suppliers of panels, thin-films, batteries, and BOS (balance-of-system) products; and the World Bank Group. Simultaneous English-Thai translation is provided in all sessions of the conference.

A good base for solar already exists in Thailand: the first solar power plant was established in 2003 by the national power utility EGAT and recent price reductions have made PV projects more cost-effective.

But important challenges remain: according to Suwaporn Sirikoon, the Chief Executive of the Energy for Environment Foundation, "there are still many other difficulties in project development, for example, the selection of technology, investment cost, confidence of financiers, and the power system interconnection regulations", These issues will be at the center of discussions and presentations during plenary and workshop sessions.

Beyond the plenary sessions, delegates to the conference programme may choose from a range of seven half-day discussion workshops, including sources of finance, choice of technology, performance testing, and government support policies. While the conference itself is primary, a 1000m2 exhibition hall will include some of the world's top suppliers.Participants will be able to talk to over 25 exhibitors from Japan, China and Europe displaying the latest technology, as well as Thai companies gearing for the rapid expansing now starting.

Details on www.solarbangkok2010.com

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The Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) held a press luncheon today to formally introduce BPI's Family Savings Bank (BFSB) BPI Family Ka-Negosyo, a reinforced program to fit the financing requirements of micro and small enterprises. The new product offering is in line with the bank's thrust for entrepreneurship.

"The main objective of the program is to provide small entrepreneurs a means to boost their business operations. Our mission is to be the entrepreneur's trusted partner, their Ka-Negosyo, working towards a growing and profitable enterprise", says BFSB VP and Commercial Loans Division Head, Ma. Mercedes Roces.

The BPI Family Ka-Negosyo business program includes a comprehensive line of products and services, highlighting its customized business loans, to fit the client's financing requirements and available budget. The Ka-Negosyo lends to micro and small enterprises.

BFSB is set to further beef up its Ka-Negosyo business tools into a total resource package for small businesses. Services such as cash flow management with features of online payments to BIR, SSS, PhilHealth, and PagIBIG, employee payroll and fund transfers are available to give convenience and flexibility to entrepreneurs. In addition, it offers various online tools to track cash flow, make tax payments, and automate an entrepreneur's business operation requirements.

"We want to provide small businesses a range of products and services that they need to make their enterprises expand and flourish," add Roces.

To further equip small business ventures, BFSB enters into a partnership with Go Negosyo, the advocacy organization that aims to create an entrepreneurial climate among Filipinos. The signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the two organizations coincides with the launch of BPI Family Ka-Negosyo.

BFSB also celebrates the homecoming of its BFSB-Go Negosyo Business Excellence Awardees for 2009: Soapmaker and Retailer Melody Ayupan from Benguet, Organic farmer Benjamin Lao from Davao; and Coffee Distributor Cherrylou Tiongson from Bataan.

BFSB is also set to launch the Ka-Negosyo web site, which will serve as an online resource for micro and small businesses.

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Danish company Vestas wind systems announced last Thursday, March 4, the opening of the Vestas information Technology (IT) hub in Makati City, Philippines, one of its four IT centers across the globe including Denmark, Singapore, and the USA.

The Vestas Services Philippines, Inc., will support Vestas' global team with IT operations and support, including surveillance, service desk, operations, support, and programming. The local IT Hub staff will be fully integrated into the Vestas IT value chain and will have access to global tools and methodologies in Vestas' Group IT.

Located at the business district of Makati City and equipped with state-of-the-art technology, Vestas' new IT hub employs approximately 25 IT professionals and expects to ramp up its work force to 100 employees by the end of the year and to 200 employees by the end of 2011, making it the biggest IT hub in Vestas outside Randers, Demark.

"The opening of our IT hub in the Philippines will make it possible for Vestas IT to streamline its global IT services throughout Vestas' business and enable us to operate out IT reliant business areas more efficiently," says Vestas Wind Systems A/S Chief Information Officer Torben Bonde.

Apart from meeting government support and infrastructure, Manila was chosen for the new Vestas IT hub because of the skills and competencies of the local workforce.

"Filipino IT professionals' quality of education, professional experience, cultural adaptability, and good communication skills make them a welcome addition to our Global Group IT organization. Vestas is confident that with the capabilities and expertise of Filipinos, the Manila IT hub will provide valuable support to our global IT operations together with our IT employees in Demark, Singapore, and the USA," adds Bonde.

WIND ENERGY FOR ALL
The establishment of the Vestas Manila IT hub will support Vestas' goal to accelerate its capabilities in harnessing wind power, a highly viable solution to the world's long-term energy demands.

The sharp rise in energy consumption calls for a sustainable resource that does not create more greenhouse gases, pollution or waste for future generations. As such, wind power is a renewable, predictable, and clean source of energy. In addition, substantial capacity can be established quickly, offering the energy independence demanded by the world's largest and fastest growing economies.

In the Philippines -- which currently experiencing a power crisis -- Vestas has already installed a cumulative 33MW capacity in the northern province of Ilocos Norte. "We like to have the [use of] wind energy to be on a par with oil and gas [use]," says Vestas Asia Pacific President Sean Sutton. He adds that they aim to increase the wind energy capacity in the country to 417MW by 2013.

"We want the Philippines to become energy independent [thus we] promote wind power as a renewable energy source," says Vestas Services Philippines, Inc. Managing Director Juergen Wirth. -- with L. C. Corpuz

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IBM (NYSE:IBM) introduced last Thursday, March 4, the first systems offering more scalable, workload-tuned computing on the x86 platform: the new eX5 servers are the result of a three- year engineering effort to improve the economics of operating enterprise-sized, x86-based systems.

The eX5 portfolio marks IBM's second family of 2010 systems designed for a new generation of demanding workloads and to significantly reduce costs of existing IT infrastructure. They are being previewed today at the CeBIT trade show in Germany and will be officially rolled out later this March and throughout the year.

REAPING BENEFITS
Drawing on decades of experience in enterprise systems design and silicon packaging, IBM engineers have radically expanded the capabilities of the x86 platform by achieving an engineering first -- decoupling memory from its traditional, tightly bound place alongside the server's processor, thereby eliminating the need to buy another server to support growing memory. This all-new class of x 86-based systems offers six times the memory scalability available today, helping flatten the ever-rising cost of operating industry-standard data centers.

For example, the amount of data ingested by today's average Web- based workload doubles every year, increasing costs and straining resources. Users have traditionally dealt with the deluge by using the only method available with industry-standard platforms -- throwing more servers at the problem, which furthers sprawl and increases power and management costs. Today, typical x86 servers are only being utilized at 10 to 15% of capacity due to a 30-year-old architecture that locks processor and memory capacity together.

eX5 AT WORK
Acxiom Corp. is a leader in interactive marketing services and early user of eX5 systems. The company counts among its clients seven of the top 10 retail banks and nine of the top 10 auto makers. Acxiom analyzes massive amounts of rapidly ballooning consumer data on behalf of its clients -- four petabytes of data today. Acxiom now has 22,500 servers.

"The IBM eX5 systems are game changers, "says Acxiom CIO David Guzman." We've been able to double our virtualization capacity, dropping our software licensing costs.

The price/performance equation is extraordinarily compelling, with five times the performance at a fraction of the cost. Moreover, there is a positive impact on all of the other key components of IT cost -- space, power, labor, maintenance. The concrete result of this next generation machine is exciting, and the roadmap has 'knock-your-sock-off' vision."

The eX5 systems take advantage of integration with IBM middleware to create a highly virtualized environment that gives users a flexible, highly scalable system that can reduce the number of servers needed by half while cutting storage costs by 97% and licensing fees by 50%.

The new systems ride a wave of market share growth for IBM. IBM gained more revenue share than any of the major x86 server vendors in each quarter of 2009, according to IDC, and now holds nearly 20% share -- 3.5 point year-over -- year gain. According to IDC, IBM also significantly outperformed the blade market in 4Q09, recording 64% revenue growth in blades and gaining 5.7 points.

