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Liveable Cities Lab: Building Digital Cities

Submitted by manager on Tue, 09/06/2022 - 19:52

Over the last two years, the world has experienced an accelerated shift towards digital innovation. The COVID-19 pandemic has redefined the future of work where schools, universities, businesses, and even governments have shifted their enterprises to online and digital platforms. Emerging trends such as the gig economy, online learning, hub-and-spoke office models, and even e-commerce are now changing the game.

Digital experts call on multi-stakeholder collaboration to build future local tech hubs

Published on July 20, 2022

Over the last two years, the world has experienced an accelerated shift towards digital innovation. The COVID-19 pandemic has redefined the future of work where schools, universities, businesses, and even governments have shifted their enterprises to online and digital platforms. Emerging trends such as the gig economy, online learning, hub-and-spoke office models, and even e-commerce are now changing the game. As technology continues to develop, what must LGUs do to prepare for this digital wave? What kind of digital blueprint must be ready to build a 'smart,' digital city? 

To address this, Liveable Cities Philippines, in partnership with Globe Telecom and the League of Cities, organized the 8th Lab of the year on July 20 featuring experts from the IT-BPM sector to discuss how cities can be digitally transformed into innovative hubs run by data-driven systems, digitally-enabled businesses, and skilled talent. 

Guest speakers included were DICT Secretary Ivan Uy, Mayor Nicholas Yulo of Bago City, President Jack Madrid of IBPAP Philippines, David Leechiu, CEO  of Leechiu Property Consultants, Founder and CEO Jonathan De Luzuriaga of Spring Valley, and Regulatory Development Strategy Head Manny Estrada of Globe Telecom. 

DICT Secretary Uy announced that the Digital Cities 2025 initiative was launched to strengthen local economies by highlighting the capabilities of other cities outside Metro Manila and developing the IT-BPM sector's potential nationwide. “A Digitized Philippines is formed by digital cities that are innovative, self-sufficient, and thriving business districts,” says Secretary Uy. 

Jonathan de Luzuriaga of the Philippine Software Industry Association and Spring Valley highlighted four core elements that a digital city must have: talent capacity, cost efficiency, infrastructure and connectivity, business environment, and able supporters. He has established his digital township project called Spring Valley in Bago City, Negros Occidental. “We have to make academe, government, and industry collaborate if you want your city to become a significant player in this industry,” says Spring Valley Founder and CEO Jonathan De Luzuriaga.

Bago City’s Mayor Nicholas Yulo has taken great strides in implementing e-governance in the city. At the height of the pandemic, Mayor Yulo has already automated government transactions in tax collection and business permits, created contact tracing applications, installed surveillance cameras in establishments, and launched a health teleconsultation program in the city. “Bago City’s quest for improvement and progress does not waver. We will continue to work with development partners towards achieving greater heights in ensuring that the best government service is offered to our citizens,” the Bago Mayor concluded.

IBPAP President Jack Madrid zeroed in on the importance of the IT-BPM industry as the pillar of the economy as it accounted for almost $30 billion in revenue and a total headcount of 1.44M  Filipino employees in 2021. He emphasized that “the industry has been instrumental in preserving jobs, generating new skills and opportunities, enhancing countryside development, and driving investments and demand for real estate. These are the unequivocal contributions of the industry in our task in nation-building.”  

“The IT-BPM sector is one of the country’s biggest industries leading the demand for office space accounting for 212,000 sqm in the second quarter of 2022,”  said CEO David Leechiu of Leechiu Property Consultants as he provided a market overview of office demand in and outside Metro Manila, most of which are dominantly occupied by the BPO industry - therefore, strategically creating more jobs, opportunities, investments, and demand for other businesses in all parts of the country. “These work-from-home setups, hybrid workspaces, hub and spoke models of real estate acquisitions, and empowering employees to give them what they want are driving more jobs to the countryside.”

But the key to strengthening the IT-BPM sector is people - building a fully-equipped, digital workforce through education and skills development. To bridge the skills gap, government, business, and academe must collaborate and adopt a culture of learning to continuously adapt to the evolving nature of technology, embrace innovation, and challenge the status quo. 

