Union Bank of the Philippines wins 2019 Digital Transformer at the 3rd Annual IDC Digital Transformation Awards (DXa) Philippines

PHILIPPINES, September 26th, 2019 – IDC announced today the Philippine winners of the third IDC Digital Transformation Awards (DXa) 2019 and named Union Bank of the Philippines, the 2019 Digital Transformer for Philippines. Now on its third year, IDC’s DX Awards honors the achievements of organizations that have successfully digitalized one or multiple areas of their business through the application of digital and disruptive technologies. Other winners include: AIDE, ANGKAS, Maria Edita C. Elicaño of Insular Life, Philippine Airlines, and Philippine Rice Research Institute, who all distinguished themselves for their discernible and measurable excellence in their digital transformation (DX) efforts across the five DX masteries and significant efforts to transform or disrupt the market.

Figure1. 2019 Philippines IDC Digital Transformation Awards Winners

Head of operations for IDC Philippines, Randy Roberts says "In our third year of the Digital Transformation Awards in the Philippines, we are very excited to see very impressive progress in the depth and breadth of the submissions in 2019. We are beginning to see real momentum in the development of the digital culture, workforce, business models and ecosystem. In our latest survey, 37% of enterprises in the Philippines assessed themselves as being at an advanced level of digital transformation while identifying the biggest challenges to progress as changing the company culture towards transformation and having commitment from the top levels of leadership. The number of industries represented in this year’s submissions, as well as the types of technologies being deployed in the solutions, is a clear indicator that the commitment to digital transformation is spreading quickly across small and large enterprises as they strive to embody the Future Enterprise."

These are the winners of the 2019 Philippines IDC Digital Transformation Awards, and the outstanding digital transformation initiatives that distinguished them:

UBX: Ushering the Age of Embedded Banking by Union Bank of the Philippines named as 2019 Digital Transformer for Philippines:

UBX ushers in the age of embedded banking in the Philippines, where banking services are woven into the very fabric of everyday life. Under UBX, UnionBank launched Project i2i, which stands for island-to-island, institution-to-institution, and individual-to-individual, a blockchain-based transaction and retail payments system that aims to serve as a catalyst to inclusive prosperity for the 35 million unbanked in the country by enabling different institutions, such as rural banks, cooperatives, and micro-finance institutions to be part of a bigger financial network. i2i aims to provide immediate access to a wide array of financial products and provide a cost-efficient platform to execute these transactions. UBX also features the UnionBank GlobalLinker, a social networking platform that helps MSMEs grow their business with tools for business management and network expansion. Providing offers tailor-fit to MSMEs needs, the free platform is open for UnionBank and non-UnionBank customers. Finally, UBX includes the Blockchain Institute, which offers a six-month program to equip developers with capabilities focused on blockchain, addressing the scarcity of blockchain talents in the current ecosystem. It is also an innovation lab that offers not only coding and development but also work on actual use cases in the organization and provides working blockchain solutions.

Journey to Beat the Traffic in Metro Manila by ANGKAS named as 2019 Digital Disruptor for Philippines:

Angkas was created to help solve the transport problem in Metro Manila. In a country that ranked third in terms of traffic congestion in Southeast Asia, commuters were forced to take alternative transport options that were unsafe and illegal — the habal-habal, driven by motorcycle riders that do not possess proper licenses and training. Although commuters acknowledged the risks by riding this mode of transport, they had to patronize them in order to get around the Metro’s traffic. Angkas allows commuters to book professional motorcycle taxis on-demand, cutting travel time in half and offering a safe and efficient alternative that is up 70% more affordable than cars. Angkas ensures safety by requiring stringent background checks, skills tests, and safety training for their bikers, and by providing quality helmets for both passengers and bikers. The mobile app adds an extra level of safety as Angkas tracks all bikers and bookings on the platform and, should there be any issues, a dedicated customer support team can be reached via phone, email, or social media. Insurance coverage is also provided to both biker and passenger in case of any emergencies. Through this platform, Angkas has also provided habal-habal drivers the opportunity to earn 2 to 3 times of the country's minimum wage and destigmatized the formerly illegal practice and treated it as it was: a necessary and affordable transport option for the gridlocked streets of the Philippines.