ADDITIONAL OFFERINGS
Coinciding with the launch of eX5, IBM's Technology Services (GTS) is announcing a new approach to delivering implementation services for server and storage products.

Among the new offerings IBM is introducing are: IBM implementation Services for System x- BladeCenter or System x remote implementation and IBM Implementation Services for System x -- Remote ServicesPac for IBM Systems Director.

Initially available in the U.S. and Canada with plans to expand to the rest of the world later in the year, these remotely delivery, lower price point services help clients optimize system performance and reduce time to value.

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The Institute of Training and Development (ITD) Consulting Group Inc. once again brings a world-class consultant among the likes of Jack Canfield of the famed Chicken Soup series, and Robert B. Tucker, innovation guru. Dr. William J. Rothwell, the world's leading HR and organization development (OD) guru, will hold a Penn State Certificate in Change Management and Performance Consulting (CMPC) program on March 12, 15 and 16, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Dr. Rothwell, a Pennsylvania University professor who currently heads the top-ranking HRD graduate program in the USA has been working in the performance, OD and HR field since 1979. The president of Rothwell and Associates, Inc., has worked with over 30multinational corporations as a consultant, and has authored over 60 books and many bestsellers.

The three-day CMPC program, which the ITD mega guru will spearhead, will allow participants who are leaders, HR and OD professionals to learn and network with top international HR and OD experts, and receive cutting edge materials and a toolkit to support practical implementation. Aside from getting a Penn State, participants will learn how to address important questions on managing change, addressing organizational problems, and subsequently, improving overall human performance.

Focus will also be given on key success factors and latest developments and practices in the area of change management and performance consulting. Dr. Rothwell's seminar will certainly enable participants to not only become responsible leaders, but moreover, create a competitive and sustainable advantage for their organizations despite the challengingeconomic times.

The seminar is presented by ITD, the country's leading multinational provider of superior quality organizational and human resource development solutions to the Asia Pacific, and the prime mover behind the finest motivational speaking engagements in the Philippines.Special rates and group discounts are available, for inquiries about the event, email itdmanila@itdworld.com call (63 2) 887-7428, text (63) 915-4974559 or visit www.itdworld.com

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Businesses have gone global, and with buzz words like global economy and world market, the World Wide Web has certainly played an important part in this new world order by bringing suppliers and consumers closer, processing transactions faster and ultimately making the world flatter. And while companies fight it out tooth and nail with international brands just to get the coveted prime spots in search engine results, 88db's message is simple: Know your market.

88db, a rich media online listing of businesses and organizations, launched their newly-revamped site last Thursday, March 4, positioning it as a "one-stop shopping, networking and search mega site." At present, there are 28 categories listed to make searching easier for users, these include Travel, Business Services, Beauty and Wellness, Pets, Weddings, to name a few.

88db's Philippine division conceptualized the current platform (www.88db.com.ph) )around the idea of creating an online community focused on promoting homegrown products and services. "If you want to narrow [down] your search in the Philippines, you have an alternative," says Racquel Cagurangan, 88db's General Manager.

More than just online classified ads, however, 88db provides a venue for MSMEs and entrepreneurs to promote their product for free. Sure, paying advertisers get more exposure and has the added advantage of the SMS feature* but for start-ups without spare change for promotion could certainly take advantage of this. After all, it is better to be there than to have no presence at all.

Naturally, the key to any online community is membership. Beefing up membership means more listings, more advertisers, and consequently more users. Cagurangan acknowledges these factors and reveals that in three years time, she would want 88db's Philippine portal to attract as much as 25 million unique visitors; quite a reach, but considering the fact that 88db has never initiated agressive promotions for the portal, they have been getting decent statistics since going live back in 2006.

According to Don Jocson, 88db's Business Development Manager, the portal's overall unique visitors increased from some 300,000 in 2006 to about 6 million in 2009, almost 20 times more than their first year. Considering the billions of pages in the web and millions of online listings, their numbers are impressive to say the least.

The challenges ahead consist of spreading the word, living up to the promise of delivering these services seamlessly, and gaining stable membership, because there are plenty of global competitors who might just take the glocal route. -- with D. Irinco

*Users can send free inquiries online which the advertisers can receive in their mobile phones as SMS

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The International ICT Awards-Philippines 2010, an award giving body recognizes the organizations and individuals who contribute the most to put the Philippines and Filipinos in the minds of global business leaders. Filipinos are achieving world beating levels of performance and this gala awards night will be their chance to shine in front of the international community.

The Philippines has emerged as one of the world's fastest growing destination for Business Process Outsourcing as it's engaged in offshore outsourcing for global companies. This success has made the country, a dominant player in the booming ICT industry within the Asia Pacific region.  Recently, the Philippines received the Best Off shoring Destination of the Year Award for 2009 for its BPO sector bestowed by the United Kingdom's National Outsourcing Association.

The 4th Annual International ICT Awards- Philippines 2010 recognizes the success in organizations and individuals who contribute to put the Philippines on the map.  Filipinos are achieving world beating performance and this gala awards night will set the stage in promoting excellence in front of the international business community.

The world will be watching as the Philippines celebrate another marvelous year of Outsourcing Industry success.

In its 4th year, the largest event of its kind in Southeast Asia, and one of the most closely watched in the world for the BPO sector, the International ICT Awards 2010 will highlight the tremendous success of some of the world's premier companies engaged in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) in the country.

The nominations for this prestigious award are now open. The categories include: BPO Company of the Year, Fastest- Growing BPO Company of the Year, Most Innovative BPO Company of the Year and other awards to be given recognizing the best in the BPO sector. New award categories are created in order to give recognition to rising non-voice BPO companies including Shared Services Excellence Company of the Year and Non-voice Company of the Year.

Comprised of star-studded Board of Judges, this event will gather some of the most prominent leaders in the ICT industry enthusiastic about the success stories of your favorite BPO organizations. 

The Official Nomination Form and Awards Criteria are available from the Official Event Website: http://www.ictawards.org/sites/default/files/nomination_criteria10.pdf. In order for your company to be considered for these important international awards, send your completed forms before the nomination cut-off date of February 28th, 2010.

The International ICT Awards 2010 will be held on March 25th at the Grand Ballroom of the Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati City, Philippines. For more information about this must-attend event, visit their website
(http://www.ict-awards.org/).

This event is organized by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines in close partnership with the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P), the largest BPO industry associations and the country's representative to the global business community.

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Local BPOs and Contact Centers in the country can now enjoy the benefits of IP communications technology as VoiceOne launches its portfolio of services today, Feb 25, 2010, at the Intercontinental Hotel. The event is led by Mr. Cyril Rocke, President of DataOne and VoiceOne.

The launch is seen to attract major players from both local and multinational BPOs and contact centers as these enterprises have much to gain from the use of revolutionary VoIP services and IT outsourcing that DataOne and VoiceOne provide.

Rocke sees that in order for the Philippines to protect its position in the global offshore outsourcing, it is crucial that BPOs and contact centers within the industry embrace and adopt new technology as well as build up engineering and IT skills that are still in short supply.

"We are eager to see more local players have their share in the Philippines' Sunshine Industry. With BPOs being a critical contributor to the economy and job market, we endeavor to empower the smaller, start-up enterprises to go to market faster, and reduce their need to invest heavily in the complex infrastructure that a BPO center requires," says Rocke.

"Partnering with a new generation provider that has met the highest standards and best practices of the industry will give these local players the global credibility sought by multinational clients."

To augment this need, DataOne and its affiliate, VoiceOne, have launched the first fully-functional IP Communications Services in the Philippines. DataOne's IDC is built to support mission critical systems while VoiceOne aims to provide the enterprise solutions that cover all infrastructure needs of BPOs such as provision of SIP trunks, VoIP technology, NGN networks, data center hosting, application hosting, application support and desktop support. Outsourcing also enables start-up BPOs to save up on the infrastructure they would otherwise have built and managed themselves.