“The challenge that remains is skills development. We can digitize all we want, but without talent and people, we won’t be able to attract business and build competitive, digital cities,” Liveable Cities Philippines Chairman Guillermo Luz concluded. 

The Liveable Cities Lab is a series of webinar sessions where experts and mayors exchange knowledge and insights to help cities design better solutions for their communities. 

Liveable Cities Lab: GovTech Accelerator

Submitted by manager on Tue, 09/06/2022 - 18:30

Ambassador Peter Kell introduced the New Zealand Embassy's public sector innovation program known as the "Govtech Accelerator," during a Liveable Cities Lab held last August 3. He was joined by CreativeHQ's Head of Government Innovation Jonnie Haddon and Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) Philippines' Deputy-Director General and OIC Ernesto Perez. 

New Zealand Embassy launches GovTech Accelerator program in the Philippines

Published on August 3, 2022

Ambassador Peter Kell introduced the New Zealand Embassy's public sector innovation program known as the "Govtech Accelerator," during a Liveable Cities Lab held last August 3. He was joined by CreativeHQ's Head of Government Innovation Jonnie Haddon and Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) Philippines' Deputy-Director General and OIC Ernesto Perez. 

Globally ranked first in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report, the Ambassador shared that the key characteristic of New Zealand’s successful digital transformation journey is prioritizing the needs of people. “Digital government is about putting people first, not about what governments want to do. It’s about focusing on what people need from the government in these fast-changing times using emerging technologies, data, and changes to government, culture, practices, and processes,”  said Ambassador Kell as he shared New Zealand’s experience. 

With the help of CreativeHQ, the GovTech Accelerator will capacity-build and transform government organizations in the Philippines to produce creative solutions that will address the country’s most urgent challenges. Agencies and LGUs who join the program undergo 12-week ideation, innovation, and prototype-building for solutions to specific customer (e.g., citizen) pain points. The 12-week program is facilitated by Wellington, New Zealand-based CreativeHQ, an organization that specializes in facilitating this innovation process in government agencies.

“The primary objective of this program is to provide a better outcome for who we are trying to serve,” CreativeHQ’s Head of Government Innovation Jonnie Haddon emphasized. “It’s also about building the capability of public sector staff to apply these principles throughout their career and create a groundswell of practitioners who can challenge the status quo and do things in a different way.” 

Through its partnership with the New Zealand government, ARTA Philippines is aiming to eliminate bureaucracy and improve public service delivery. Currently, the agency is upskilling its own employees on innovation tools and methodologies under Creative HQ’s T7 Masterclass Training. To accelerate innovation in the country, ARTA is also planning to establish creative laboratories for startups, corporates, and governments. “We hope to create inclusive growth to ensure that no one is left behind in the process. We believe that streamlined and re-engineered intelligent, ICT-enabled systems will improve the lives of our people,” says ARTA Philippines’ Deputy Director General Ernesto Perez. 

The Embassy has already partnered with Anti-Red Tape Authority of the Philippines (ARTA) and Valenzuela City in the GovTech Accelerator program to improve public sector efficiency. 

The Lab was co-presented with the New Zealand Embassy and in partnership with the League of Cities of the Philippines and Globe Telecom. 

City Dashboard for Better Health

Submitted by manager on Fri, 07/08/2022 - 20:03

Guillermo M. Luz, Chairman, Liveable Cities Philippines

Last January, the Liveable Cities Philippines, and Sanofi organized the Liveable Cities Lab with the theme, "Universal Health Care: Better Health for All."

City Dashboard for Better Health

Published on July 8, 2022

Guillermo M. Luz, Chairman, Liveable Cities Philippines

Last January, the Liveable Cities Philippines, and Sanofi organized the Liveable Cities Lab with the theme, "Universal Health Care: Better Health for All."