Philippine Rice Information System (PRiSM) by Philippine Rice Research Institute named as 2019 Information Visionary for Philippines:

PRiSM is the first to implement a nationwide satellite imaging and Information and Communications Technology-based rice monitoring system in Southeast Asia since 2017. PRiSM generates digital rice planted area maps from time series earth images using remote sensing technology and extracts information such as rice area planted, planting dates, and extent of rice fields affected by flood and drought using digital cartography. Rice yield estimates are produced from digital information derived from processed satellite images, ground data collected using mobile technology applications, and crop growth simulation model. PRiSM supports the Philippine Department of Agriculture (DA) in strategic planning, decision-making, development project implementation, and disaster preparedness through the provision of near-real-time information. Digital technologies like earth observation satellites, communication systems, computer application programs, and electronic sensors are used by PRiSM during process. Through this initiative, PRiSM helps the Philippine DA to fulfill its vision of a technology-based agriculture that will empower the farming communities to produce enough, accessible, and affordable food for every Filipino.

Immersive Virtual Reality Cabin Crew Training by Philippine Airlines named as 2019 Talent Accelerator for Philippines:

Philippine Airlines marks another first in the Philippines by implementing a virtual reality (VR) training program for its cabin crew. In collaboration with a local tech-startup and the local aviation authority, an immersive VR training program was developed to improve the standards of learning and service while cutting training costs. The solution has provided cabin crew members an enhanced and immersive learning experience that has not only resulted to higher retention rates but has also made training more interactive and fun. The VR-enhanced training has also helped PAL cabin crew members acquire stronger skills to respond more effectively under pressure and to real-world challenges, while effectively cutting logistical requirements and dependency to aircraft availability. The solution has also prevented the wear-and-tear of high-value assets such as the aircraft, ground power units, and other equipment needed for cabin training. Cabin crew training metrics such as response time, test scores, and behavioral tendencies are recorded, measured, and reviewed to ensure that standards are met. A VR training module for the Bombardier Q400 NG (Next Generation) is already in the pipeline. PAL's VR training solution is a testament to the airline's commitment in providing 5-star customer service and safety to its passengers.

Project i2i by Union Bank of the Philippines named as 2019 Operating Model Master for Philippines:

i2i, which stands for island-to-island, institution-to-institution and individual-to-individual, is a blockchain-based transaction and retail payments system that aims to serve as a catalyst to inclusive prosperity for the 35 million unbanked in the country by enabling different institutions, such as rural banks, cooperatives, and micro-finance institutions to be part of a bigger financial network. i2i aims to provide immediate access to a wide array of financial products and provide a cost-efficient platform to execute these transactions. Aiming to bring millions of unbanked Filipinos to the financial system, i2i seeks to connect rural banks into the country’s main financial network without the need to invest or to manage technology as it is given to them by UnionBank at no additional costs, allowing them to focus on customer service and satisfaction.

AIDE app named as 2019 Omni Experience Innovator for Philippines:

The AIDE App is the first home mobile application in the Philippines where patient-users may book medical services to be rendered in their homes or offices rather than going to clinics or hospitals. AIDE guarantees that it has taken special care in ensuring that all its clinic partners and subscribed medical professionals are duly licensed and has opened its hotlines to users’ calls concerning special requests or help in scheduling appointments. Through data analytics, AIDE has grown its market by studying app request patterns, user profiles, and growth and retention rates. AIDE's goal is to not just provide a more personal and convenient approach to healthcare, but to also provide Filipino medical professionals better employment opportunities and higher salaries. Today, AIDE has touched the lives of over 100,000 Filipinos, and has onboarded around 4000 medical professionals. Since its launch in 2017, AIDE has established partnerships with various payment platforms, as well as with reputable laboratories and pharmaceutical companies. In the coming years, AIDE hopes to redefine home healthcare for Filipinos – from prevention to treatment, from diagnosis to prognosis, and from curative to palliative care.