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Quezon City, Philippines - 24 Feb 2010 ... IBM today launched the new POWER7 systems during the annual IBM Tech Expo & Conference held at the Peninsula Manila, Makati City. The new system is designed to manage the most demanding emerging applications, ranging from smart electric grids to real-time analytics for financial markets. It incorporates a number of industry-unique technologies for the specialized demands of new applications and services that rely on processing an enormous number of concurrent transactions and data while analyzing that information in real time.

In addition, the new systems enable clients to manage current applications and services at less cost with technology breakthroughs in virtualization, energy savings, more cost-efficient use of memory, and better price performance.

IBM's new POWER7 systems, which build on the company's 12-point revenue share gains since 2004 in the $14 billion UNIX market, can manage millions of transactions in real time and analyze the associated volumes of data typical of emerging applications. A smart electrical grid requires per-the-minute data to deliver electricity where it is needed most, in real time, while helping customers monitor their energy consumption in real time to avoid or reduce usage during the most expensive peaks each day. A major U.S. utility moving to a smart grid pilot is moving from processing less than one million meter reads per day in a traditional grid, to more than 85 million reads per day in a smart grid. The utility needs to collect, analyze, and present all that information to its nearly five million customers in real time versus the overnight batch processing of a traditional electrical grid which delivers monthly billing statements.

For example, eMeter, a leading maker of software that runs e-grids, uses IBM Power Systems to process the extreme amount of data that comes in from millions of smart meters while analyzing that information on the fly.

"eMeter ran a successful benchmark on IBM POWER6 systems for more than 20 million smart meters -- more than four-times scale of any other utilities industry benchmark," said Scott Smith, client business manager, eMeter. "We know that there are already markets in the world that are scaling significantly. Combining eMeter and IBM's POWER7 we are confident we can hit much higher numbers to meet their needs.

POWER7 systems can also offer industry-leading return on investment though dramatic improvements in price/performance, energy savings and virtualization for server consolidation. It can deliver four times the performance and four times the virtualization capability for the same price -- and are three to four times more energy efficient. Additionally, the total cost of acquisition and ownership can be better than competitive systems. For instance, the new IBM Power 750 currently delivers 280 percent better than its closest rival systems and more than 400 percent better price for performance than the other server brand.

"POWER7 systems will strengthen our position in traditional business IT, and open up new opportunities to establish smarter industry infrastructures, particularly in areas where we intend to focus more attention on, like Telco, Energy and Utilities," said Erwin Chuansu, Systems and Technology Group Country Manager, IBM Philippines.

IBM Global Financing, the lending and leasing arm of IBM can help new and existing Power Systems users step up to the new POWER7 technology with flexible financing offerings that include the upgrade, take-out and disposal of existing leased and owned servers regardless of manufacturer.

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Enderun Colleges opens its doors to welcome Alain Ducasse, one of the world's most celebrated modern French chefs and founder of Alain Ducasse Formation, Enderun's academic partner for Culinary Arts.

In his thirty-eight-year career, Alain Ducasse, a chef, restaurateur, hotelier, and teacher, has developed a unique expertise in the art of good living and good eating. In his constant desire to pass on his savoir-faire (expertise), he established Alain Ducasse Formation (ADF) as a center for the transmission of culinary knowledge. In 2007, Enderun Colleges partnered with Alain Ducasse Formation to elevate culinary education in the Philippines and in Southeast Asia.

In February, Alain Ducasse comes to the Philippines to visit its academic partner Enderun Colleges and hold a series of events titled "Before Cuisine, There Was Nature."

In a Press Conference, Alain Ducasse announces the upcoming activities, the wine diner and the industry forum, and talk about Alain Ducasse Formation and the partnership with Enderun Colleges in Manila. He is joined by Chef See Cheong Yan, Enderun's corporate culinary head, and Thomas Nommer, ADF's international development manager.
It is followed by cocktails at the Enderun Culinary Center. The building, with truly world-class and state-of-the-art kitchens, is produced by the collaboration between Enderun and ADF.

Capping the first night is a wine dinner named "Les Cuisine d'Alain Ducasse, un Hommage à la Nature" (The Cuisines of Alain Ducasse, A Tribute to Nature). The four-course wine dinner is inspired by Ducasse's Michelin-starred restaurants, and pays tribute to the authenticity of flavors and quality of the produce. The lavish dinner is orchestrated by two of Alain Ducasse Formation's chefs, Nicolas Navarro and Timothy Briggs.

The second day starts with a visit to Farmer's Market. A firm believer in the importance of quality in ingredients, he visits the market to better understand and appreciate the country's produce and terroir. In this he is joined by local food columnists: Claude Tayag, Mickey Fenix, Nancy Reyes-Lumen, Nana Ozaeta, and Bel Castro.

Alain Ducasse's visit to the Philippines culminates in "Industry Forum: Before Cuisine, There Was Nature," in which Mr. Ducasse is keynote speaker. In the advent of globalization and changing dining patterns, the forum aims to inspire industry practitioners to face these complex challenges and commit to a positive change. With Enderun's Provost, Dr. Lance Masters, as host, the forum features notable speakers in the hospitality industry: Ms. Bel Castro, a member of Enderun's F&B faculty, Mr. Reto Klauser, area manager and general manager of Makati Shangri-La, Manila, Chef J Gamboa, executive chef of Cirkulo and Milkyway restaurants, and director of Les Toques Blanches Philippines, and Ms. Amy Besa, owner of the Purple Yam restaurant in New York and author of Memories of Philippine Kitchens.

Sponsored by Makati Shangri-La, Manila, Les Toques Blanches Philippines, and BMW, the events are a celebration of food, history, culture, and how nature shapes cuisine. The exquisite wines served at the wine dinner and cocktails after the forum are from Happy Living Fine Wines (distributor of Schramsberg, Beringer, and Echeverria). All chocolates used for the dinner come from Felchlin. Floral styling is by Fiori di M by Margarita Fores. Co-sponsoring wines during the Industry Forum is Espa-Fil. The Industry Forum is also supported by Alliance Française de Manille and Lifestyle Network.

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The School of Management of Pondicherry University is organizing the second annual Global Business Summit Conference during 23-25 June 2010 in collaboration with Global Strategic Management Incorporated of Michigan, USA. The main aim of the Conference is bringing together academicians, researchers, government officials and business leaders from all over the world to identify best Economic Development and Business Strategies.   The Conference will include workshops, tutorials, networking sessions, exhibitions, trade transactions, key-note speeches, paper presentations, panel discussions, outing, and tour of industries and places. Submitted papers will be double blind peer reviewed. Accepted papers will be published in the CD conference proceedings. Best papers will be considered for publication in appropriate reputable journals. Business proposals and research papers in all areas are welcome.

Specific topic that emphasize on global business and information technology will be encouraged, but are not limited to: manufacturing, alternative energy, automotive, human capital, global marketing, education, finance, management, health, tourism, infrastructure, economics, transportation, agriculture, information technology and international business. For further details visit: www.pondiuni.edu.in, www.gsbms.com/GBSC2010Conf.aspx.

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SALVO Global announces Emerging & Frontier Markets Investment 2010 conference, which will be taking place on July 5th -- 6th 2010 in Singapore.
Top global investment officers along with all those who share a keen interest on emerging and frontier markets investment will attend the SALVO Global's Global Learning Academy 2010 conference.

Emerging and Frontier Markets are suitable for long-term investors as it allows them to avoid "putting all their eggs' in one basket and thereby increasing the risk of portfolio decline that will be generated by trends in developed markets. However, emerging and frontier markets can give investors a roller coaster ride -- risk of political, economic instability, volatile stock markets. Efficient due diligence is essential and requires an in-depth knowledge of its investment potential.