Labs are our platform for sharing best practices and learning through expert presentations and public-private dialogues. It seeks to explore concrete measures and innovative solutions for better city planning and management. The virtual forum, with over 200 attendees on Zoom and on Facebook, was our 2022 opener and the 23rd webinar since we started the series in 2020 because of the pandemic.

We were honored to have the following speakers talk about better public health management: National Scientist and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Dr. Ernesto Ochoa Domingo, DOH Chief Health Program Officer Disease - Disease Prevention and Control Bureau Christian Nuevo, Baguio City Mayor Benjie Magalong, and Sanofi General Manager for Vaccines Kashmira Prabhu. The presentations and the discussion focused on three key issues: preparing public health systems for future pandemics; prioritizing universal healthcare coverage; and promoting healthier societies via holistic policies.

The Lab is part of our partnership with Sanofi in the Health Dashboard Project that aims to promote and strengthen public health through data and innovation. With the pandemic, health has never been a more important and critical component of a competitive, sustainable, resilient, and liveable city. Among the key indicators of a city, we focus on health data as an urgent priority given the COVID situation, and other health-related issues. We will look at the data on the relevant SDG goals on Zero Hunger, nutrition, and on Good Health, such as health facilities and professionals. As we add more information to the dashboard, we envision LGUs to develop data-driven policies for improved health care services and delivery, including nutrition and immunization programs, especially for women, children, and other vulnerable sectors.

The project builds on the Liveable Cities Dashboard which we started in 2019, an online platform that consolidates multiple data sources to present city profiles across 10 main categories - Demographics, Labor, Education, Local Economy, Doing Business, Mobility and Connectivity, Health, Urban Environment, Resiliency and Emergency Response, and Safety and Security.

In 2021, we improved the dashboard, adding more features and data in time series, through the support of the British Embassy Manila, Globe Telecom, in partnership with the Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI), the League of Cities of the Philippines, the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), and our dashboard provider, Delivery Associates.

Even before Liveable Cities was conceived, we have been promoting the use of data and information at the National Competitiveness Council together with our team at the Department of Trade and Industry, and other public-private sector partners. I am very happy to note that this shared advocacy lives on, and now with our new partner, Sanofi, we will be able to provide a clearer picture of the city's health performance, which will form the basis for adequate policies and measures.

By utilizing data visualization, local governments can easily spot trends for effective decision-making and help them diagnose areas for improvement. Through the dashboard, LGUs can effectively engage stakeholders including city and national agencies, businesses, academe, non-government organizations, and citizens.

This new partnership for the Liveable Cities Health Dashboard is a continuing effort and commitment to supporting the liveability of our cities. Through data and innovation, we will be more effective partners of the government and the LGUs, especially the 146 cities of the Philippines – ready to engage them and complement their programs and initiatives, particularly with the Labs and the Health Dashboard.

 

 

Butuan City among top 15 grand prize winners for Bloomberg's 2021 Mayors Challenge

Submitted by admin on Fri, 01/28/2022 - 13:53

Liveable Cities Challenge Philippines congratulates Butuan City for making it to the top 15 grand prize winners for this year’s Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge - becoming the only  Southeast Asian city to earn a spot in the global 15. 

Butuan City among top 15 grand prize winners for Bloomberg's 2021 Mayors Challenge

Published on January 21, 2022

Liveable Cities Challenge Philippines congratulates Butuan City for making it to the top 15 grand prize winners for this year’s Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge - becoming the only  Southeast Asian city to earn a spot in the global 15. 

As winners of this year’s competition, $1M will be awarded to each city and additional technical support from Bloomberg to implement and replicate their ideas for the next three years. Among the top 15 that Bloomberg announced as winners of the Global Mayors Challenge are Amman (Jordan), Bogotá (Colombia), Freetown (Sierra Leone), Hermosillo (Mexico),  Istanbul (Turkey), Kigali (Rwanda), Kumasi (Ghana), Paterson (USA), Phoenix (USA), Rochester (USA), Rotterdam (Netherlands), Rourkela (India), Vilnius (Lithuania), Wellington (New Zealand), and Butuan (Philippines). 