Maria Edita C. Elicaño, Executive Vice President and Head of Insular Life Administrative Operations Group, Insular Life named as 2019 DX Leader for Philippines:

Insular Life (InLife) leverages its more than 100 years of experience in spreading the benefits of life insurance to Filipinos. As part of its commitment to its policyholders, InLife aspires to become one of the most digitally connected companies in the life insurance industry. InLife’s digital transformation projects, led by the company’s Executive Vice President and Head of Administration Operations Group Ma. Edita C. Elicaño, enhance the customers’ digital experience and increase the Filipinos’ access to insurance products. InLife fosters an AGILE mindset among its employees, who lead the development of transformation and automation projects alongside those who oversee the business operations. The AGILE mindset and SCRUM framework espouse shared accountability and creativity among employees and strengthens collaboration among relevant units. This culture of innovation fast-tracked the development of key projects, namely the pioneering systems Automated Underwriting System and policy servicing facility I-Serve, as well as the InLife flagship store on ecommerce platform Lazada. These digital transformation initiatives enabled the processing of more than 1,000 underwriting applications in a single day, facilitated online services for its policyholders, and amplified the online availability of insurance products for more Filipinos.

IDC’s DX Awards follows a two-phased approach to determine the country and regional winners. Each nomination is evaluated by a local and regional IDC analyst against a standard assessment framework based on IDC’s DX taxonomy.

All the winning Philippines digital transformation projects were selected as part of over 1000 high-quality entries received from end-user organizations across Asia/Pacific. All the country winners will qualify as one of IDC’s finalists for the regional awards, where they will be benchmarked against other winners in the same category to ultimately determine the region’s best of the best.

The regional awarding ceremony will take place during IDC’s Digital Transformation Summit in Singapore happening on 23-24th of October 2019 at the Raffles City Convention Centre, Singapore. For more information on the awards and judging criteria, please visit the IDC DX awards website www.idcdxawards.com

IDC defines Digital Transformation (DX) as the approach where organizations drive changes in their business models and business ecosystems by leveraging digital technologies (e.g. Cloud, Mobile, Big Data/Analytics, Social and IoT) and competencies. Business ecosystems are comprised of customers, partners, competitors and the business itself, along with its business and regulatory environment. To learn more about IDC’s Asia/Pacific Digital Transformation Strategies and research, visit HERE

For media inquiries, contact Randy Roberts rroberts@idc.com or Alvin Afuang aafuang@idc.com. To know more about IDC Digital Transformation Awards, contact Celeste Narvaez cnarvaez@idc.com.

About IDC

International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. IDC's analysis and insight helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community to make fact-based technology decisions and to achieve their key business objectives. Founded in 1964, IDC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading media, data and marketing services company. To learn more about IDC, please visit www.idc.com. Follow IDC on Twitter at @IDC.

Union Bank of the Philippines wins 2018 “Digital Transformer of the Year” and 6 other Companies Recognized by IDC for Excellence and Leadership in Their Digital Transformation (DX) Efforts

IDC announced today the winners from the Philippines of the second IDC Digital Transformation Awards (DXa) at the IDC DX Awards 2018 Philippines held at Makati Shangri-La Hotel. Union Bank of the Philippines was named 2018 “Digital Transformer of the Year” with ALLCARE, Manila Electric Company (MERALCO), Asian Hospital and Medical Center, Unilab Inc and PhilCare also recognized as the category winners for Digital Disruptor, Talent Accelerator, Information Visionary, Operating Model Master and Omni-Experience Innovator, respectively. The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation was also awarded for displaying great masteries under the Information Visionary and DX leader categories.

IDC DXa recognizes organizations that have significantly disrupted the market or have transformed
it, using digital and disruptive technologies. All the seven winners from the Philippines will represent
the country to go head-to-head with winners from other Asia Pacific countries at the regional finals
in Singapore on 25th October. These winners have distinguished themselves in terms of business
transformation initiatives across one or more of the five DX masteries to transform and disrupt the
market in the Philippines.

“This year’s nominations have proven that all industries are keen on improving their business
processes and client engagement. We have seen interesting projects on cognitive computing/AI, Big
Data and Analytics, IoT, robotics and robotics process automation being utilized across vertical
industries, among others. This signifies that DX has achieved a macroeconomic scale and has
become an important tool for Philippine businesses to achieve success,” said Jubert Alberto, Head
of Operations, IDC Philippines.