Emerging & Frontier Markets Investment 2010 will provide an alternative investment opportunity for 'high-risk, high-reward' seeking investors across the globe with local expertise and insights that are invaluable in understanding the complex, opaque systems that often characterize these rapidly changing markets. Also provides and exclusive opportunity to develop business relationships and network between industry peers, institutional investors, limited partners and providers of investment advisory/information services from the world's most influential businesses and organisations. Only the best speakers will be featured in this program.

Conference speakers are scheduled to include: Wambia Capital LLC & Global Africa Fund Management, Eurasia Capital Management (Kazakhstan), Leopard Capital (Cambodia), Leopard Capital (Sri Lanka), Advance Emerging Capital Limited (UK), Prudential Vietnam Fund Management (Singapore) and many more. Conference participation is by invitation only, in an attempt to preserve quality of the event's networking encounters. Registration is exclusive so that networking value is retained at the middle to top executive level of delegation and the highest caliber of interaction is ensured among attendees and sponsors.

Regularly updated information on 'Emerging & Frontier Markets Investment 2010' conference can be found at http://www.investemergingfrontiers.com/

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Quezon City, Philippines: IBM announced a pledge of support and partnership with the Global Peace Service Alliance (GPSA) to advance the cause of promoting peace around the world through service volunteerism. IBM Corporation's intention to provide a set of activities and offerings to GPSA through a three-year multi-country relationship was presented by IBM Philippines' Country General Manager, James Velasquez during the Global Peace Convention (Dec 10-14) held at the historic Manila Hotel in the Philippines.

The partnership framework aims to leverage GPSA's global service foundation and two signature IBM initiatives focused on service and volunteerism, namely: On Demand Community and Corporate Service Corps.

IBM's On Demand Community is a global initiative that seeks to facilitate and encourage employee involvement in the communities where IBMers live and work, by providing the tools, unique skills, and resources necessary to craft solutions relevant to local needs. While the Corporate Service Corps (CSC) -- the company's corporate version of the Peace Corps -- sends teams of top employees from around the world for one month to key emerging markets (Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America) to assist small businesses, nonprofits, and academe on projects that help create economic growth where economic development and technology intersect. IBM will work with GPSA in:

• Identifying countries where both GPSA and CSC are planned to be or currently active, and working to identify in-country partnership activities that meet local needs as well as align with the strategies of our respective organizations.
• Leveraging On Demand Community solutions and IBM corporate citizenship programs focused on five thematic areas of particular interest to both GPSA and IBM: STEM careers, teacher professional development, disaster response, childhood literacy, and environment.
• Identifying opportunities to support the Service For Peace DreamCatcher Library Project for poor communities, including a donation of Reading Companion.
• Identifying IT and business consulting opportunities, including social network development and speaker engagements, for CSC fellows in connection with the Global Peace Conventions, Global Peace Festivals, and GSPA in-country work.
• Leveraging the IBM-GPSA partnership with other private sector partners, facilitating the formation of relationships that support and extend the international service model.

"We are using the Philippines as a proving ground for this pledge, and build out this framework as a model for the ongoing partnership. This January, IBM is looking closely at opportunities in the country, launching a planning process that will interlock with the CSC teams identified for the region in 2010," said James Velasquez, Country General Manager, IBM Philippines.

"It is a privilege to partner with one of the world's premier private sector organizations in the service of peace and healthier communities. It is also an incredible opportunity to leverage the knowledge, acumen and dedication of IBMers with a growing array of national and global partners forging innovations and having real impact on development challenges." Miriam Parel, Deputy Director, Global Peace Service Alliance.

GPSA, a cross-sector initiative that promotes peace and reduction of global poverty and disease through building a global culture of service, recently partnered with the Mindanao Peace Initiative through ongoing collaborations with the Global Peace Festival. The Department of Education has launched a pilot program where 900 school children of Christian and Muslim backgrounds in Mindanao learn skills in peace building and conflict prevention through service learning. Service for Peace, an IBM-GPSA partner, is launching its DreamCatcher Libraries there and across Asia. The DreamCatcher Libraries program provide a library which engages students as volunteers, organizes trainings for communities, creates a student service club, and equips the library with educational materials and computers.

The Global Peace Convention brought together local and foreign peace advocates from 28 countries which included cutting edge service and interfaith leaders, social entrepreneurs, government and the private sector. Highlights of the convention included the IBM pledge of support to the Global Peace Service Alliance and the timely Mindanao Peace Initiative.

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Why only 12 people?
Because Arthur Guarantees INSTANT RESULTS when you get back to your organization or group he only accepts those who he knows will make it!

How?
First: This is a high-end intensive program, so only serious individuals who want Real Change in their organization or team need apply.

Second: Each application is carefully reviewed by Arthur's team, and if they find that you have the potential to suit the program, they'll contact you to conduct a follow-up phone interview. Then Arthur will make the final decision and follow up with what specific Guarantees for instant results he will give you.

Then Arthur will give personal attention to EACH PARTICIPANT AND THEIR PROBLEMS while applying his Directive Communication™ Psychology to INFUSE you with a NEW Psychology to change the way you act and react to your environment. This will allow you to cultivate the results you want with your team or organization.

After that, Arthur includes 3 telephone coaching sessions which he does personally with each and every participant to ENSURE you carry out what you started and do it with Extraordinary Results.

So...
...by limiting the number of participants is the only way Arthur can do all this and Guarantee That You Will See Instant Results.

What will you learn at Leadership Intelligence -- Infusion ?
Well first, let me tell you that "learning" is only a small part of it. Arthur uses Directive Communication™ Psychology and his Intensive Hands-on experiential methods to assist you in creating a "Leadership Identity" that will inspire your people to increase their competence, productivity and motivation at work (some of Arthur's past participants saw changes in their families too)!

And

YOU will also work with Arthur to create a step by step plan of action to support your rise to becoming a greater Leader, and solving the leadership or organizational difficulties you may be encountering.

But why should you attend?
Ok, here is some more of what you will learn:

• Why your people don't cooperate, and how to improve cooperation in 3 days
  
• Why increasing salary will never be a good enough motivator, and how to discover and apply the REAL inspirations for peak performance
  
• Why people leave, and how to cultivate serious loyalty in your staff
  
• How only a few people can affect your entire organization culture (positive or negative), and how to harness that influence to your advantage
  
• How and why your organizations culture affects you Bottom Line, and how to enhance it for superior results in 3 months or less
  
• How to earn the admiration and respect of your people in 12 days or less
  
• What makes you TOO SOFT or TOO TOUGH, and how to achieve the perfect Leadership balance for your Leadership Identity
  
• Network with senior CEO's and Managing Directors from Fortune 500 Corporations and Governments across Asia

Remember that this is an Active, High Action "oInfusion" workshop. Most of your time will be spent on implementation and practice.

How much do you need to invest to achieve superior leadership ability and immediately implement change in your team or organization?
Inclusive of:

• Meals and accommodation for 3 days and 3 nights in Bali
  All DC take home tools and materials
• All follow-up and telephone coaching by Arthur himself
• Unlimited e-mail follow-up until you achieve your leadership goals
• Complete Money back guarantee if you don't see results in the first 10 days after returning to you organization

Date : 23-25 April 2010

Venue : Villa de Carmazzi, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia
All applications must be submitted no later than February 27th and paid by March 10th 2010

Price : $3290 / Early Bird Price $2200 if submitted & paid by February 25th 2010

Contact us directly at:
E-mail: trisna@directivecommunication.com
Ph: (62) 361 977 536
Website: www.directivecommunication.com / www.carmazzi.net

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BCM Institute, the global business continuity and disaster recovery education and certification institute, announced today that the World Continuity Congress Singapore 2010 will be held on March 9, 2010 at Holiday Inn Atrium, Singapore. This is followed by 2-day Master Classes from March 10 to 11, 2010. World Continuity Congress Singapore 2010: "Be prepared for New Disaster", will combine educational sessions with case studies, focused on helping organisations achieve higher level of business continuity and disaster recovery preparedness when managing a natural disaster.

