Philippines has 45% Mobile Phone Penetration

Although mobile phone sales have gone up globally, carriers like PLDT are expecting slower growth in 2007 as penetration rate in the country attained 45% of the population.

Philippines no longer #1 on online fraud worldwide

Two months ago, I mentioned about the Philippines being #1 in online fraud worldwide. Apparently, we are no longer that as the local bank and payment processor responsible for it was just sanctioned and have their credit card processing license revoked and heavily penalized by the major credit card networks. This comes in as good news.

It seems the stringent efforts by credit card companies are paying off as online fraud is slighty lower this year. Small merchants are hit hardest by online fraud. Fraudsters pocket US$3 billion from US e-commerce sites this year.

Social Networks: More Tools, Younger Market Segment, Altering Advertisement Revenue

For the past two years, we've seen how social networking sites became increasingly popular in the Philippines. It even spurred the creation of localized social networking sites.

For 2007, a lot of social networking endeavors that will be launched online will heavily focused on new niche networks, the pre-teen girls market to be exact.

Digital Media Exchange, Inc., an online game distributor and digital entertainment provider based in the Philippines, has just released its family-oriented website mobiuskids in the Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. The site offers educational games and activities centered on child learning and family interaction. Upon launch, it introduced two popular casual online games -- Disney's massively multiplayer online game Toontown Online and virtual pet game GoPets. The site also has a child-centered social networking feature, arcade game downloads, piggybank, task scheduler, and goal tracker.

Last month, SanrioTown was also launched. New features were added on the existing online community services such as forum and free e-mail as well as download services, new social networking features havebeen launched on Sanriotown, which already has a current user-base of almost 2 million world wide.

Globe Telecom also launched myGlobe IMEVRYWHR integrated communications service. This allows users to share information using a range of integrated voice, messaging, content options, G-Cash services, Share-A-Load service, and AskG search function. Globe Telecom's partner in this service is fastmobile who announced a partnership with Yahoo! early this year to bring its multimedia features to select Yahoo! mobile users. Its Yahoo! Messenger application enables users to send voice instant messages or cameraphone photos within an active conversation.

This is perhaps the way to go in social networking too as it is predicted that there'll be 174 million mobile social communities members worlwide by 2011, according to an ABI Research Brief, and has found that "mobile social communities" currently count nearly 50 million members worldwide. This opens opportunities to monetize for carriers and value-added service providers.

This dynamic growth on the Internet is also affecting advertising spending and revenue impact. Google generates more revenue now compared to traditional TV networks.

Pinoy Won in Yahoo Talent Show

Rex Hermogino is Yahoo!'s first Talent Show winner! Congratulations!!!

Level-Up to Launch Perfect World in the Philippines

Beijing Perfect World Technology Co., Ltd. just signed a contract for the large-scale 3D fantasy online game "Perfect World" with Level Up! Inc. of the Philippines. The two companies reached a consensus regarding the distribution of "Perfect World" to Philippine gamers in the near future. Level Up! is presumed to have paid US$800,000 for the license fees.

Perfect World's entry in the Philippines is coming at a time when more and more Filipinos are playing online games.

Perfect World is a 3D online game that starts from a traditional Chinese myth that Pangu built the sky, land and people. The game created a particular historical period and took players to times of old, with its epic backgrounds and grandiose story content.

Philippine hotels accepting online reservation and payment

Makati Prime Tower Suites in Makati City is one of the few local hotels that I know who is boasting its capability to deliver instantly confirmed, payment-guaranteed reservations online. Hmmmm.......

Chikka hits 30 million

Chikka, a Filipino dotcom success story, just hit 30 million subscribers since is launched its service 5 years ago. The growth is highly attributed by its instant messaging product which is now on version 4. The Chikka version 4 is also interoperable with Google Talk.

More non-bank plastic cards for Filipinos

According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, money sent home by millions of Filipinos working overseas is forecast to hit a record US$14.1 billion next year. That is why you have new companies like World Cash developing ATM cards to facilitate the transfer and easy withdrawal of money.

Some Filipinos cashing on this trend are also building value added-services on top of card. Polytron, a telecommunications firm based in Silicon Valley, has hit on a technology that combines in one plastic the convenience of a bank card and an international phone card that can be used to call at least 250 countries. It calls the spending card Global Express Money or GEM.

These players will add to the growing and highly competitive money remittance market in the country. Those who will be sensitive to the situation of Filipino families are the ones who will likely be creative in developing new value-added services.

Opposition to Open Source Bill

Last July, I blogged about the Open Source Bill that was filed at the House of Representatives. The Philippine Software Industry Association issued a position paper not supporting the bill. The Philippine Computer Society expressed the same.