Last year, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the launch of a global innovation competition for city leaders to pitch their innovative ideas in response to COVID-19 and their city's most pressing problems. Out of 631 applications worldwide, 50 Champion Cities were listed as finalists to advance to the final phase of the competition to refine and improve their proposals from June to October 2021. Butuan and the City of Manila were both selected to the Top 50.   

Throughout the challenge, mayors have willingly stepped up and provided long-term and innovative solutions to improve the lives of their own residents across four significant categories: Economic Recovery & Inclusive Growth; Health & Wellbeing; Climate & Environment; and Good Governance & Equality. In the case of Butuan, the city decided to focus on Health and Wellbeing through its agricultural business model, AgriBoost. 

To prevent a possible food and nutrition crisis in the future, Butuan City Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada’s AgriBoost initiative presented a digital and data-driven approach in transforming the city’s agricultural ecosystem "for a sustainable, food secure, and vibrant community." AgriBoost’s four-pronged strategy aims to enhance farmers' capacities and competitiveness, enable agri-value chain players to plan and make effective decisions through predictive data analytics, control the commodity prices of their food production, and connect farmers to businesses with fresh, locally grown food. Butuan’s innovative agri-business model ensures the city’s adequate supply of affordable and nutritious food for its citizens while improving its agricultural value chain system for its farmers and constituents. To know more about AgriBoost, please visit agriboost.ph. 

Liveable Cities Challenge Philippines worked with Bloomberg Philanthropies to invite cities and municipalities nationwide to participate in the 2021 Global Mayors Challenge. 

Congratulations to Butuan City and to all winners of the 2021 Mayors Challenge.  

World Cities Day

Submitted by admin on Sun, 10/31/2021 - 11:51

Liveable Cities Philippines celebrates World Cities Day. This year’s theme is “Adapting Cities for Climate Resilience” and focuses on innovation, best practices, and solutions to build urban climate resilience. It’s an important theme for countries like the Philippines which is vulnerable to natural disasters and weather-related disturbances. The vast majority of our natural calamities are typhoons, some of which have grown more severe as a result of climate change.

 

 

Liveable cities

Published on October 31, 2021

Liveable Cities Philippines celebrates World Cities Day. This year’s theme is “Adapting Cities for Climate Resilience” and focuses on innovation, best practices, and solutions to build urban climate resilience. It’s an important theme for countries like the Philippines which is vulnerable to natural disasters and weather-related disturbances. The vast majority of our natural calamities are typhoons, some of which have grown more severe as a result of climate change.

We are living in a climate-defined future. In order to make our cities more liveable, it will become increasingly important to make our cities more resilient and adaptable to climate risks. Our Mayors, city managers, urban planners, and residents will need to work together to make this happen.

Liveable Cities is committed to working with cities and municipalities to make our communities more liveable and resilient.

GUILLERMO M. LUZ
Chairman, Liveable Cities Philippines
Chief Resilience Officer, Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation

 

Building an E-Vehicle Ecosystem: Dr. Manuel Biona

Submitted by manager on Fri, 10/29/2021 - 13:56

LGUs and EMOBILITY

Liveable cities

Published on September 8, 2021

LGUs and EMOBILITY

Dr. Manny Biona highlighted why there is a need to push for e-jeepneys and how it greatly helps reduce pollution and helps the environment in the long-run. In a study conducted for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, it was noted that the full replacement of jeepneys by e-jeepneys in Metro Manila alone would provide an additional P1.5 billion in health savings annually compared to the use of Euro 4-compliant PUVs. In addition, EVs in the country are expected to cut down life cycle GHG emissions by at least 30% relative to Euro 4 diesels. This is despite the fact that a big part of the grid mix is fossil based. Integrating renewables in the charging system will further enhance these benefits.

