It has been two years today since President Duterte declared lockdown on March 15, 2020. Many appreciation have already been given to frontlines. It is time to thank those in the backend (as well as frontend).
It is fitting to now take this opportunity to thank and inspire the digital Filipino innovators and communities around the country. Those who were locked down physically – but their brains where in fully functional and operational almost 24/7 around the the Philippines – creating, designing, building, computing, deploying, and bridging digital solutions for FILIPINOS to survive the lockdown.
From Filipino software programmers, IT engineers, systems developers, data scientists, data analysts, cloud engineers, data privacy experts, cybersecurity professionals, web developers, graphics designers, UI/UX designers to beta testers and users, digital frontend professionals, digital marketers, social media managers, IT-BPM professionals, virtual freelancers and other digital professionals, and more.
Sa these unsang heroes, mostly unpaid heroes who belong to the digital innovation ecosystem of this country – thank you very much. My thank you does not count since I am only one – but wherever you are – give yourself a path on the shoulders.
As our national hero DR. Jose Rizal said, not only where sleeping during the eve of the revolution – not all are sleeping during the lockdown – we are wide awake!
And yes, more than half of our ideas and solutions fell on deaf ears but many have been deployed – so congratulations – from contact tracing systems, to QR technology driven enterprise systems, from cloud-based data portal, to mobile technology driven information platforms, from eHealth services to digital stores, food supply chains, and many more!!!
Some people think digital advocates do this for the money – sadly that is not even our goal. The itch, the thirst to get our ideas out because we know they have the potential to solve things that people keep complaining about but are not lifting a finger to solve – these are the use cases of FILIPINO Innovators.
Let us make 2022 be the start of a NEW ERA for FILIPINO DIGITAL INNOVATORS! Tag a Filipino digital innovator who needs this affirming message today. Let us not lose them for the sake of these country! SALUDO AKO SA INYO! MARAMING SALAMAT! MABUHAY!
Jocelle Batapa Sigue 