Philippine Enterprises Recognized for Excellence in Customer Experience, Digital Innovation, Cybersecurity, and Sustainability at the 2024 Future Enterprise Awards
METRO MANILA, 15 October 2024 – IDC has announced the winners of the 2024 Future Enterprise Awards (FEA) Philippines, recognizing exceptional digital transformation (DX) initiatives and leadership that leverage technology to drive business success and foster innovation. This year’s awardees stand out for their cutting-edge, technology-driven strategies that are shaping the digital landscape in the Philippines.
The 2024 winners reflect the diverse spectrum of digital pioneers across industries, including financial services, energy, and agriculture. Categories this year celebrate excellence in customer experience, enterprise intelligence, trust, and work environments, alongside recognition of leadership excellence with the CIO/CDO of the Year and Special Awards for Digital Innovation, Sustainability, and Smart Cities, highlighting the country’s progress in sustainable and inclusive digital growth.
“The 2024 Future Enterprise Awards winners from the Philippines highlight how digital transformation can lead to wider financial inclusion, stronger cybersecurity, and increased operational efficiency. RCBC’s Pulz platform and GCash’s cybersecurity initiatives are prime examples of technology enabling more secure, inclusive financial transactions that meet evolving customer needs,” says Melvie Espejo, Research Director, IDC Asia/Pacific
As global challenges reshape industries, enterprises are driven to adopt sustainable, tech-driven models. Now in its 8th year, the IDC Future Enterprise Awards have honored over 600 winners from 6,000+ nominations, recognizing digital-first pioneers from 3,000 organizations across 12 countries who are redefining their industries.
Following a two-phased approach, each nomination is evaluated by IDC analysts, with country winners then qualifying for a regional competition judged by a panel of international experts. The following are the best out of all the nominations received from the Philippines:
Best in Future of Customer Experience | RCBC Pulz by Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation
RCBC Pulz empowers Filipinos to transfer funds to different accounts locally and internationally with its network of partners: Instapay, PESONet, BancNet, PDDTS, and SWIFT. Moreover, users can interact with the banking application to deposit and withdraw cash, achieve cardless withdrawals, access affordable bank transfers, claim remittances, pay bills, engage with in-app UITF investments, exchange foreign currencies, manage their credit cards, apply for loans, buy load, save for their future, and expand their financial knowledge. One of its most distinct features is its formidable and fool-proof AI-powered security infrastructure, which protects its users from scams, fraud, hacking, and cybercrime. In 2023, RCBC reported a 30% increase in digital cost savings amounting to US$12.38 million, which can be attributed to the implementation of RCBC Pulz.
Best in Future of Enterprise Intelligence | Agile Academy by Insular Life (InLife)
Agile Academy aims to instill an Agile mindset in InLifers to ensure they are active participants in the company’s business and digital transformation (DX) journey — providing bootcamps, masterclasses, workshops, and materials. The Agile Academy activates Mission-Based Teams (MBTs), cross-functional, user-centric and self-organizing teams that adopt the Agile Framework to address critical customer and enterprise issues. MBTs are required to present their outputs every two weeks during the bimonthly sprints after which they present their solutions to the senior management to determine if they could be implemented, improved, or abandoned. To date, 13 MBTs have been activated, producing prototypes, such as the InLife App, a mobile and web application for accessing and managing life insurance policies; and the InLife Compass Super App, designed to help increase InLife financial advisors’ productivity.
Best in Future of Trust | Championing Cybersecurity and Digital Trust in the Philippines by GCash
GCash launched a comprehensive CyberSecurity program to safeguard its millions of users’ financial transactions — prioritizing security measures and user education to promote Filipinos’ financial health. Its features include DoubleSafe, which has multifactor authentication with OTP and face scan technology; Scam Score Model, which detects scam transactions by analyzing known scammer behaviors and various identifiers (device, ID, email); GCash App Shielding, in which the app immediately closes upon detection of an insecure device; and Account Secure, which limits GCash account access to one device. As a result of these initiatives, GCash successfully rejected approximately 1.5 million account takeover attempts, defended against 11.7 million device attacks, and prevented around 43,000 suspicious transactions in 2023.
Best in Future of Work | Future-proofing the Utility Operations with PIXL by Manila Electric Company (MERALCO)
The Powertech Innovation and eXperience Lab (PIXL) is Meralco’s own virtual world rendering studio and metaverse that uses real world data to create simulations for training and education.