This event builds upon the success of last year's World Continuity Congress in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which attracted more than 200 business continuity, disaster recovery, risk management professionals and senior management. In 2010, the World Continuity Congress will kick-start in Singapore, followed by cities like Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Manila, Bandar Seri Bagawan and Sydney.

Steve Sobak, Chair of BCM Institute Advisory Council said "I was overwhelmed and encouraged by the response in spite of the Congress being held during the peak of the H1N1 Flu Pandemic Outbreak in Malaysia. The willingness to learn more about business continuity and disaster recovery has become more motivating than the fear of the outbreak."

World Continuity Congress will feature more than 16 C.E.H certified educational session on topics like managing business continuity during a disaster such as floods and earthquakes, enterprise risk management and business continuity, the current H1N1 situation and the next pandemic, as well as crisis communication. Three Master Classes will be held after the conference. Upon successful completion of the qualifying examination for the BCM-300 level and DRP-300 level courses, the participants will be awarded the Business Continuity Certified Specialist (BCCS) or Disaster Recovery Certified Specialist (DRCS). The auditing course will lead participants to achieve their Business Continuity Certified Auditor (BCCA) certification. The conference also provision for experience professionals to learn about auditing BCM and also crisis management.

For registration information, visit http://www.worldcontinuitycongress.com/wcc-singapore-2010.html
For press release, contact:
Ms Jess Heng
BCM Institute
Assistant Manager, Corporate Communication
jess@bcm-institute.org

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Hinduja Global Solutions, Ltd. (HGSL), the global provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) services of the Hinduja Group conglomerate and a publicly listed company under the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) of India, today announced the opening of its second facility in the Philippines, located at the Eastwood Cyberpark, Quezon City. The 3,522 square meter facility has a capacity of 1,000 seats and brings USD 2.5M investment in the Philippine BPO industry.

To date, HGSL services 80 clients across multiple verticals across the globe, employing over 14,500 people spread across 23 delivery centers & offices in USA, Canada, Europe, Mauritius, India and Philippines. It also has strategic working relationship arrangements with partners in Colombia and China who collectively employ over 1800 people serving South American, Chinese and Japanese markets.

HGSL made a name in the Philippine BPO industry as HTMT Philippines in 2004, after completing its acquisition of local BPO pioneer Customer Contact Center (C-Cubed), and opening the state-of-the-art HTMT Cyberpark, a 8,672 square meter facility with a total capacity of 2,000 seats, the company's single largest facility outside India. HGSL offers Spanish, Filipino, Mandarin, Italian, Dutch, German, French, Japanese and English services to its clients globally.

In 2008, HGSL was recognized as one of the Top 10 IDC / Dataquest Best BPO Employers in India, the Second Best Global Call Center in the Global Services Awards, and in the Philippines, the International ICT Awards' Most Innovative BPO Company of the Year. Hinduja's programs in their areas of business have helped HGSL earn this citation from their industry peers.

This year, the company is re-establishing itself as Hinduja Global Solutions Ltd, to align all Hinduja Group companies under a common brand enabling all their stakeholders to readily identify group identities. This goes a long way to providing their stakeholders with a clear picture of the global nature of their Group and the depth and breadth of the Hinduja Group.

"The new investment to the Philippines is a strategic move for HGSL to create a mark in one of the world's prime locations for business process outsourcing," said Remi Hinduja, Vice Chair of HGSL. "The opening of our second facility further strengthens our presence in the Philippine BPO industry and signals a deeper commitment to growth and excellence."

The growth of BPO companies has also contributed significantly to revenues and employment generation in the Philippines. From 2001 to 2008, revenues generated from the BPO sector grew from $350 million to $6.1 billion, posting an annual average growth of 42.7%. Meanwhile, the number of jobs created in the sector also grew robustly from 99,300 workers in 2004 to 372,000 workers in 2008, posting a 40% annual growth rate, which translates 68,200 new hires annually.²

"Competitive advantages of the Philippines in this industry include the population's high level of proficiency in English, as well as their affinity to Western culture," said Hinduja. "And while compensation in the Philippine BPO sector remains one of the lowest globally, the country's fairly young workforce ranks it at a premium, particularly in comparison to the salaries offered by firms in other sectors."

The investment of HGSL in the Philippines is not limited to the establishment of its new facility. The company also introduced a new thrust in corporate social responsibility that aims to help people succeedand "help themselves" to become more worthy members of the community. This covers those sectors, which are directly or indirectly related to the business such as the academe, social welfare and environmental care and preservation groups, hospitals, local government, and the BPO industry itself.

Some of these are the "Adopt-A-School" program and the "Near-Hire Training" program that the organization established to help poor but promising educational institutions and individuals who have the enthusiasm and the potential to get employed in the industry.

¹ Philippine House of Representatives. Policy Advisory No. 2009-05. PHILIPPINE BPO - IT INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE &PROSPECTS
² Philippine House of Representatives. Policy Advisory No. 2009-05. PHILIPPINE BPO - IT INDUSTRY PERFORMANCE &PROSPECTS

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Makati, Ortigas and most recently, Fort Bonifacio have all made their mark as prime business districts of the country. And soon, another strategic hub of business, entertainment and leisure will join their ranks.

In the past, Roxas Boulevard or the Bay Area was considered as the tourism and entertainment center of the Metro; but this has changed with the advent of more commercially developed destinations such as Makati. However the Bay Area is currently experiencing revitalization from both the government and private sector thus, paving the way for it to become the Philippines' first Entertainment Business District.

The Rebirth of the Bay Area

"Before there was Makati, there was Roxas Boulevard," says Celedonio Pile, Jr, Landmark Communities Inc. President." It used to be the first and only business hub in the country; but now it's poised to regain its rightful place as an entertainment and business destination."

Mr. Pile shares that some government efforts which strengthen this proposition include continuous efforts of cleaning the Manila Bay, improving the Boulevard Baywalk and creating a wider alternative thoroughfare parallel to Roxas Boulevard -- the Diosdado Macapagal Avenue Meanwhile, signaling the burgeoning growth of the area is the rise of new developments such as the SM Mall of Asia, Manila Ocean Park, Sea Residences. Blue Wave and Aseana. Other plans in the pipeline include the government's redevelopment of the CCP complex and SM's upcoming Business Park.

Aside from this, Pile also notes that one of the biggest anchors of this trend is the upcoming Bagong Nayong Pilipino of PAGCOR or Pagcor City (a 54 Hectare masterplanned gaming and hotel development -- the biggest in the country. This ambitious plan will house various international Casinos and Hotels. "It's an ambitious project, one that's designed to put the Philippines on the map as the Next Macao of Asia."

Pile predicts that demand for residential developments would skyrocket as well. " In the last 2 years alone, new condo developments in this area have already sold more than 2,000 units, averaging about a 100 units per month," he notes.

A Bay Area Landmark Development

"As a waterfront community, Mandara is the first of its kind here in Manila," shares Pile. He shares that the concept of Mandara Waterfront Residences lies in this vision of transforming the Bay Area into the country's first Entertainment Business District. Location in terms of proximity and location in terms of character makes Mandara an exciting development, having a private baywalk, a view of the famous Manila Bay sunset and the everyday experience of the sea breeze.

Mandara, in Sanskrit, symbolizes man's physical, mental, spiritual and emotional wellness, and true to its name, Mandara Waterfront Residences gives residents a complete environment for relaxation--from the calming breeze and relaxing waves of Manila Bay to themed landscape parks and an infinity pool with an unparalleled view of the Bay's glorious sunset.

"We've noticed that urban families need a break from the city's indoor-centric way of life. Now it's not just buying a home, it's about investing in a lifestyle," says Pile. "And by bringing them closer to nature, Mandara allows families to rest, reflect and reconnect with both family members and the wider community."