However, transitioning to EVs is not a singular effort. It requires a multi-stakeholder effort from  policymakers to implementers. In order to kickstart the roll-out of EVs here in the Philippines, Local Government Units have a big role to play: take the lead, build trust, put in stakes and catalyze cooperation.  LGUs are expected to play a very critical role in transitioning the PUV services to fleet- managed eJeeps by facilitating multi-stakeholder support to transport cooperatives. Considering that it is expected to generate a hefty amount of savings, Biona hopes that the government, especially the Department of Finance, realizes that the industry is worth the additional support and incentives.

Dr. Manny Biona and the EVAP believes that moving eJeeps forward requires creating and ensuring the demand and adoption of a supportive vehicle and battery financing and leasing climate.

 

 

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Building an E-Vehicle Ecosystem: Alan Pilz

Submitted by manager on Fri, 10/29/2021 - 13:52

ACCELERATING E-VEHICLE DEVELOPMENT

Liveable cities

Published on September 8, 2021

ACCELERATING E-VEHICLE DEVELOPMENT

Alan Pilz, Business Consultant for the Transportation and Mobility Industry of Dassault Systèmes, is involved in providing innovative software solutions to help industries optimize their customer experiences. Dassault partners with innovation leaders across various industries to address new challenges of mobility.

Pilz identified the top challenges shaping the future of mobility: (1) connected and electro mobility, (2) personalization and differentiation, (3) new regulations (emission, safety), (4) new mobility business models, and (5) quality and reliability. He noted that these global developments relate directly to the

Philippine context having strong push and commitment towards cleaner energy use especially through the adoption of electric vehicles (EV). Policy and reform measures have been initiated with the proposed Elective Vehicles and Charging Stations Act and the plan to establish Philippines as a manufacturing hub for auto component makers and assemblers of EVs.

Moving towards EVs would address rising fuel prices, pollution and stricter emission standards. It would eventually reduce the country’s dependency on oil imports and save on energy costs. Another long-term impact of electric mobility in the Philippines is cleaner air and the environment as it would reduce total vehicle emissions, with 90% reportedly coming from Metro Manila. EVs can decrease CO2 emissions by almost 30% compared to internal combustion engines.

Pilz underscored that electrification has significant impact not only in the transport and mobility sector; it has introduced innovation in vehicle technologies, transformed businesses and business models, and even ways of working.

 

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Building an E-Vehicle Ecosystem: Corazon Dichosa

Submitted by manager on Fri, 10/29/2021 - 13:48

PH TOWARDS AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRIFICATION

Liveable cities

Published on September 8, 2021

PH TOWARDS AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRIFICATION

The Board of Investments (BOI) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) see electric vehicles as a key technology to contribute to sustainable development with lower greenhouse gas emissions, less air pollution for citizens, and new job opportunities with positive social impact. Aside from environmental benefits, corresponding health benefits of e-vehicles to the Filipino population are seen, thus the journey to automotive electrification as one of the government’s mitigating measures to climate change and its impacts to the country.

In addition to climate change mitigation, the direction towards e-vehicles is aligned with the recent World Bank study on reconfiguration of Philippine participation in Global Value Chains, which has seen a rapid switch to electric vehicles. It is noted that e-vehicle sales were the least affected by the pandemic in 2020, with Tesla doubling its sales in China to USD 6 billion. Meanwhile in the Philippines, e-vehicles have been increasing, with almost 30,000 registrations today.

In transitioning to e-vehicles, the government is working to create a conducive ecosystem composed of a combination of: (1) regulations such as standards for vehicles, batteries, charging systems, charge ports, battery swapping systems, connectors, and other key parts and components of e-vehicles; (2) information, education and communication for further public awareness; (3) human resource development; (4) research and development for the advancements of new materials like composites and battery manufacturers, among others; as well as (5) industry support programs such as incentives and industry development.

To upgrade the electronics value chains in the Philippines, attracting foreign direct investments together with local investments is an opportunity. In this regard, the government has created several existing programs in place: (1) CREATE Act, which grants Income Tax Holidays of 4-7 years, Enhanced Deductions of 5 or 10 years, duty-free importation of capital equipment, raw materials and accessories, and special Corporate Income Tax of 10 (?) for exporters; (2) Motor Vehicle Development Program, which allows registered program participants 1% or 0% duty-free importation of parts and components; and (3) EV Bill, which provides CREATE incentives and non-fiscal incentives.

