Saturday, March 16, 2013

iZone-iHUB "iNNOVATION" Hackathon Event Starts Now!

After the first successful hackathon event iZone-iHUB followed up with the second entitled "iNNOVATION" Hackathon Event. The aim of this event is to provide more opportunities to the local IT community to participate and have a chance to get their projects going.

iZone-iHUB Invitational Poster for the event
This is going to be a 24 hour hackathon event were the contestant will have that time to work on their project based on the theme provided by staff members of iZone-iHUB that is in line with globalization and innovation.

Philippines has always been a beacon of innovation and iZone-iHUB is now taping this community to come out and start developing projects and ideas that can be known world wide. Why get pirated outside the country if you have all you need as ventures and opportunities here in the Philippines.

Mr. Dan Pena is the one spearheading this movement along with other IT communities and venture capitalist in providing more avenue for the community to participate.

2013 will be a good year for innovation and technology, and we the IT Philippine Community will have a chance to be part of this change and opportunity.

A live feed coverage of the event will also be posted by staff of iZone-iHUB the keep the technology community involved and for them to find out what is going on this event.

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

iZone-iHUB "iNNOVATION" Hackathon Event

As the saying goes: "strike while the iron is hot". After the successful 24 Hour Hackathon event held at iZone-iHUB last February 2013. This time around they put everything up a notch higher. They will now introduce the next event which is "iNNOVATION" Hackathon Event.

Official Poster for the "iNNOVATION" Hackathon
This is again another 24 hour event were contestant would have the opportunity to show case their skills and talents in the field of information technology. iZone-iHUB would also be awarding the prize of twenty thousand pesos (20,000.00) cash card to the sole winner of this event.

This is a golden chance for those who were not able to attend the first Hackathon to join up and be part of the league of programmers, developers and designer who have made their claim on being the sole survivor of the 24 Hour Hackathon Event.

Here is the recap of the recently concluded Hackathon and the winning group highlighted:

iZone-iHUB Founder Mr. Dan Pena shaking the hands of the participants.
Project "Stuff Cookie" who was able to grab the grand prize is now in discussion with the board members of iZone-iHUB in a potential venture to kick start the project they have developed on this Hackathon Event.

Here are the details of the event for the next Hackathon which is "iNNOVATION":


iZone-iHUB’s "iNNOVATION" Hackathon Event

COMPETITION REQUIREMENTS:
A Selection Committee to be formed by iZone-iHUB shall review and evaluate which entries will qualify for the Finals. Mr. Dan S. Peña himself would also be judging the projects.

  •       Each team will be required to attend iZone-iHUB’s scheduled Hackathon Event indicated monthly via Social media and other form of promotions.
  •       Core members of the team are mandated to be present on the Hackathon Date for their team to qualify and participate.
  •       Each team will be required to give a 10 to 15-minutes presentation plus a 3 minute demonstration (live or video) of their prototype to the Board of Judges.
  •       Application must be built during the entire duration of the contest. Teams are given 24 hours (from 2pm of March 16 until 2pm of March 17, 2013) to finish their entries. (Premade programs or applications outside the competition time frame is not allowed)
  •       Pre-screening process will be done to distinguished individuals or groups and panellist will decide on the sole grand winner of the event.
  •       The Board of Judges will select 1 team whose entry will qualify for admission into the iZone-iHUB’s incubation program. The decision of the Board of Judges shall be final. (Not all projects would have the chance to be part of the incubation program if they do not fit the criteria of the Board of judges.)
  •       Project should also contain a mock up (Prototype) and presentation materials for a live demo of the project to either the panel of judges or jury.

  •       Applications may be assembled using any mix of programming languages, application frameworks, and development tools. Participants are expected to bring the necessary tools to build their competition entry. (Be guided with the Theme Guideline as reference on what to prepare for the competition.)
  •       Application must be built during the entire duration of the contest. 
  •       Teams can either chose to implement their idea as a web application, a mobile application or both without any restriction on what platforms or language to use.
  •       All decisions of judges are final. Scores will be announced and winners will be decided on the end of the “iNNOVATION” Hackathon Event



THEME:
Theme Guideline: Utilize the major platforms or APIs (Apple, Android, Desktop OS, and Windows w/ integration from Social Media).
 Hackathon Theme: To be Announced on the Hackathon Date.