While other communities and developments only offer standard facilities like a pool, clubhouse and gym, Mandara Waterfront Residences makes good use of its vast 1.4-hectare property to provide residents with unmitigated, luxurious amenities. A continuous water supply, a centralized sewage treatment facility and generator sets ensure a worry-free lifestyle.

Meanwhile, its close proximity to international airports, the world-renowned Mall of Asia, schools and business establishments as well as bustling commercial hubs makes it an ideal home for starting families, retirees, and even ex-pats.

" We believe that Mandara residents deserve a distinct lifestyle where they can enjoy the calm refuge of home and the perfect living space while having access to the best that modern life--both business and pleasure-- has to offer," says Pile " Like the new Entertainment City, Mandara is a place where you get the perfect balance of work and play."

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Silicon Valley firm Plug and Play Tech Center is sponsoring a pitch competition for budding Filipino technopreneurs, whose business ideas deserve attention from venture capitalists looking for people who can handle the rough-and-tumble crucible of the IT world.

The goal is to "bridge the top Filipino technopreneurs to Silicon Valley," said Jojo Flores, Plug and Play's Co-Founder and VP for Operations. "We also felt that [enabling the success of] international Filipino-owned companies complements the country's objectives of building and strengthening its BPO and IT industries."

Since 2006, entrepreneurship-centered Plug and Play has served startup tech companies by providing them the resources necessary to accelerate their growth: from office space, data and telecommunications services, networking events, recruiting services, and perhaps most importantly, a network of fellow startups and potential investors. To date, the Center has been able to build a community of more than 300 tech startups, more than 70 angel and Venture Capital (VC) investors, and has raised an excess of $500-million dollars in venture funding.

Said pitch competition will be held on the second day of the 10th e-Services Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition, set on February 8-9 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, Philippines. Major sponsors include Globe Telecom and the Philippine Emerging Startups Open (PESO).

Through an "elevator" pitching competition, the "Startups Take a Pitch" track allots the best of the country's tech contenders a maximum of 4 minutes each to pitch a business proposition or idea to a panel of judges, from which 3 winners will be chosen from a shortlisted 30. Included in the panel would be Filipino venture capital firms, Silicon Valley-based Filipino technopreneurs, a representative from major sponsor Globe, as well as two representatives from Plug and Play itself.

By launching through e-Services, the competition serves to improve the image the Philippines has long been known for -- that of a voice-based outsourcing haven -- and serves to give legs to the industry through the development of competitive global citizens, regardless of whether the 3-month mission succeeds. "At Plug and Play, I want to build the name and reputation of the Philippines, not only as an excellent service provider, but also an excellent inventor, entrepreneur, and technologist. And the only way to do this is to bring the best to the best in the world," added Flores.

Filipino start-up companies involved in technology (including consumer web, internet, mobile, wireless, social media, gaming, software, hardware, clean and biotech), who have an idea or an existing product that aims to solve a real and urgent problem, looking for funding and/or globalization, are eligible to join.

At stake is a chance for the winners to be aided by Plug and Play as they get exposed to the cutting-edge resources and environment of Silicon Valley via a 3-month VC fund-raising mission. They will also be under mentorship of Plug and Play's pool of industry leaders in residence, as well as be featured in other Plug and Play events.

Resources and exposure are what Flores believes to be the sought-after enabler to the Filipino technopreneur's brimming well of talent and ingenuity. "First, resources -- we need smart capital from investors with a high tolerance for failure, easy access to large potential partners and customers, [and] experts who can advise us. Second, exposure... In order to be a truly global and successful company, [startups] must change their mind-set, add more zeroes to their numbers, and basically dream big... dream the impossible and have the courage to pursue it."

Organized by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), an attached agency of the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), e-Services is an annual exhibit and conference that converges local ICT/BPO players and the country's targeted investors in one high-class venue.

e-Services partner agencies include the Board of Investments (BOI), the Foreign Trade Service Corps (FTSC), the Regional Operations and Development Group (RODG), and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).

For more information on the competition, log on to www.plugandplaytechcenter.com or email Jojo Flores at jojo@plugandplaytechcenter.com for details. Deadline of submission of company executive summaries is on January 29, 2010, 5pm PST.

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The Indonesian logistics and supply chain arena is expected to be more vibrant in the coming months as the current administration focuses on the objective of improving infrastructure conditions, a core element which to date has been facing issues of under-development. According to the Public Works Ministry, total funding for infrastructure development from 2010-2014 will amount to around Rp 400 trillion (US$42 billion), of which 50 percent will be allocated for road development.

In addition, a robust opening up of the economy via multilateral engagements with Indonesia's key trading partners upon conclusion is also expected to increase Indonesia's trade by a further 23 percent. Coupled with an ambitious Tariff Harmonization Program, Indonesia will be positioned to realize its economic potentials as fundamental efficient logistics are enabled.

With an aggressive infrastructure build-up and multi-prong economic incentives to encourage trade, logistics and supply chains professionals across the Archipelago can expect new opportunities to realign business processes in line with expected growth. This must-attend Logistics and Supply Chain Indonesia 2010 Conference will be the perfect platform for leading logistics and supply chain professionals to meet, debate, explore and gain consensus on emerging trends and challenges facing the industry today.

Key players in the Indonesian logistics and supply chain arena will share insights on market developments and changing industry dynamics and keep delegates up-to-date with crucial developments expected to impact their corporate business activities.

Obtain a first-hand account of the Government initiatives to open up the Indonesian market from key policy makers and thought leaders and future-mark your corporate development against the best practices of leading local logistics companies in Indonesia today.

More information on the programme can be found at www.salvoglobal.com/logistics.asp

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The announcement of plans to build one of the world's largest ever PV solar farms near Bangkok has given a boost to Thai government plans to accelerate national development of PV markets.  The plant, to be built at Lop Buri by a Japanese - Chinese - Thai consortium, will have a capacity of over 70MW.  Completion is forecast for 2011, subject to approval of an environmental impact assessment.

More good news is also emerging to support the new Thai drive for PV growth:  applications for first-phase approval for PV generating facilities in Thailand have now passed 1 GW in total capacity, and although this first-stage approval is only the first step in the process that will lead to construction, industry sources are optimistic that several hundred MW will be under construction within 3 years.  The first phase of approval in question means authorization to receive the guaranteed feed-in tariff, and is separate from building and construction permits, but is critical to financial viability of many projects.  As if anticipating the flood of permit applications that will follow, the Thai government has announced that three separate application processes for building permits needed for PV installations are to be merged under a single umbrella.

UNI Strategic Fourth Annual Learning World 2010 Conference will be held in The Langham Hotel, Hong Kong from 25th February to 26th February 2010.

Pessimism about the broader economy has given in to the first hints of optimism. Senior corporate and country leaders still expect economic conditions to remain difficult. While headcount reductions and other setbacks remain prevalent, many executives are focusing on talent retention and people development so that they are well prepared when the recovery begins. The right strategy, at the right time, provides big payoffs to organizations especially when the economy recovers. The role of L&D and HR practitioners gets complex, as they have to juggle more on their plate.

Learning World returns for its 4th year. Asia's authoritative Learning and Development event that brings together L&D leaders and People Leaders from different continents at a single platform to share best practices in retaining talents, developing people, achieve delicate balance between cost and organization's human resources and ensure that the importance of risk management is properly communicated. Tap into the knowledge and experience of experts across industries to discover the most efficient and effective solution for your organization and stakeholders.

4TH ANNUAL LEARNING WORLD 2010 WILL GIVE YOU VALUABLE INSIGHTS ON HOW YOU AS AN L&D PROFESSIONAL CAN:
• ACHIEVE Strategic Balance Between Cost, Right-Sizing and Organization Agility
• RESHAPE Talent Retention and Engagement for Faster Recovery

Calling all professional solution providers that automate and improve efficiency of business processes and environment! Have a great start in 2010, by taking part in the exhibition in the upcoming Office Automation and Solutions (OAS) 2010 trade fair from 25-27 March at Kuala Lumpur Convention Center (KLCC) where you'll meet key visitor groups and investment decision-makers who are important for your company. You may register at www.oasfair.com.