“The Philippine businesses are commonly working in silos. As they commit to transform their
businesses, these organizations have been establishing an enterprise-wide digital strategy that
could help address IT challenges across all business units. IDC believes this is the main priority for
the local enterprises, as it will help them in crafting out a unified digital roadmap and strategy that
will provide an overall holistic change in the culture, people, and business processes. Constant
engagement and strong collaboration between IT and Line of Business (LOB) are needed for this
initiative, therefore, awareness of emerging technologies such as cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), and
big data and analytics (BDA) should continuously grow for digital transformation to take place,” said
Sudev Bangah, Managing Director, IDC ASEAN.

The winning organizations in the Philippines for the 2018 IDC DX Awards and their outstanding DX
initiatives that distinguished them are:

• Union Bank of the Philippines’ Union Bank of the Philippines Digital Transformation named
as Digital Transformer of the Year: Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) is
relentless in its pursuit to transform into a Digital Bank, with a culture of innovation and
experimentation changing the way how the UnionBank engages with clients and employees
alike. Digital transformation is evident in all aspects of the business with projects including
the use of artificial intelligence in customer-facing chatbots, deployment of an open API
strategy for its partners, and implementation of Robotic Process Automation in centralized
backroom operations for the creation and submission of financial reports and in other tasks
leading to a decrease of up 80% in processing time. The bank has also given focus to
improving customer experience through the launch of its new mobile app and website, which
has driven customer interactions from 26% to 98% of all total customer interactions since
2017. Its most recent initiative is The Ark, UnionBank's first fully digital lifestyle branch. The
Ark champions an interactional experience rather than a transactional space, with features
that allow customers to open new accounts in less than 10 minutes with virtual telling
machines and apply for home and auto loans with augmented and virtual reality
experiences.

• ALLCARE’s ALLCARE named as Digital Disruptor of the Year: ALLCARE addresses the
compensation gap where the alternative workforce, composed of freelancers, solo
entrepreneurs, professionals, and other informal workers do not have access to care and
welfare that traditional employees have. ALLCARE aggregates freelancers’ benefits
demand around the world and uses economies of scale to make benefits affordable and
accessible to them. Utilizing blockchain technology, ALLCARE helps open this new and
underserved market to providers without sacrificing operational costs through the usage of
fully automated transactions in smart contracts. By incentivizing both workers and benefit
providers through real-world value and utility, ALLCARE has grown to be a major disruption
in the workforce technology space.

• Philippine Health Insurance Corporation’s Data-driven Transformation of PhilHealth led by
Jovita Aragona, Senior Vice President and CIO named as DX Leader of the Year and
Information Visionary of the Year: PhilHealth is the sole administrator of national social
health insurance for all Filipinos, which makes effective data management a vital to achieve
the mandate of providing financial risk protection to the entire population. Led by Jovita
Aragona, Senior Vice President and CIO, PhilHealth’s data management strategy
commenced in 2016 with business intelligence and cloud technologies. As it broke down
traditional barriers to efficiency, information accessibility-availability, and collaboration, data
became a strategic asset for PhilHealth. With integrity of mission-critical data, system- and
process- harmonization, and standard data report-analysis-mining techniques, PhilHealth
has improved its programs and services for Filipinos through a comprehensive analysis of
health insurance claims over time periods, diseases, social classes, national-LGU
geographical areas, demographics, benefits programs, payment schemes, and other
insurance-health dimensions. With advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine
learning, PhilHealth has also initiated a framework in detecting fraud and abuse in insurance
claims. Finally, data on hand has also empowered PhilHealth to support the Department of
Health in the creation of health programs, control of real-potential epidemics and emerging
health conditions and trends, and synchronization of Universal Health Care initiatives.

• Traci of Manila Electric Company (MERALCO) named as Talent Accelerator of the Year:
After discovering a growing talent pool on social media, MERALCO launched its chatbot
TRACI to support the Talent Resourcing team's initiative to optimize and streamline the job
application process and establish an additional medium for engagement. TRACI enables
users view job vacancies and submit applications via Facebook Messenger. TRACI is
integrated with Google's artificial intelligence platform, which serves as the foundation for
the chatbot’s Natural Language Processing, allowing MERALCO to provide timely feedback
on job inquiries and application status. All backend services are hosted and supported on
the cloud with a document management system that holds all applicant submissions. Data
about job vacancies posted are populated using Robotic Process Automation, which runs
daily to support the process. With TRACI, MERALCO leverages digital technology to efficiently communicate to a younger generation of talent, positively impacting brand equity
and recruitment capabilities.