CRITERIA FOR JUDGING:
The criteria below will determine sole winner monthly. The criteria and a description are posted below with the corresponding weights:
Criteria for Judging: 100%
- Innovation/Novelty (wow factor) – 30%
- Commercial viability (global scale) – 20% 
- Technical expertise – 10%
- Solution scalability – 20%        
- Completeness – 10%
- Aesthetics – 10%

TIMING (Cycle)
  • Registration start a month prior to the competition.
  • Deadline of registration is a day before the Hackathon Event.
  • Development of the project is within the Hackathon Event.
  • Announcement of winner/winners will be end of the Hackathon Event.

APPLICANTS
There will be no age limit for the Applicants of iZone-iHUB’s Hackathon Event. Age limit would be 18 years old and above. iZone-iHUB staff and iZone Technologies Corporation are not qualified to be part of this competition.

MENTORS
iZone-iHUB has closed partnership with DevCon (Developer’s Connect), a group whose advocacies are in lined with the beliefs of iZone-iHUB. They provide support to event that would harness the potential of every Pinoy Programmer, Developer or Designer.

AWARDS AND COMMERCIALS


THE AWARD:
Sole winner or team will get to take home Twenty Thousand Pesos (20,000.00) cash card and a chance to get their project enrolled to iZone-iHUB’s start up incubation program.


iZone-iHUB INCUBATION PROGRAM
Mr. Dan Peña would provide funding and support to any projects that he find interest upon presentation of the projects at the Hackathon Event. Winners will then be invited to discuss the terms of this projects with him and what support he will be able to provide to winners.

EVENT LOCATION:
Unit No. 12 A (Penthouse) Agustin 1 Building, No. 28 F. Ortigas Jr. Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Landmark near the building is El Pueblo and Orient Square Building along Emerald Avenue)

Saturday, February 16, 2013

iZone-iHUB "24 Hour" Hackathon Challenge Conclusion

February 15, 2013 is a day mark by every developer, program and designer that took up the challenge to participate and be a contender to one of the biggest event sponsored by iZone-iHUB in service to the technology community of the Philippines. The "24 Hour" Hackathon Event has now come to a closure.

iZone-iHUB First Hackathon Promotion
This event show cased the talents of each individual on how they will be able to collaborate with one another in coming up with the greatest project or idea they can create within the 24 hour window given to them. As the saying goes, everyone was called but only few adhered to the calling. The event was held at 1 Agustin Building, Ortigas Business Center Pasig City, which is the main head quarters of the Tech Site of iZone-iHUB.

One of the  team collaborating with one another to create ideas
The chosen few who came in accepted the challenge brought out all there creative juice in developing a project that follow the theme iZone-iHUB provided on the day of the event. As what iZone-iHUB believes, ideas that can be marketed and commercialize globally.

Developer Connect (DevCon) was also present on site to provide guidance to all the contestant on this gruesome 24 hour challenge. Mr. Bryan Bibat (VP for Technology) provided his thoughts on how Hackathon are being done here in the Philippines. He provided the contestant Hackathon 101 specially for those who are new to the game.

Bryan Bibat providing Hackathon 101 to the contestant
We also have another prominent member of DevCon which is Alvin Chan who was also present on site to provide his expertise to the contenders present on the event. His skills when it comes to development is something you will not take lightly and with his vast array of experience he provides effective feedback to the projects the contestants were developing.

Alvin Chan shown in the background doing his stuff
Microsoft spoke person was also present on site to provide talk about Windows Phone and Windows 8 and how developers can be able to take advantage of this devices and software. They were also the one who sponsored the prizes to be given out to the winners of this Hackathon Event.

Spoke Person Chris from Microsoft demonstrating Windows Phone
Here are the list of team who were the sole survivors of this event among all those who adhere to the calling of the challenge iZone-iHUB shouted for this event:

  • Project "Stuff Cookie" Lead by Joseph Ross Lee
  • Project "Imbored" Lead by Jethro De Guzman
  • Project "Seeker" Lead by Ace Dimasuhid
  • Project "Libra" Lead by Ken Lauren Daganio
Among this projects only 3 will be selected on the second day of the event for the conclusion of the 24 Hour Hackathon Challenge. The judges for the event would be no other than the Founder of iZone-iHUB Mr. Dan Pena and Marketing Director of iZone Technologies Philippines Mr. Robert Smith.