With AFTA 2010 and the aim of ASEAN Economic Community 2015, ASEAN becomes a single market and production base with a market potential of 513 million people, are you ready to compete? To compete in today's marketplace, companies must be able to manage their business processes quickly and efficiently. Especially SMEs, businesses must be responsive and flexible enough to contain rising costs and keep business environment lean and efficient.

OAS 2010, a pioneer trade fair for office solutions was thus created to mark a milestone by creating a business platform that gathers all professional business solutions that automate and improve efficiency of business processes and environment by providing niche platform for Internet and mobile solutions, software, hardware & networking solutions, online solutions, Outsourcing, e-government, Green Office and service solutions such as transport & logistics, e- banking and finance, telecommunications as well as marketing.

3 Good Reasons you must not miss OAS 2010:
Generate Leads and Drive Sales
Get ready to meet 8,000-10,000 decision makers of SMEs and thus potential customers over this 3-day trade fair that is strongly supported by SMI Association of Malaysia (SMI), Persatuan Usahawan Muda Malaysia (PUMM), Malaysia Retail Chain Association (MRCA) and Branding Association Malaysia (BAM).

Value for Money
Save hundreds of thousands in promotion and marketing costs by leveraging your media and exposure opportunity on this professional trade fair organized by a project team with combined experience of more than 50 years and extensive knowledge of the Business and IT industry.

Year long promotion
Upon participating OAS2010, the organizers will assist in showcasing exhibitor solutions on www.smisme.com for the next year until before OAS 2011 takes place.

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Recent years have seen the Philippines grow into a sought-after voice-based destination owing primarily to its abundant English-literate and low-cost workforce.  But in light of the global economic downturn, emerging trends reflect a movement up the value curve towards what is called knowledge process outsourcing (KPO) with functions involving greater business complexity, reported the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry.

KPO includes equity and financial research and analytics; business and marketing research and analytics; engineering and design services; and pharmaceutical and research outsourcing.

"High value and knowledge-based BPO providers will rise and will be more sought after since companies around the world will lack the talent, domain expertise and scale to operate their support functions," said Charles Villaseñor, CEO of Transprocure, a wholly-Filipino owned company engaged in global BPO procurement solutions and recipient of the e-Services Awards 2009 for Business Development in BPO.

"The Philippines will be on the forefront [of these trends] since it has the various necessary attributes not easily duplicated by other emerging BPO locations," Villaseñor shared, noting that it is also vital to find the right market niche that will prove compelling to organizations. The Filipino workforce, he added, is "world class and has the right approach and attitude", and is thus ready for the challenges inherent in the ever-evolving outsourcing industry.

Online services by demand

Another trend to watch out for is cloud computing, which allows on-demand utilization of a shared, infinite amount of computing resources such as software, storage, and product development tools, via the Internet. Without the need for physical infrastructure to deliver these hosted services, cloud computing cuts back on capital expenses at the same time serving as a tool towards providing emerging economies with affordable access to top-quality ICT infrastructure.

"[Cloud computing] significantly reduces time, costs, [and] headaches, [as well as] delivers innovations within organizations, [particularly the telecommunications sector]," said Winston Damarillo, CEO for Global Gateway Innovation Exchange (G2iX), which pioneered SaaS and Open Source technologies in the country. Damarillo is also a recipient of the e-Services Awards 2009 for Business Development in Software Development.

According to industry tracker Gartner, revenues from Internet-based cloud computing will top 14 billion dollars annually by the end of 2013.

Knowledge process outsourcing and cloud computing are just some of the key trends expected to be unveiled at the 10th e-Services Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition, a government-led ICT/BPO event in Southeast Asia. Scheduled on 8-9 February 2010 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, Philippines, e-Services is an annual trade show and conference that gathers together the best and the brightest industry movers and thought-leaders under one high-class venue.

Partner agencies include the Board of Investments (BOI), the Foreign Trade Service Corps (FTSC), the Regional Operations and Development Group (RODG), and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).

e-Services is also supported by the Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPAP), the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA), the Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc. (ACPI), the Medical Transcription Industry Association of the Philippines, Inc. (MTIAPI), the Procurement and Sourcing Institute of Asia (PASIA), and the Game Developers Association of the Philippines (GDAP).

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The Department of Trade and Industry through the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM) is preparing for the 10th e-Services Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition as part of its trade promotion program for the ICT/BPO sector.

The event follows the recent win of the Philippines as the "Best Offshoring Destination of the Year" in the recently concluded 6th annual National Outsourcing Association (NOA) Awards in the United Kingdom, edging out shortlisted contenders Egypt, Russia, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka in the event held at the Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel in Central London. It first received the same distinction in 2007.

Held annually, the e-Services Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition is a 2-day international trade show and conference in the Philippines that serves as the platform for IT and ITES (IT-enabled services) providers from around the globe to network under one venue. For 2010, the show targets over 200 exhibitors and more than 2,000 trade buyers.

In the past, e-Services became the meeting point for experts and C-level executives from different countries who are looking to expand in the Philippines.

David Barrett, Chief Executive of Procuritas Limited, an advisory company engaged in engineering sourcing transactions with BPO suppliers and customers, notes the recent e-Services as "a strong endorsement of the partnership between the Philippine government and its BPO industry."

A testament to the country's resilience in the face of recession, the Philippine ICT/BPO industry, powered by staunch government support, has continued to grow via the introduction of new services offered to the global market. Traditionally the foremost offshore destination for voice-based services, the sector has expanded to include higher value services such as finance, accounting, architectural and engineering services, software development, animation, game development, and medical and legal transcription, among others.

According to a research done by government-run UK Trade & Investment, the Philippines has jumped 14 spots to land at the 9th spot among key emerging markets for global investors in 2009.

Set on 8-9 February 2010 at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City, Philippines, e-Services 2010 is geared towards carving a bigger niche for the country in the global offshoring business given the unique possibilities presented by the recession and by such milestones as the NOA award.

e-Services 2010 Partners include the Board of Investments (BOI), the Foreign Trade Service Corps (FTSC), the Regional Operations and Development Group(RODG), and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT).

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(Singapore, October 14, 2009) - Asia Business Forum is please to inform all PR & Communications professionals of an upcoming Asia PR & Media congress which will be held on 26-27 January 2010 at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel Singapore.

We have 3 streaming sessions which will be taking place simultaneously; "Corporate Branding", "Press, Media & Stakeholder Engagement" and "Investor Relations". There will also be pre (25 Jan) and post (28 Jan) masterclassses to choose from. "Leveraging the power of press conference, press releases and media", " Branding crisis communications boot camp" and "Social Networking and PR : from support to stories".

This congress aims to help PR & Communications professional from various industries across the globe achieve effective public relations strategies to generate additional revenue through greater awareness and information for the products and services their organization offers.

Public relations practitioners communicate with a wide variety of audiences using various channels. A public relations (PR) strategy may play a key role in an organization's promotional strategy. A planned approach to leveraging public relations opportunities can be just as important as advertising and sales promotions. Public relations are one of the most effective methods to communicate and relate to the market. It is powerful and, once things are in motion, it is the most cost effective of all promotional activities. In some cases, it is free.

Email to amber.chung@abf.com.sg for more information

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"Harnessing the power of learning and aligning learning initiatives with business objectives to boost bottom-line performance in light of the current global economy"

The time has come again for the movers and shakers of learning and development to convene at Global Learning Summit 2010 to discuss the new learning and business initiatives, leadership challenges and technological advancement. The summit will be held on March 3-5, 2010 at Singapore. This summit line-up of top-notch presenters is set to be the best yet, challenging the notion of how corporate learning is perceived in a competitive environment.

Exploring a compelling vision of learning in the 21st century; demonstrating how learning and development can ensure economic survival in the light of the current global financial crisis, and promoting technology for upgrading the learning and development skills as well as building knowledge and skills within professional communities are the priorities of the Global Learning Summit 2010.