At this time, I think all this bill got is publicity. With charter change and elections being prioritized in Congress, it is unlikely that anything will happen with this bill from now till May of next year.

Filipinos motivation for sending money

Dr. Joaquin Gonzalez, director of Philippine Studies at the University of San Francisco, is studying the link between immigration and the spirituality of Filipino-Americans.

Gonzalez initially discovered that over half of those surveyed send at least $100 to $500 monthly to the Philippines. The study, to be presented early next year, also looks at the motivation for the act of sending money. Some of the present reasons include:

• Supporting grandparents and parents (24%)
• relatives' health care needs (22%)
• housing mortgage (18%)
• school payments of direct children and nieces or grandchildren (18%)

Money is send usually using money transfer companies (47%), bank channels (32%), and courier channels (21%).

Money remittance is one of the most lucrative business today in the country due to the increasing number of Filipinos working or migrating overseas. Comparing this to our OFW Internet Habits report, the only change is the increasing trust to money remittance companies. Banks used to be the primary medium for this purpose.

Organizations like UNCTAD also sees remittance as a development tool and urges countries, like the Philippines, largely benefiting from the inflow of currency to tap its potential other than further pushing consumption.

As most overseas Filipino workers are women, The World Economic Forum's latest Global Gender Gap Index found the Philippines to be doing more to empower women than the United States, Britain, Canada or Australia. Of 115 nations examined in 2006, the Philippines placed sixth, well ahead of the United States at 22nd (Sweden was first). Although women may be more economically empowered, it is a sad reality that Filipinas abroad are at high risk as well.

Jobstreet - number 1 job site in the Philippines

If Chikka.com and PinoyDelikasi.com com can considered as Philippines success dotcom stories to the world, JobStreet is indeed Malaysia's very own success story thriving in many countries. Whenever Filipinos go online to look for job openings, they are likely to visit websites such as JobStreet. The site is also referred to as one of the top or most visited job website in the country, in our recent surveys.

Cyber-libel: Stop blaming the E-Commerce Law!

This column piece has definitely agitated me. The columnist is referring to a recent ruling in the US about a libel case that favored the accused. In one way or another, he just stepped into accusing the E-Commerce Law for being inept in prosecuting cyber-criminals in the country.

Here is my thinking on the issue.

The Philippines E-Commerce Law or Republic Act 8792 did not change any law. However, it strengthened all existing laws by recognizing its electronic counterpart. Therefore, laws covering libel cases are now empowered to recognize its electronic counterparts. That is why you have cases where the likes of celebrity / actress Kris Aquino suing GMA 7 in the past and used e-mail printouts as her evidence. That case resulted to a settlement. If it proceeded and she lost, it will depend on how she lost and thereby which law is to blame. If it's the insufficiency of the case, being considered a libel, then laws covering libel should be the one amended.

If she loses based on evidence presentation, proving authenticity, originality, among others, then that is where the E-Commerce Law can be scrutinized.

With regards to cybercrime, it is not the E-Commerce Law that is weak, it is the implementation and allocation of funding. I'm always paranoid whenever I encounter instances where people can easily be comfortable in blaming a law rather than looking at its implementation. Our cybercrime enforcement is weak because government leaders are not yet fully aware and neither excited in allocating funding to it due to other priorities. Therefore, this is where we should unite and call on government to allocate resources to combat cybercrime.

Mobile phone sales growing globally

Global mobile phone sales raced ahead by 21.5 percent to 251 million units in the third quarter of the current calendar year, powered by strong growth in Asia. Gartner said that in emerging markets, the growth of retailers and the expansion of distribution channels have enhanced sales, particularly in India, Indonesia and the Philippines. In Asia/Pacific, sales rose to 80.8 million units, a 54.7 percent increase from the same quarter last year.

Nokia also remained as the number 1 mobile phone globally.

A lot of opportunities are happening in the mobile phone market. The US is gradually embracing the use of the mobile phone device for electronic payments too. It is an indispensable tool as well for disaster relief coordination.

24% PC penetration among small business in the Philippines

In my talks, I always mention the low penetration of computers in the Philippines. However, we are not alone. This the same case in four of the most populous countries of Asia i.e. India, China, Indonesia and the Philippines. According to a study conducted by the New York-headquartered Access Markets International (AMI) Partners Inc, PC penetration among small businesses in the Philippines is pegged at 24%.

There are many ways that PC penetration can be improved. This includes making ICT affordable to SMEs. It is important for PC, software, training, website, e-commerce development providers, among others to offer easy to pay terms. Help is available to make this happen by IT vendors through the SME-FIT program or Financing for Information Technology Build-Up for SMEs.