Mr. Dan Pena awaiting the announcement of winners for the 24 hour challenge
The Grand winner went to Project "Stuff Cookie" which is being lead by Joseph Ross Lee. Second place was then awarded to Project "Imbored" and the Third place goes to Project "Seeker". 

Besides the announcements of winners there were also speakers present on the event to provide inspirational talk to the contestant. Mr. RJ David founder of Sulit.com.ph was present on site for Q&A with the contenders. We also have Miss Susan Barlin, CEO of Barlin Group of Companies present and provided a great inspirational talk about investment and business.

Miss Susan Barlin providing a talk to the contestants.
This has been one of the milestones iZone-iHUB would want to share to the people and it would spark more things for the technology community to get involved with. So many opportunities iZone-iHUB provides and it is up to us if we want to take advantage of it.

Monday, January 14, 2013

iZone-iHUB Invades UPITTC in Diliman

iZone-iHUB staff distributing flyers
The iZone-iHUB caravan does not stop. One of the next pit stop for invasion is the campus of UPITTC. The school segment of UP Diliman were they provide crash course and training for those who want to learn more about technology and innovation.

Flyers was been handed over to people present on site last Saturday and Sunday. Roughly around 100 plus people were present on both days since this programs and courses are highly advised to be attended by not only students but professionals alike.

Montage of pictures located on the stair case of the UPITTC
What better way to attract more people to check out iZone-iHUB is go to places were tech savvy people actually meet up and converge or converse about technology. 

This is just one place were iZone-iHUB would be in, expect that your school might be the next! Support our cause and be one of us. Be part of iZone-iHUB!

For more details about this facility and what they offer you can visit us at http://ihub.izonetech-ph.com.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

iZone-iHUB Grand Launch

The long wait is over. As we end the year of 2012 and enter the phase of 2013 we now push forward, iZone-iHUB is already doing that. This coming January 18, 2013 (Friday) they will have the launching of the events and there is a lot of things in store for the Philippine Technology Community.

Official invitation for the Grand Launch of iZone-iHUB
Besides the announcements, for those who will be attendance, they are lucky enough to be able to hear some words from the invited speakers for this events. We have Representative Angelo Palmones of party Agham to grace the podium.

Representative Angelo Palmones speaking to one of his conventions
Vice Mayor of Manila Mr. "Isko" Moreno will also be present to talk about how technology is driving our country to improve and compete with the world.

Image of Vice Mayor of Manila Mr. "Isko" Moreno
Besides this prominent personas we would also have the founder of iZone-iHUB himself, Mr. Daniel S. Pena Sr. present on the event to provide a speech to those who would be in attendance. I would invite everyone to be present for this would be ones in a lifetime chance for you to hear him out. Some people around the world actually pays him good money just to hear his words about business and development and his forty plus years of experience in the industry.

Mr. Dan S. Pena Sr. seen last November 8, 2012 in iZone-iHUB
We cordially invite everyone to witness this event and be part of the wave of change that would rock the very foundation of the Information Technology Community here in the Philippines.

For more details about our event you can visit our site at http://ihub.izonetech-ph.com or for inquiries you can send us an email at ihubsupport@izonetech-ph.com.

iZone-iHUB invades the campus of Colegio de San Juan De Letran

2013 has been the year of iZone-iHUB and all of it's plans are being set into motion. You probably might have read already the previous article were they were able to obtain the support and backing of University of the Philippines, also among one of the top notch IT schools Asia Pacific College also voiced out their support to this cause.

Logo of Colegio De
San Juan De Letran

We know add one more advocate of the mission of iZone-iHUB, we welcome Colegio De San Juan De Letran or more commonly known as Letran College as now part of this prestigious gathering of IT enthusiasts.

iZone-iHUB staff has started to get the school involved with the lined up of activities and event for this coming 2013.

The head of Office of Student affairs was ecstatic to hear the opportunities this place has to offer to the student and faculty of the college.

Asst. Prof. Maria Luisa Carlos - Director, Institute of Information Technology also is a firm believer and advocate of the potential of every Pinoy Techies. 