Among the topics lined up for the summit include aligning corporate learning to your overall business objectives, investing in learning -- improving business productivity through training, creating a value centric talent environment, using social media to foster collaborative learning and knowledge sharing, the role of leadership development in employee engagement,

creating a win-win leadership development partnership with high potentials, learning transfer: taking learning out of the classroom and into the field, leveraging new generation technologies for developing leaders, leveraging career development to promote employee accountability for learning and development, measuring roi: adopting learning initiatives that impact the bottom-line, formal vs informal learning for a richer learning experience, the future of learning through web 2.0 tools.

Confirmed speakers include, Agilent Technologies, British Telecom, CPF Board, Deutsche Bank, Datacraft Asia, Essar Group, Nokia Siemens Networks, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications International AB etc.

Regularly updated information on the Global Learning Summit 2010 programme can be found at www.globallearningsummit.com

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Leaders from the communications, seafood, travel, finance and oil and gas industries will come together with Asia Pacific policy makers next month, in Manila on January 19 and 20, to discuss the role of the private sector in protecting the remarkable marine environment known as the Coral Triangle.

The Coral Triangle Business Summit will be hosted by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in collaboration with WWF and will be aimed at establishing new partnerships between the private sector, policy makers and organisations interested in sustainable business opportunities.

The Coral Triangle is scientifically described as the area of ocean bounded by the countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands and Timor Leste.

The region is considered the most important marine environment on the planet but is under serious threat from over-exploitation, environmental degradation, poverty, and the global economic recession -- all compounded by severe climate change - making a compelling case for sustainable investment and business in the Coral Triangle.

PRESS CONFERENCE
Date: January 19, 2010
Time: 10:30AM (after Opening Plenary Session)
Speakers: Philippine Agriculture Secretary Arthur C Yap; Head of WWF's Coral Triangle Programme Dr Lida Pet-Soede; President of the International Seafood Sustainability Foundation (ISSF) Susan Jackson; CEO Altenergy Partners Vince Perez.

Also speaking at the press conference will be a representative of the Asian Development Bank.
Venue: Makati B Function Room, Makati Shangri-La Hotel, Ayala Avenue corner Makati Avenue, Philippines

CLOSING SESSION AND SIGNING CEREMONY
Date: January 20, 2010
Time: 4:15PM
Venue: Rizal Ballroom, Makati Shangri-La Hotel, Ayala Avenue corner Makati Avenue, Philippines

For more information or to register attendance for the above media events, contact:

Charlie Stevens, WWF Coral Triangle Programme, +61(0)424 649 689, cstevens@wwf.org.au

Paolo Mangahas, WWF Coral Triangle Programme, +63 9293600121

Gregg Yann, Media Manager WWF Philippines, +63 2 920 7923/26/31

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Businesses in the Coral Triangle must support national strategies to protect underwater environments or risk losing the precious marine resources that underpin the region's economies, WWF said today at the close of Oceans Day at Copenhagen.

Oceans Day provided an opportunity for Parties and Observer States, as well as non-government organisations and the general public, to address the implications of the emerging Copenhagen agreement for oceans, coasts, and coastal communities around the globe.

It highlighted the direct link between climate change, the health of the oceans and human wellbeing, as well as the need for the private sector to support bold adaptation actions that will minimise climate change impacts on coastal communities and marine resources.

"Nowhere is the need for global action on climate change more obvious than in the Coral Triangle, where more than 100 million people depend on the health of the sea for their income and sustenance," said the head of WWF's Coral Triangle Programme Dr Lida Pet-Soede.

"This is a part of the world where we have strong political will to protect underwater environments and coastal communities but this can only bear fruit with the support of hundreds of seafood businesses and fishing operators, tourism companies, airlines, and other enterprises that rely the region's marine resources for their business."

All six Coral Triangle governments committed to a plan of action at the World Ocean Conference to ensure the sustainability of their shared coastal and marine resources, and to take their concerns to the world stage at Copenhagen.

A report launched by WWF at the World Ocean Conference earlier this year found that in the Coral Triangle under the current climate change path there would be 50 per cent less protein available from the sea by 2050 and 80 per cent less by the end of the century.

Business leaders in the Coral Triangle will come together with Asia Pacific policy makers next month in Manila on January 19 and 20 to discuss the role of the private sector in protecting marine environments in the Coral Triangle.

The Coral Triangle Business Summit will be hosted by Philippines President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in collaboration with WWF and will be aimed at establishing new partnerships between the private sector, policy makers and organisations interested in sustainable business opportunities.

For more information:
Charlie Stevens, WWF Coral Triangle Media Office, +61 (0)424 649 689

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MSC Malaysia's CDP's "Innovate My Process" initiative helps a record setting number of MSC Malaysia Status companies achieve global standards certification in 2009.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia -- Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), the driver of MSC Malaysia's National ICT Initiative, honored the achievements of 64 MSC Malaysia Status companies that achieved global standards certifications in 2009 at the MSC Malaysia Achievement Event 2009 (AE09) gala ceremony and dinner here today.

Guest of honor, Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation YB Tuan Haji Fadillah Haji Yusof and MDeC Chief Executive Officer Datuk Badlisham Ghazali presented the 64 companies with letters of recognition.

Among the achievements of the 64 companies are certifications in the CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration), the ISO 20000 (Information Technology Service Management), the ISO 27001 (Information Security Management System), Software Testing, Six Sigma and Professional Development.

The certifications were earned through participation in the MSC Malaysia Capability Development Programme (CDP). "2009 has been a tough year for business. Despite intense pressure to control costs, MSC Malaysia Status companies have continued to invest in raising their competitiveness through adopting global best practices. Today, at the MSC Malaysia Achievement Event 2009 we are honouring a record setting 64 companies for achieving global standards certification," said Badlisham.

"A key factor behind this large number of companies' participation is the MSC Malaysia CDP's 'Innovate My Process' initiative. Early in the year, the MSC Malaysia CDP realized that it needed to help companies find 'quick win' steps that would deliver near-term ROI through cost-effective investment," added Badlisham.

Read full article here
Source: MSC Malaysia

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Assistance scheme by the Commission on Information and Communications Technology, Go Negosyo, Google and STI Colleges enables 800,000 local MSMEs to cost-effectively find new customers in the Philippines and reach out to international markets

November 3, 2009, Manila, Philippines -- The current economic downturn has turned up the pressure on Philippine companies, particularly the 800,000 micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), to find new customers for their products and services. At the same time, 25 million Filipinos and over a billion people worldwide use the Internet and search engines to find information on products and services such as prices, reviews and even where to buy locally. To connect Philippine MSMEs to these millions of Internet users at home and abroad, the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT), Go Negosyo, Google, and STI Colleges are partnering to offer a Business Stimulus Package that enables local businesses to harness the cost-effectiveness and reach of the Internet to access a wider market and increase sales. Any MSME can take advantage of the package by signing up at www.google.com.ph/stimulus between now and December 15, 2009.

MSMEs in the Philippines are crucial to the country's economy. They make up 99.7% of the country's businesses and create 70% of the country's jobs annually. In order for them to bounce back from a crisis that has left them with decreased sales and smaller budgets, they need to grow their businesses without breaking the bank.

Google's online advertising platform enables a business, no matter how small, to reach out to tens of millions of Internet users in the Philippines and 73% of all Internet users globally. At the same time, MSMEs only pay when a potential sales lead clicks on their online ad.

"Misconceptions about the high cost of technology and lack of technical knowledge have prevented local MSMEs from adopting technologies that can help them promote their business to more customers," said STI President and CEO Monico Jacob. "The Business Stimulus Package addresses these concerns, as we will be building websites for MSMEs and teachin g them how to maintain it in addition to training them on conducting an effective online advertising campaign. The hope is that these skills will enable MSMEs to become self-sufficient in sustaining their market presence online."

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