Online gambling finds home in the Philippines

This is an interesting article featuring an interview with a Philippines-based online casino - King World Casino. As the online gambling industry seems to be ending in countries like the US, Asia is now becoming a new hotbed for operators because of its liberal perspective / policies on the matter.

Government issues guidelines on electronic payment for government transactions

DTI Press Release

Trade Secretary Peter B. Favila and Finance Secretary Gary B. Teves signed on 25 October 2006 guidelines on the government’s Electronic Payment and Collection System (EPCS).

“The guidelines will minimize face-to-face interaction in payment transaction, reducing corruption and red tape in the workplace and making it easier for citizens, businessmen, and investors to transact with government at any time and place,” Favila said.

Electronic capabilities will make payment and collection services quicker and more effective, according to Teves. “Electronic transactions will make it easier to monitor payment, which help us maximize government’s financial resources,” he said. “This, in turn, enables us to make more and better health and education services available for our people, as well as invest in infrastructure that improves business and creates jobs.”

The Joint Department Administrative Order (JAO) No. 02, Series of 2006 prescribing the “Guidelines Implementing RA 8792 on Electronic Payment and Collection System (EPCS) in Government” will allow electronic payments through credit cards, automated teller machines (ATMs), debit cards, stored-value cards, mobile wallet payments and kiosks, among others.

The guidelines will apply to all government offices that currently use or intend to use EPCS to collect fees, charges, assessment and revenues.

The JDAO, which takes effect today, also creates a Government Electronic Payment and Collection System Evaluation Team (GEPCSET). This team, composed of representatives from the Department of Finance (DOF), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), National Computer Center (NCC) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), will evaluate, accredit and recommend the approval of applications for EPCS.

“EPCS enables more government agencies to implement end-to-end e-commerce transactions and is a concrete step towards bolstering our global competitiveness,” Favila said.

Full implementation of the E-commerce Act was one of the recommendations by government and industry leaders to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo during the National Competitiveness Summit held last 6 October 2006 in Malacanang.

Copy of the guidelines may be downloaded within the DTI business portal or at the Department of Finance website.

Overseas based Filipinos investing back home

Indeed, Filipinos based overseas, no matter how established they are, likely would want to retire in the Philippines and invest in a Philippine property for a second home. No wonder online real estate selling is booming in the country. This is also dominating most ads found in local news site today.

ReviewMe - a new earning opportunity for bloggers

(Sponsored Post)

I just got an email today about ReviewMe, a website service that invites bloggers and webmasters to write reviews and earn from it. After signing up, you can submit up to six (6) websites but only those that can qualify shall be approved. In my case, this blog and my DigitalFilipino.com website qualified in the system.

I believe that this service is a great opportunity for bloggers out there especially for the young ones. It has one of the lowest sign-up age (14 years old) that I’ve found and this is great news for the teenager out there who are very active in blogging.

Once you are in, you have to wait for review assignments, so earning more will depend on how ReviewMe's advertising network shall grow, and your capability or capacity as a reviewer.

I'm glad that reviewers are expected to provide feedback, or criticism, and should be taken by advertisers as a means to improve their product or service.

Payouts are made through check or Paypal every 1st of the month. I do hope that networks like this will grow and create more earning opportunities for bloggers alike.

My other blogs did not qualify due to not meeting their minimum number of citations, subscribers, and traffic. Although one can return a few months later and try it again. I only hope that they can give more specific feedback when a site is not approved so that the improvement is well targeted. For instance, if it is a matter of being in a Technorati rank of this range, then one can use that as a barometer as to how a rejected blog is improving and can try again to apply in the future.

Penalizing child pornography

Former Lee County School District bus driver Donald Deverso, 60, was arrested in April 2005 after returning from the Philippines and customs officials found explicit photos of underage girls on his digital camera. Investigators later found more images on his computer and some computer discs. He took images of the girl, including shots of her lying nude on a rumpled bed.

U.S. District Judge John Steele sentenced him to 16 years and 3 months for receiving child pornography as well as owning and making child pornography. At least this is a positive news of some sort in fighting against cybercrime.

More local social networks

I just got word that Kababayan.ph is now online. Cheers to Jonno Alcaro for finally launching this project.

This adds to the ever-increasing number of social networks and friend directories that caters to Filipinos.

As Chris Cubos of Fwendz.com was able to demonstrate, there are opportunities indeed for those who are into the creation of niche-based social networks. Check out podcast interview with Chris for more info.

Rodney Jao also helped in the development of a social network for nurses. Check out our podcast interview with Rodney on this topic.

14 Philippine VOIP Sellers and Providers

The National Telecommunications Commission just accredited two more VOIP seller and provider that gave the country a total of 14 providers today. Hopefully this will make VOIP more affordable to Filipinos.