This is one small step to a long road that this site would take to ensure that the necessary exposure can be provided for this opportunities to be known to all the technologically savvy individuals.


Screenshot of the school campus of Letran located in Intramuros Manila

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

iZone-iHUB starts collaboration with University of the Philippines

With the on going campaign of iZone-iHUB in promoting its advocacy to universities and college one of the key players already confirmed its support on the endeavors of iZone-iHUB. University of the Philippines will provide cooperation in ensuring that iZone-iHUB's plan for the Philippine Technology Community is exposed to their community.

Staff of iZone-iHUB with Mr. Valdez from
University of the Philippines (UP)
 iZone-iHUB is promoting its upcoming event to everyone who is technology driven and would want to find out a place for collaboration and development.

Here are the highlighted events to expect from iZone-iHUB:

  • Grand Launch on January 18, 2013
  • Techno Summit on February 16, 2013
Contests are also in store for any programmers, developers and innovators on the said events. For more details regarding this event and the contest mechanics you can check us out at http://ihub.izonetech-ph.com or you can email your inquiries at ihubsupport@izonetech-ph.com

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

iZone-iHUB Staff invites Vice Mayor "Isko" Moreno

Last January 8, 2013 the staff of iZone-iHUB proceeded to inviting one of the most prominent advocates of technology in the Philippines which is Vice Mayor of Manila Mr. "Isko" Moreno or also known as Francisco Domagoso. A good example of a person who persevered to becoming someone known to everyone. Former actor turned politician he is also is a huge advocate of technology here in the Philippines. He believes that technology is going to be the next step for the Philippine Community to prosper.


Mr. Naz Mariano and EJ Manalo (iZone-iHUB Staff)
with Vice Mayor "Isko" Moreno
iZone-iHUB is a free tech site suitable for programmers and developers to hang out and collaborate by developing and creating new ideas and project that would be marketed not only local but global as well. This site is being funded by a well known business magnate Mr. Daniel S. Pena, a philanthropist and also an advocate of technology.


Mr. Dan Pena providing a short speech to Pinoy Techies and Media
 A lot if opportunities is being provided by iZone-iHUB to the technology community and it's up to this individuals to take advantage of this chance. They also have contests and competitions that would provide great exposure and commercialization.

If you want to hear the inspirational words of this two great personas, we in iZone-iHUB invite you to participate and be present on our grand launch this coming January 18, 2013. Free entrance and cocktails will be served to this present and onsite.

Be motivated and be inspired, iZone-iHUB would want you to feel that their is a place for you!

Monday, January 7, 2013

Video Coverage of the Press Conference for Bloggers

For those who were not able to bear weakness to the recently concluded iZone-iHUB press conference, you can check the highlights of the event on the video posted here.

The event highlight are the following:

  • What to expect this coming 2013 and activities lined up by iZone-iHUB to the Philippine Technology Community.
  • Guest speakers for the two (2) events planned by iZone-iHUB.
  • Mechanics and expectations for the contest and competition.
  • Hackathon event for the Techno Summit this coming February 2013.
  • Contest for the most innovative project for 2013.
  • Contest for the Best blog write up for the bloggers in attendance of the event.
Check out this Youtube video to find out more about iZone-iHUB Press Conference for Bloggers.


iZone-iHUB's Best Write Up Contest for Bloggers

Last January 4, 2013 iZone-iHUB conducted a Press Conference dedicated to bloggers. The whole place was jam packed with this online journalists and enthusiasts who wants to find out more about the craze going on with this technology site.

Bloggers listening attentively to the contest mechanics for bloggers


The host announced the mechanics of the contest to all the participant present on that event. Here is again the drill down of the mechanics of the contest for bloggers present:


Mechanics

1.    The contest is open to all amateurs and professional bloggers. It starts upon completion of attendance to our blogger’s conference.
2.    Bloggers will be invited to attend the iZone-iHUB bloggers conference this January 4, 2013 at iZone-iHUB Tech site. Slot reservations are a must.
Venue: Penthouse 12^th floor 1 Agustin Building, Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Business Center, Pasig City 1605.
3.    Each blogger will publish a post (not more than 600 words) in their blogs regarding the events and what to expect from iZone-iHUB.
4.    Theme of the contest: iZone-iHUB as a beacon of innovation in the Philippines.
Note: entry should stick to the theme and the blogger’s knowledge/understanding of iZone-iHUB and the activities they have planned for. Bloggers are allowed to use a maximum of 5 photos and these photos should be relevant to the topic.
5.    Contestants are required to fill up the online registration form in order to join the contest. To register they need to visit this link: http://ihub.izonetech-ph.com (http://ihub.izonetech-ph.com/) . They will be required to fill up the required fields and provide the URL link of their blogs. (The registration form will appear on the site on the date of the Bloggers Conference)
6.    The entries must be published on their own respective blogs on or before the (Date) or for amateur bloggers you can contribute your entries to technology driven blog sites for exposure of your content. Again blogger must be registered in order to qualify.
7.    Deadline of submissions will be at January 14, 2013. ( 2 days before the Grand Launch)
8.    All entries will be judged following this criteria:
a.    50 pts – Traction of Blog (Unique visits, number of visitors from the time frame of the contest)
b.    30 pts – Quality (includes writing style / ability to understand iZone-iHUB and its goals)
c.    15 pts – Creativity ( Includes choices of words and overall layout of the entry)
d.    5 pts – Technicality (Should be written in English, use of Filipino and /dialect must be provided with English translation enclosed with parenthesis, word limit and number of photos in the entry.
9.    3 winners will be selected among all the entries.
10. Announcement of winners will be done in the Grand Launch event at January 16, 2013 at iZone-iHUB Tech Site.
11. Judge’s decisions are final and binding.
12. By participating, you are giving iZone-iHUB the right to use the blog in any marketing promotions, including announcement of winners of publicity purposes.


iZone-iHUB is now opening submission to those present on the event. Please be guided with the registration form on this link and if you have any questions you can email us at ihubsupport@izonetech-ph.com

http://ihub.izonetech-ph.com/content/blog-registration

Remember bloggers, the faster you put up an article the better chances of you winning! Good luck and my the best write up win!

Friday, January 4, 2013

iZone-iHUB Press Conference for Bloggers

The first iZone-iHUB press conference was a huge success with bloggers flocking the site to hear about the plans and developments that this group has been cooking up this past few days and months. Around thirty plus bloggers were present on site to partake this huge gathering.

Bloggers present on the Press Conference in iZone-iHUB

Event was hosted by Mr. EJ Manalo and Mr. Naz Mariano both are staff of iZone-iHUB. The presence of Mr. Robert William Smith, Marketing Director of iZone Technologies was also present on site to provide the welcoming remarks to all the bloggers.

Mr. Robert Smith providing the welcoming remarks to those bloggers present
on the press conference held in iZone-iHUB tech site.

 iZone-iHUB host provided all the necessary details and information the bloggers need in order to understand what advocacy iZone-iHUB is offering to the Philippine Technology Community. They also provided highlights on what to expect this coming 2013.

Mr. Naz and Mr. EJ, hosts of the event provide the highlights for iZone-iHUB
to the bloggers present on site.
This coming 2013, iZone-iHUB has a lot of events and activities in store for everyone. Here are some of the listed events that the Philippine Technology Community can expect from iZone-iHUB:
  • Grand Launch - Event Launching scheduled on January 18, 2013.
  • Techno Summit scheduled for February 16, 2013.
Contest and competitions are also provided to those in attendance and this with having them the opportunity to write about something that can be a turning point for technology community to get exposure.

B's Cupcakes with iZone-iHUB Flags
Cupcakes was also serve to all the individuals present for the press conference compliments of B's Cupcakes. 

This provided a little snack to the bloggers as they listen attentively to the host and readying out their questions after the presentation were the Questions and Answer portion was entertained by the host of the event.

"This place is a venue for collaboration for all types of pinoy techies. This is were they can share ideas and developed their own as they absorb knowledge from other experts from different walks of life in the technology department" - This is one statement that the host of iZone-iHUB put emphasis on when they were differentiating iZone-iHUB from other existing site in Metro Manila. 

The bloggers present on site got even more fired up when the host announce the contest that iZone-iHUB has prepared for those present on the site.


