On 18 – 22 November 2019, the world will witness the first large-scale collaboration of the start-up community in the Philippines as they celebrate the Philippine Startup Week 2019 (PHSW19).
According to a recent press release, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), QBO Innovation Hub, and various agencies worked together for the event.
About the Celebration
- With the theme, “Showcasing the Filipino Startup Community to the World,” the Philippine Startup Week is more than just a gathering.
- It is a celebration and recognition of how far Filipino start-ups have come and how farther they can go.
- It is a testament to the government’s commitment to invest in ideas that have the potential to become the country’s next big-time successful companies.
- The weeklong celebration features a series of events simultaneously happening across the country.
- It includes a three-day main summit, five-day conference, and over 50 nationwide breakout community events that will showcase the Philippines as a rising start-up nation.
- In fact, the President of the Philippines had recently signed Republic Act No. 11337, or the Innovative Startup Act, thereby cementing the government’s commitment to building the Philippines as a start-up hub.
Significance of the Start-up Community
- DTI Secretary Ramon M. Lopez highlights how Filipino start-ups are crucial to the country’s economy by bringing in investments, providing job opportunities, and contributing to a community’s development.
- With the Innovative Startup Act and the Philippine Innovation Act, which are both supporting the start-up community, the Philippines will be one of the leading countries in developing disrupting start-up concepts.
- There is a strong potential in this area particularly since Filipinos are creative, innovative, and know how to keep up with changing technology and find ways to use it in solving societal problems.
- The goal is to build an entrepreneurship ecosystem that will push for innovation through more internet platforms and more business models that are new.
- The signing of the Innovative Startup Act is just the first step. The government is seeing more collaborations happening in the future and this is just one of them.
- DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan II explained that the event will bring together all the innovative start-ups in the country.
- Being in one place will give them the opportunity to meet fellow start-up founders, share and learn from their success stories, and showcase the power of technology and innovation.
- Start-up founders and aspiring entrepreneurs, who will participate at PHSW19, will get access to a myriad of networking opportunities, learning sessions, and interactive activities.
- The PHSW19 is a nationwide celebration and the entire Filipino start-up community is invited to come together, grow together, and move the country’s start-up scene towards its golden era.
- The PHSW19 will start on November 18 with multiple community events in Metro Manila hosted by various partner companies. Happening simultaneously are other regional events.
- Interested parties can view the full schedule of events here.