Help Milenyo victims through the mobile phone

The Philippine National Red Cross and Globe Telecom are partners in the “Donate-A-Load” program to provide a way for mobile phone users to send their donations to victims of Typhoon “Milenyo.”

Truly, just one of the many ways that the mobile phone is being used for disaster relief coordination.

I’m a Google Addict

"Hi. I’m Janette Toral. I’m a Google Addict. Help!

My infatuation with Google started with its search engine. Like an ideal lover, it answered all my inquiries without hesitation and with a high level of accuracy. A sense of attachment developed when it launched Gmail, the free 2 gigabyte e-mail service. Like a lot of Yahoo Mail’s ardent lovers, I downgraded my relationship with Yahoo Mail to back-up, visited when only needed. That is, whenever my primetime love, Gmail, becomes unavailable - which is so rare actually.

However, Google enchanted me to a longer term and more serious relationship when it launched Google Sitemap, AdSense, AdWords, and it bought Blogger and YouTube.

The feeling of being so dependent to one love for the most of your Internet life is so scary. Then, the inevitable happened, I have consumed my 2 gigabyte Gmail account and now I’m confused, as my love supposedly said, I don’t have to delete any of my e-mails. I’m heart broken. I felt betrayed and fooled.

What should I do?"

---

Of course, the above is more of me trying to humor myself. But I am indeed having a hard time to decide which of my emails should be deleted for good.

Google, slowly creeping our top 2006 websites, I realize, is setting a high level of expectation from Internet users who are becoming more comfortable with its service.

Can Google really sustain its leadership? Let’s see.

On another note, I just found out that one of our club member, Aileen Apolo, is now Google’s Philippines Country Consultant. Although she is not in liberty to discuss Google's plan in the country, it is great to know that the company is taking the Philippines seriously.

Aboitiz Txoko: 1st corporate based social network?

Last August 18, 2006, Aboitiz Equity Ventures launched Txoko - its social networking site that provides a medium for the conglomerate, that has 20,000 employees, to interact with one another. If I'm not mistaken, this is a Philippine Internet first!

Paypal accepts Philippine-based Internet users

A few days ago, I was chatting with a friend about this expected development - of an upgrade in Paypal.com that will include accepting new accounts from the Philippines.

Actually, it was just a matter of time and no lobbying influenced it - it is more of a practical decision for Paypal. Today though, the facility is limited to sending of money overseas, not acceptance.

This development meant more payment alternatives for Filipinos. (at least I can already upgrade my podcast site in Podomatic) However we still need more online payment alternatives for individuals that are attuned to the needs of the Filipino today.

As the Philippines has the highest incident of global online credit card fraud today, fixing our implementing policies and law enforcement is must. It will also require Internet users, who cares in uplifting the country's reputation and credibility, to be vigilant and report to authorities those who sell credit card information and commit illegal acts. Our banking system has to improve as well in order to make the money acceptance feature a reality in the Philippines.

I wrote more details about this and published today in Manila Times.

PEPComChannel - 1st cable community channel to be online

I just found out from Bitstop Network Services about the first cable community channel to be online. I hope this development will logged in our Philippine Internet Facts pbwiki.

If you have an important milestone worth recording, please visit our pbwiki today.

Blogging Manny "PacMan" Pacquiao

It is amazing how much content can be found online that refers to Filipino champion boxer Manny Pacquiao. Here are some that tends to keep track.

• PACLAND
• The Manny Pacquiao Blog
• Manny Pacquiao News Tracker

The Manny Pacquiao News Tracker is mine. He is the 2nd personality that I'm blog tracking. The first one is Senator MAR Roxas. Will add President Arroyo in the days to come.

3G demand pumps up networking vendor market

For Nortel Philippines, 2005 marked its most active and profitable 12 months in the past five year. With the continuous roll-out of 3G and wireless Internet infrastructure, it is going to be an interesting time for these companies.

Missing e-load

After reading Yuga's post, I became more certain that something went wrong with a carrier's prepaid reloading system.

I made an e-load to my prepaid mobile number last October 2 (8:00 pm) in the amount of P150. The next day, was trying to use my phone to send a text and call but got a message that I have no enough credits left.

In this situation, it feels helpless being a prepaid user with no logs to check or turn to. In times of crisis, the infrastructure must be stable to avoid glitches like this.

I do hope that NTC and DTI's Order on Data Log Retention and Consumer Protection in Products and Services provided by Public Telecommunication Entities will be out soon.

The end of online gambling?

The US House of Representatives and Senate unexpectedly approved a bill early on Saturday that would make it illegal for banks and credit-card companies to make payments to online gambling sites. This now leads to a US gaming crisis in the US.

With countries like the Philippines and Singapore having a more open regulation on this matter. Will our country embraced it or turn it away as well?