PIXL can help accelerate innovation and improve Meralco’s business operations as it can serve a variety of functions critical to the power distributor’s mission to deliver reliable and stable electricity service. These include technology scanning, proof of concept, prototype development, extended reality previews of different vital facilities such as substations and business centers (i.e. digital twin and virtual business centers), simulations of critical incident resolutions, distant learning, knowledge transfer, and remote support.
CIO/CDO of the Year | Francis Adrian Viernes by Megaworld Corporation
Francis has driven digital transformation (DX) and urban safety through multiple programs, positioning Megaworld as a leader in smart, secure, and citizen-centric living. Under Francis’ leadership, Megaworld launched SafeGuardAI: Drone-Enhanced Vision for Secure Townships, integrating AI, computer vision, and drone technology to improve safety; and the Township Analytics and Technology Laboratory to optimize urban planning and development, addressing challenges, such as traffic congestion and resource management with the use of geospatial AI. As a result, the Data Science Laboratory centralized data collection and analysis, improving data accuracy by 50% and enabling swift integration of single sources of truth across departments.
Special Award for Digital Innovation | Transforming Financial Inclusion through Digital Innovation by UNO Digital Bank
UNO Digital Bank is redefining financial services in the Philippines by transforming from a software consumer into a large-scale software innovator. Leveraging advanced technologies and strategic partnerships, UNO Digital Bank has developed and is distributing proprietary software that significantly disrupts the market, enhancing customer engagement, and improving internal operations. UNO has developed products, such as #UNOReady, #UNOboost, and #UNOearn, to offer accessible, high-yield savings and flexible deposit options. As a result, 30% of account holders consider UNO Digital Bank their first banking experience.
Special Award for Sustainability | Philippine Rice Information System (PRiSM) by Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), Department of Agriculture
PRiSM is the first nationwide satellite-based rice production monitoring system that delivers near-real-time results — with satellite data being processed by rice-mapping software and a crop growth simulation model powered by data inputs from the field for refinement and assessment. With its consistent and regular assessment of rice area planted, planting dates, and yield, PRiSM has become an indispensable tool for multiple public institutions, colleges and state universities, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and private companies. These organizations heavily rely on PRiSM’s data products as a baseline for their planning and initiatives, enabling them to better understand the current state of rice production, identify potential issues, and develop targeted strategies. As a result, in the second semester of 2023, the rice area map accuracy at the national level was 96%, while regional map accuracies ranged from 92% to 99%.
Special Award for Smart Cities — Best in Citizen Wellbeing | SafeGuardAI: Drone-Enhanced Vision for Secure Townships by Megaworld Corporation
Megaworld Corporation’s digital transformation (DX) strategy focuses on integrating advanced technologies to enhance the quality of life for its residents and ensure sustainable urban living. By leveraging AI, Internet of Things (IoT), and data analytics, Megaworld aims to create smart, secure, and efficient townships. This strategy accelerates efforts in enhancing citizen well-being through innovative solutions, such as SafeGuardAI. SafeGuardAI: Drone-Enhanced Vision for Secure Townships is an initiative that integrates advanced AI, computer vision technologies, and drone surveillance to create a safer and more secure environment for township residents. As a result, there has been a 93% reduction in accidents within Megaworld’s townships — significantly enhancing public safety and wellbeing. This substantial improvement demonstrates the positive societal impact of integrating advanced AI and drone technologies in urban management.
All country winners qualify for the Asia/Pacific competition, where a panel of judges comprised of IDC worldwide analysts, industry thought leaders, and members of academia will determine the regional winners. These winners will be announced during the IDG Technology Symposium & Awards in Singapore at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre (MBS) on 19 November 2024. To join the event and the celebration of our winners, you can register here.
“These digital pioneers demonstrate that true transformation is not just about technology adoption—it’s about creating agile, secure, and customer-centric systems that drive business growth and ensure long-term sustainability in a digital-first world,” ends Espejo.
For more information about FEA, contact Vanessa Ong at vong@idc.com or Charles Tamayo at cjtamayo@idc.com. For media inquiries, contact Michael de la Cruz at mdelacruz@idc.com or Miguel Carreon at mcarreon@idc.com.
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