 

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Building an E-Vehicle Ecosystem: Freddie Tinga

Submitted by manager on Fri, 10/29/2021 - 13:45

MOVING PEOPLE TO A BETTER TOMORROW

Liveable cities

Published on September 8, 2021

MOVING PEOPLE TO A BETTER TOMORROW

Freddie Tinga posed two critical challenges experienced by developing cities: traffic congestion and air pollution. The latest figures suggest that traffic congestion alone cost the global economy more than a trillion dollars last year while air pollution, on the other hand, caused seven million deaths a year. In the Philippines, there are over 200,000 jeepneys nationwide with 80,000 in Metro Manila - accounting for 40% of public transport and 30% of air pollution. To solve this, Mr. Tinga emphasized the need for creating a smart and efficient transport system in the country. 

With technology on the rise, the development of smartphones and e-vehicles brings us a step closer to solving the transport issues in the country - all of which are core elements of Freddie Tinga’s EV production firm, Global Electric Transport. Global and local partnerships from the manufacturing and data analytics industry have led them to create the country’s first air-conditioned electric bus, COMET, coupled with a comprehensive smartphone data-driven transport app, GETPASS. “We are not just in the business of building the vehicle itself and selling it. Our business model and our approach is creating an ecosystem,” said GET CEO Freddie Tinga during the 8th Liveable Cities Lab on Mobility held last September 8.   

GET’s system monitors the COMET from the doorway to the highway. It has now expanded to a multitude of digital services functioning as a payment system, personnel management system, and contact tracing system in the wake of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic - creating not only a sustainable transport solution but an ideal smart one. To ensure that its sustainable transportation system stays in place, the company adopted the Bayanihan Business Model to include engineers, programmers, and people involved with on-the-ground operations. Mr. Tinga then concluded by saying, “This is an exciting time for us, we feel we have a global solution that we are polishing here in the Philippines. It’s a solution that will be able to transform a lot of urban environments around the world.”

 

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Building an E-Vehicle Ecosystem: Art Tan

Submitted by manager on Fri, 10/29/2021 - 13:42

IT TAKES A COUNTRY TO BUILD AN EV ECOSYSTEM

Liveable cities

Published on September 8, 2021

IT TAKES A COUNTRY TO BUILD AN EV ECOSYSTEM

The African proverb which goes, “It takes a village to raise a child”, could not be truer as it applies to building an electric vehicle ecosystem. As Art Tan, CEO of AC Industrials and Integrated Micro-electronics Inc. said during the Liveable Cities Challenge webinar, “The EV revolution, or just the ability to be able to put electric vehicles on the road, is (such that) the vehicle itself is just one part of the ecosystem, and what we need to do is to understand how this entire ecosystem is going to be put in place.” To build a thriving, technically feasible, and commercially viable EV transport system, we will need a ‘village’, composed of the electricity grid, battery systems, charging infrastructure, cleaner energy sources like renewables, and even an EV manufacturing industry.

Mr. Tan goes on to identify an opportunity space for the local industrial sector in anticipation of an EV revolution, “The holy grail for the Philippines has always been how to be able to be part of that automotive manufacturing environment.” Since supply chains for EVs are different from internal combustion vehicles, there is a new level playing field for market entrants. “The nice part  about it is that majority of the electric vehicle components, the critical ones that are necessary to do this, is already existing in the PH, and this is something that we are ahead on.”

He points to the different capabilities within the Ayala Group and local partners on energy supply, vehicle parts and components, assembly, distribution, charging, and payment systems – that can deliver an integrated EV ecosystem.

Mr. Tan’s talk clearly shows that the ingredient needed to raise a viable EV ecosystem is in place. Now, it just takes the village to get behind this to make it happen.

Event partners: Dassault Systemes, Globe Telecom, League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP), and CCI France Philippines.

 

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