Texters fail Filipina bet in Miss World

Inq7 had an interesting twist as to how Filipino texters came in short in supporting the Philippines Miss World candidate this year. Perhaps our lack of success in getting Filipina candidates get into the semi-finals in the Miss Universe competition, despite bagging special awards for being most voted online for the past few years, dampen our faith in the voting system.

In addition, there's just too much ongoing competitions that calls on texters to vote such as Shall We Dance (my favorite), Philippine Idol, among others.

Lastly, with typhoons and disasters that have come our way, I guess a lot of us are seeing our mobile phones from a different perspective in terms of its relevance.

One Internet Day Davao - A Success!

My sincerest thanks to everyone who took the time to join us in One Internet Day Davao yesterday! Our sincerest thanks to DTI-Davao and Association of Solution Integrators in Davao for making this event a success!

Blog and news about One Internet Day Davao:

• One Internet Day Davao (Alleba)

One Internet Day Davao photos and presentation materials are now online.

Thanks to 1 guest who signed up as a member of the DigitalFilipino.com Club in Davao!

One Internet Day Cebu - A BLAST!

Yes, it was a BLAST! More than 100 participants representing the educators, entrepreneurs, government employees, IT professionals, corporate personnel joined us in this celebration.

I kept receiving congratulatory whispers as very rare do SMEs come together with the intent of learning more about e-commerce. Thanks so much to DTI-Cebu, Primary Software, CyberPromdi, National Computer Center/Commission on Information and Communication Technology - Visayas for all the help in making this event a success.

Blog and news about One Internet Day Cebu:

• What Makes E-commerce Works (Dann Diez)

One Internet Day Cebu photos and presentations are now online!

Thank you for supporting One Internet Day Manila!

Thank you so much to friends who passed by and supported our One Internet Day Manila event. The photos and presentations are now online

Blog and news about One Internet Day Manila:

• DigitalFilipino.com celebrates 7th anniversary (Manila Bulletin)
• Blogging and the DigitalFilipino (Manila Bulletin)
  
• One Web Day (Jimmy Soriano)
• One Internet Day (Maoi Arroyo)
• Liveblogging from the One Internet Day, Manila (The J Spot)
• ONE INTERNET DAY ON SEPT 19, 2006 (Adrian)
• Building Buzz with Blogs (Noemi Lardizabal Dado)
• Blogger Stats for Metro Manila (The J Spot)
• 1st Philippine BlogCon and 1 Internet Day (Ernesto Sonido)

Thanks to 5 guests who signed up as a member of the DigitalFilipino.com Club in Manila!

Special cheers to the Department of Trade and Industry directors Ludy Yaptinchay, Domingo Bagaporo, Jeanette Carrillo, and the DTI IT Team for taking time to grace and support our event!

Share your story: About the ways the Internet has changed your world

In celebration of One Internet Day Manila, Cebu, Davao, and One Web Day, you are encouraged to share your story through your blog:

• about the top 10 amazing ways the web has changed the world.
• about the ways the web has changed your world
• about the ways you'd like to see the web change the world

Once done, let me know and will link your blog post from here. Share your story today!

To be inspired, read those who shared their story!

• OneWebDay: How the internet changed my world (moowagirl)
• How the Internet Changed my World (Joan Piñon)
• The Web & The Internet (Ernesto Sonido)
• One Web Day: How the Internet Changed My World (Noemi Lardizabal-Dado)
• 1 Internet Day (Chris Haravata)
• How The Internet Changed My World (Robert Martin)
• Top 10 Amazing Ways the Web has changed my world (Joel Yuvienco)
• How the Internet changed my world (Janette Toral)

P.S. If you need a guide on how to start blogging, join our free Blogging 101 Online Workshop.

September 22: One Internet Day 2006 Davao

DigitalFilipino.com is now on its 7th year. We are celebrating this by holding a One Internet Day event on September 22, Friday, from 1:10 pm to 6 pm, at Sequioia Inn, 7274 Monteverde Avenue, Davao City. Our theme for this year is "E-Commerce Build-up for SMEs".

This is in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry ICT Business Development Team. This is also supported by the Association of Solution Integrators in Davao (ASID).

The program is as follows:

12:00 - 1:10 Registration

1:10 - 1:40 Keynote: E-Commerce for National Competitiveness and Policy Updates (Janette Toral, DigitalFilipino.com)

1:40 - 2:00 Introduction of ASID members and updates

2:00 - 3:00 Panel: State of E-Payment in the Philippines

• Terecy Chia, YesPayments
• Elaine Carr, Innove
  

3:00 - 5:00 Panel: New E-Commerce Opportunities

• Emmanuel Amador, InfoWeapons
• Rodney Jao, Lane Systems
• Chris Cubos
• Oliver Robillo
• Marc Javellana

5:00 Raffle and Networking

This event is by-invitation only and to DigitalFilipino.com Club Members. Thank you for supporting DigitalFilipino.com!