• Asian Hospital and Medical Center’s Asian Hospital Hopprlab Power Bi Analytics named as
Information Visionary of the Year: The Asian Hospital and Medical Center (AHMC) is
committed to data-driven healthcare and has leveraged advanced analytics provide better
services to its patients while lowering the total cost of care. Through the integration of digital
technologies and modern medicine, AHMC is better equipped to deliver quality healthcare
to it is patients. The hospital began digitalization in 2016, with its integrated information
system delivering real-time insights on daily operations. AHMC has also gained the ability
to understand historical trends, with such as month-on-month patient surges and ER
overflows, and at the same time, learn about changing risk factors and new infectious
diseases. AHMC has been able to make strategic data-driven decisions to make further
improvements on its infrastructure, facilities, and manpower utilization, which includes
nurses and specialists. Having also digitized the hospital’s lab information, the AHMC
Medical Informatics department is now working with the hospital's pharmacy module to
provide further support to doctors in their clinical decisions. AHMC has also implemented a
Patient Flow System, which allows doctors to understand the end-to-end patient journey,
lowering the average Emergency Room to exit time to three hours, exceeding international
standards.

• Unilab, Inc.’s Unilab Implements NetSuite OneWorld to Transform B2B Operations named
Operating Model Master: Unilab, the largest pharmaceutical company in the Philippines is
the first in its industry to leverage cloud ERP to standardize and stabilize its distributor
management program through its iSERV 2.0 project. With NetSuite OneWorld, Unilab has
helped power its 21 distributors by setting them up as individual partners. By upgrading to
a unified cloud ERP system, Unilab has enabled its distributors to easily manage inventory
and billing processes of over 10,000 trade accounts, such as drug stores, clinics, and grocery stores. Unilab has also used this system for sales and data consolidation and multi-subsidiary management. Since the completion of this transformation in January 2017, Unilab has streamlined operations for its distributors and has gained greater visibility into the channel, contributing to its US $1 billion revenue.

• PhilCare’s HeyPhil App named Omni-Experience Innovator of the Year: To assist members who need immediate consultation but must go through long queues and slow turn-around times to acquire a Letter of Authorization (LOA) forms required in medical services ailment, Philhealth Care, Inc. (PhilCare) has developed HeyPhil, a mobile application utilizing Artificial Intelligence technology. A first in the local HMO industry, PhilCare has incorporated Artificial Intelligence with the function of a virtual agent to help obtain information using natural language processing. Through the HeyPhil App, members can generate the LOA at their own convenience and avail of medical services directly without queuing at a hospital or clinic concierge. From the usual average handling time of 6 minutes
at a medical partner or via the contact center and 30 minutes queuing at a hospital concierge, members can now get their own forms in less than two minutes. HeyPhil also provides the nearest physician, hospital, or clinic based on patient symptoms and location.

Aside from LOA generation for consultations and laboratory procedures, members may also
validate their eligibility and standard medical benefits. Finally, the app features a PhilCare
Digi-Card, BMI and calorie calculators, and medical health bulletins and offers digital
consultation with an online doctor.

IDC’s DX Awards follows a two-phased approach to determine the country and regional winners.
Each nomination is evaluated by a local and regional IDC analyst against a standard assessment
framework based on IDC’s DX taxonomy. All country winners will qualify for the regional competition, which will be decided by a regional panel of judges comprised of IDC Worldwide analysts, industry thought leaders, and academia.

Winners from all around Asia Pacific will join the Singapore winners at IDC's DX Summit and Digital Transformation Awards (DXa) Gala Night, where the regional winners will be announced for the categories of Digital Transformer of the Year; Digital Disruptor of the Year; DX Leader, Omni-
experience Innovator, Talent Accelerator, Information Visionary, and Operating Model Master.

The regional awarding ceremony will happen on the 25th October 2018 at JW Marriott
Singapore. For more information on the awards and judging criteria, please visit the IDC DX
Awards website HERE.