September 20: One Internet Day 2006 Cebu

DigitalFilipino.com is now on its 7th year. We are celebrating this by holding a One Internet Day event on September 20, Wednesday, from 1:10 pm to 6 pm, at Raja Hall, Raja Park Hotel, Fuente Osmeña, Cebu City. Our theme for this year is "E-Commerce Build-up for SMEs".

This event is in partnership with Prime Software, CyberPromdi, and Department of Trade and Industry ICT Business Development Team.

The program is as follows:

12:00 - 1:10 Registration
1:10 - 1:15 Welcome (Janette Toral, DigitalFilipino.com)

1:15 - 1:45 Keynote: E-Commerce for National Competitiveness and Policy Updates (Provincial Director Nelia F. Navarro, Department of Trade and Industry)

1:45 - 2:15 Internet Enabling Business Software Solutions: New Trends in Client-Server Web Computing (Mike Jurado, Prime Software)

2:15 - 3:00 Panel: State of E-Payment in the Philippines (YesPayments, Innove)

• Terecy Chia, YesPayments
• Jasmine Garrido, Innove
  

3:00 - 4:00 Panel: New E-Commerce Opportunities

• Mike Ladios, IPVG
• Lawrence Hughes, InfoWeapons
• Sheryl Ygay, Sun.Star

4:00 - 5:00 Panel: Making E-Commerce Work

• Grace Tortor, AboitizLand
• Dann Diez
• Jun Barretto

5:00 CyberPromdi Re-Launch (Frederick Amores)

This event is by-invitation only and to DigitalFilipino.com Club Members. Thank you for supporting DigitalFilipino.com!

September 19: One Internet Day 2006 Manila

DigitalFilipino.com is now on its 7th year. We are celebrating this, in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry ICT Business Development Team, by holding a One Internet Day event on September 19, Tuesday, from 1:10 pm to 7 pm, at the e-Library 2/F AIM ACCEED Benavides St. corner Paseo De Roxas, Makati City (Greenbelt). Our theme for this year is "E-Commerce Build-up for SMEs".

The program is as follows:

12:00 - 1:10 Registration
1:10 - 1:15 Welcome (Janette Toral, DigitalFilipino.com)

1:15 - 1:30 Keynote: E-Commerce for National Competitiveness (Director Ludy Yaptinchay, Department of Trade and Industry)

1:30 - 2:00 Data Privacy and E-Commerce (Director Domingo I. Bagaporo, Board of Investments)
Awarding of Plaques to the principal drafters of DAO #8

• Atty. JJ Disini
• Atty. Lindy Gavino
• Janette Toral

2:00 - 2:30 Building Buzz with Blogs (Maoi Arroyo, Hybridigm Consulting)

2:30 - 3:30 Panel: State of E-Payment in the Philippines

• Erick Kalugdan, Load.com.ph
• Terecy Chia, YesPayments
• Danison Ofrecio, Innove
  

3:30 - 4:30 Panel: New E-Commerce Opportunities

• Enrique Gonzalez, IPVG
• Emmanuel Amador, InfoWeapons
• Erville Magtubo, ePLDT

4:30 - 5:30 Panel: Making E-Commerce Work

• Joy Ting, Boma Corp
• Charlie Gaw, Acclaim Butterflies

5:30 - 7:00 Networking and Raffle

This event is by-invitation only and to DigitalFilipino.com Club Members. Thank you for supporting DigitalFilipino.com!

Pinoy Blogging Culture

It can be noted that there are now more Filipinos actively blogging from all over the world. In fact, it has created a new breed of online personalities and celebrities. With so much content online generated through blogs, it created the need to track a lot of them to have a gist on what the blogging community is thinking at the moment.

Topics ranges from personal insights, lifestyle, to political. It even allowed the exchange of opinion on emotionally-charged issues affecting the country. As issues are discussed, more individuals and organizations find themselves exposed where their undertakings can be questioned or attacked. This is where bloggers gradually are realizing that there are also copyright and ethical concerns that they had to deal with.

One of the biggest accomplishment that Filipino bloggers have achieved is the staging blogging summits, iBlog and BlogCon, annually and be seen as a event to look forward to. This is the point where bloggers take time out to come together and exchange insights on various blogging developments.

Based on our Metro Manila Blogger Report, more than half of bloggers are very young. However, Angelo agreed with Maoi that the higher age segment with disposable income should seriously be considered for targeted marketing.

Internet Love: for real or to escape?

There are stories here and there about Filipinos falling in love online. However, it is also a reality that there are those who seek for love online with the hope of escaping their current situation or predicament. Some join friendship listing with the intent of meeting new people and possibly potential life partners online. These are often referred to as mail-order bride or marriage broker sites.

In the US, nearly 15,000 foreign fiancees admitted in the country have met their partners through marriage brokers. This is according to Tahirih Justice Centre. There are also risks for women who don't get to fully know their prospective desired partner as well.

In the Philippines, there are sites like itzamatch.com that claims more Filipinos are looking for love online and boast of more than 100,000 users to date. Start-up GrooveNet also entered the scene by licensing and creating a local version of There.

Friendster.com on the other hand is considered one of the world's most popular social networking site. More than 5 million Filipinos are members of the site that prompted the company to explore its potential in the Philippines.

Fast Internet User Growth

The number of Internet users in the country is gradually growing. The growth today may still be slow but it is turning out according to our conservative projections cited in the Philippine Internet Review volume 1. If such will continue, our projection for 41 million Internet users in 2014 may just happened. In fact, even sooner than we think.

One of the most interesting companies to watch out for in trending this growth is the PLDT group of companies. Reaching 1 million broadband subscribers in 3 years or 2009 is like increasing its current wireless and wireline broadband base by 5x.

Slow PC Growth

There are many questions in relation to the number of computers in the Philippines. In the year 2000, there's an estimated 1.113 million computers in the country according to IDC. By the end of 2005, vendors gave a rough figure of 2 million in households, businesses, Internet cafe, schools, and government.

Sports spikes up Internet traffic

No doubt that Filipino sport celebrities are contributing to the growth of the Philippine Internet. Manny Pacquiao for instance, during his most recent fight with Oscar Larios, created a revenue stream from those who would like to watch the game via Internet TV.

On the other, other sports like basketball admitted being affected by Internet shops.

Cybercrime: a globally connected concern

As exposure to hacks and cracks never ceases, companies globally address it by hardening their policies and infrastructure within the organization. Authorities globally are communicating with the private sector to earn trust and seek collaboration in capturing organized cybercrime networks. For the Philippines, this is an issue as a lot of US companies admitted that some of the pings or attempts come from the country.

In fact because of high tech printing gadgets today, there are now fake or counterfeit US dollar bills circulating around the world. Oftentimes referred to as "supernotes," these fake bills was first found in the Philippines as a local cashier caught it by the feel of the paper.

One of the challenges in cybercrime enforcement is the extradition of suspects from one country to another. If two countries don't have the same or similar legislation for that matter, double criminality can't be established which is a requirement for extradition.

Another growing concern is the 1 billion pesos online pornography market in the country where vigilance of the community is needed in capturing these elements and bring them to court. A growing number of alleged traffickers are using the Internet as a medium to market.

Rebels and various cause groups are also using the Internet as a medium to express their grievances, propaganda, and introduce themselves. Although this may work in favor for the government in getting more information. It can also work otherwise.

The passage of the E-Commerce Law or Republic Act 8792 was crucial in demonstrating the Philippines' stability as an outsourcing destination of ICT related or enabled projects. As data privacy is a growing concern as well, the Department of Trade and Industry released a guideline (pdf) that can be shown to local and foreign prospective clients on our resiliency in protecting personal data. It is hoped as well that this guideline can be used in protecting ourselves from unsolicited business calls.

To continue this demanding task, law enforcement entities also face the dilemma of getting funding support and hire cybercrime fighters. Good thing there are entities giving equipment and training donations.

Still, there are global security software executives, despite having Philippine presence, still clueless on policy developments in the country and using old examples.

Playing with online games

It is no secret that online games is the primary revenue driver for most Internet cafes in the country today. With nearly 5.6 million Filipino online gamers and US$14 million in revenues, according to International Data Corporation, this comes as no surprise.

This community is also seen as potential for in-game advertising. One exciting company worth watching out for is e-Games due to its Free2Play model. Despite that, new games like Freestyle, among others are expected to build a growing user base. With Filipinos becoming experts in online gaming, they perhaps be able to follow the footsteps of overseas-based Filipino professional gamers someday.

The Filipino language, Tagalog, is also influencing international games such as The Sims(TM) native language, Simlish, where it is partly based. Another game, similar to our child's play Jack 'en Poy, is also gaining international popularity because of its mix gaming arcade and card collection approach.

The popularity of online games is also creating a new form of virtual income. I've met individuals who are now earning a living by playing a person's game character and by selling them. Joel Yuvienco challenges educators to harness this as a tool for learning.

Definitely more games are expected to come in the country from Korea, Japan, USA, among others.

Online travel and tourism matures

For those who use the Internet and regularly travels as well, I'm sure you'll agree that the travel industry is slowly but surely catching up in adopting e-commerce.

Gone are the days when you had to deal with inaccurate flight schedules and poor e-mail response time. However, making frequent flyer programs more customer friendly is still something most of us want to see.

What is good about the Internet is that it also allows small players to compete and allow them to achieve significant revenue online. Those who are also aggressive in marketing and provides fast response time to inquiries are gaining competitive advantage too.

You now see local travel associations as well signing agreements with companies like Triton Distribution Systems to boost their services. Hotels in Makati and Alabang are gearing up to accept online reservations too.

The Internet has also inspired local government units to launch tourism drives and tap the Internet as a resource to achieve that. Inspired bloggers like Anton Diaz contribute to the growing number of high quality sites that makes Filipinos, especially those from Manila, the various places that one, local or balikbayan, oughts to visit.

Gambling goes high tech

Our country surely has gone a long way compared to how were in the early days of online gambling. There were even efforts then to pass a legislation with the intent of blocking it.

The popularity of the Internet allowed the surge in online gaming, as well as in online gambling. The Philippine Amusent and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is no exemption from realizing this opportunity and saw it as a venue to boost its revenues, which in turn is used to fund government projects. Last year, PAGCOR granted a ten year contract to broadcast live, in-progress casino table games from Filipino casinos to Kenilworth using Roulabette.

Roulabette(TM) is a method and system for placing wagers on live, in-progress casino table games such as roulette, baccarat and dice from locations remote from the actual casino tables at which the games are taking place. The system begins at the casino, where television cameras in strategic locations above the casino table games follow the games being played at the casino tables, and microphones pick up the sounds of the table play. The game play is transmitted via digital satellite and cable transmissions to subscribers who are able to wager by using set top boxes which receive the broadcast of the game and record wagers and results. Although there were a lot of worries whether it is legal or not especially now that the US government is going on a crackdown campaign. Online gambling is also illegal in France.

However, it is expected that addiction to gaming will increase as the Internet allows a gambler to compete with anyone in the world, 24 hours a day. The Philippines is also becoming a popular destination for global operation of gambling sites due to the government's ability to issue online gambling licenses for online casino sites. Online casino operators in the Philippines pay a 2 percent tax on their gross winnings. Singapore is also competing in becoming an online casino hub.

Online gambling is not only limited in Metro Manila. You now have companies like First Cagayan offering similar services and capable of issuing licenses too. Games are also no longer limited to your traditional casino games but includes regular sports betting services like basketball or football games and even cockfights as well.

Real estate selling online

Taking advantage of the overseas dispora, OFWs, foreigners marrying Filipinas , more and more real estate companies are realizing the value of the Internet in selling properties online. The savings and markets gain is beyond compare by justing sticking to traditional billboards. Despite troubling rumors about peace and order in the country, Davao City and Bohol real estate sellers are attracting buyers online.

However, real estate players are now exposed to risks as well such as being libel, among others.

Money remittance market - high opportunity for e-commerce

The Philippines is considered having the third largest money remittance market in the world following India and Mexico. As a result, it kept attracting more and more companies to get into the money remittance business. Existing companies, pawnshops, and rural banks are also getting to be more creative in this business segment. Leading banks in the money remittance business are BPI and PNB.

On the other hand, companies like Coinstar have acquired Travelex Money Transfer Limited who has partnership with banks like RCBC, Bank of Commerce, Rural Bank of the Philippines, and Cebu Lhuillier Services Corp. Remittance in 2006 is expected to hit US$13.5 billion this year.

On the online remittance side, sites like YesPinoy are expected to continue growth in this business. Portals that have high traffic and subscription also have an edge in entering into this type of business where trust is already established with its subscribers.

This fast transfer of money is also getting the US government jittery, wary that money laundering is possibly committed through these remittance systems. Another increasing concern are the hidden fees charged in these transactions. This does not only include the upfront fee or percentage, usually at 7%, but also the foreign exchange rates once the money is given to the recipient.

Money remittance growth rate is driven by overseas Filipino worker deployment. From January to July 2006, nearly 662,000 Filipinos left the country and remittance received is up to US$7 billion.

Are government online libraries useful?

I wonder. With several online government libraries available, are there people really using them? I mean used well enough that the cost of putting up the infrastructure can be made sustainable and useful to its target audience.

Some of the online libraries I know are:

• Philippine eLib - Note that the government spent like 167 million for this project. The materials in the website, mostly are not for free if I'm not mistaken.
• Science.ph - The portal currently links to some 65 databases of various DoST sub-agencies.

I think the private sector should seriously consider in partnering with the DOST in coming up with a profitable win-win solution to make these highly-valuable information assets useful and sustainable.