Question and Answer portion was also accommodated by the host to ensure that everyone's concerns are addressed by the staff of iZone-iHUB. Everyone was put on awe when they again found out that this work space if free for use to the technology community which again has been repeatedly elaborated by the host of the event.

One of the bloggers asking questions to the host of press conference
The event was concluded with the token of appreciation of the crew of iZone-iHUB to the bloggers present with a "Be one of US" limited edition T-shirt. The bloggers who would like to show their support to iZone-iHUB took time to be part of the group photo with the iZone-iHUB Crew.

Bloggers showing support for iZone-iHUB by wearing
the Be one of US T-shirt

For more details about the events and if you are interested, you can check us out at http://ihub.izonetech-ph.com.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Innovation Start this 2013!

As we bid farewell to a great year of 2012 let's all remember those great innovation that spread world wide and molded technology as it is today and cut open new opportunities for advancement and development.

Analytics

Analytics is seen as the competitive differentiator — perhaps the only competitive differentiator — between companies competing in the new global realm. A global survey of 4,500 executives, managers and analysts, released earlier this year by MIT Sloan Management Review and the IBM Institute for Business Value, finds the information ‘haves’ — companies with in-depth experience with analytics technologies and methodologies — increasingly saw competitive advantage, and were more than twice as likely to have outperformed their analytically challenged peers over the past year. (Full report available from MIT SMR or IBM.) Overall. adoption of analytic capabilities has been rapidly proliferating as of late. Fifty-eight percent of organizations now apply analytics to create a competitive advantage within their markets or industries, up from 37% just one year ago, the study confirms.

Watsons

Earlier in 2011, IBM’s Watson defeated two reigning Jeopardy! champions, demonstrating that artificial intelligence has matured to a point where it can address queries in areas relating to business intelligence, medicine, engineering, and more. Expect to see more systems capable of responding to natural-language queries supporting decision-making across a variety of disciplines and industry areas.

Do-it-yourself

The New York Times’ Tom Friedman described it as the emerging DIY economy, made possible through “the mass diffusion of low-cost, high-powered innovation technologies — from hand-held computers to Web sites that offer any imaginable service — plus cheap connectivity. They are transforming how business is done.” It’s all about self-service, and the ability to start, fund and staff businesses through online resources. The barriers to entry have fallen dramatically, and expect to see a boom in startups with very low capital requirements. This may offer a partial explanation as to why the actual size of the workforce has remained flat over the past decade (declining 1.1%), while corporate profits, GDP and productivity have risen.

Cloud

Computing power is almost becoming “too cheap to meter” – thanks to the cloud, massive data center power is available for literally pennies. This is a good value proposition for companies looking to expand or needing to expand their IT capabilities. Cisco’s latest Global Cloud Index, finds that organization’s data centers will be moving to the cloud in a big way. This also good news for economic growth. Thanks to the availability of powerful and low-cost on-demand technologies, innovators now have access to computing and information resources unheard of even a few years ago. There was a time when launching a serious startup required serious capital for hiring talent, marketing and promotion, office space, and for technology to make it all happen. Thanks to cloud computing and social networking resources, it now costs virtually pennies to secure and get the infrastructure needed up and running to get a new venture off the ground.

Crowdsourcers

Talk about outside-the-walls innovation. Many organizations will increasingly be turning to online resources for new ideas or to solve tough business problems. From digitizing library collections to prediction markets, online resources and collective talent will be brought to bear on many areas. One example is prediction markets — there are external markets, but organizations will be increasing applying their own internal markets to help drive decision making. Internally, organizations may have thousands of employees and petabytes worth of information — prediction markets and crowdsourced competitions may help capture that knowledge efficiently.

Smartphones

Smartphones will continue disrupting just about everything that moves. A entire new delivery channel has emerged for the delivery of data and services to consumers and partners. The rise of the smartphone is also disrupting an unheard-of number of product markets. Things now disrupted by smartphones include cameras, portable music players, video games, GPS devices, PCs, watches, remote controls, alarm clocks, levels and other measurement tools, thermometers, radios, microscopes, calendars, advertising, and, oh, yeah — cellphones and landline telephones. Who knows shat’s in store for disruption in 2012?

Now this coming 2013, what would be the next big thing?

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Press Conference - iZone-iHUB

Calling all amateur and professional bloggers! Turn that golden hand to great prizes by attending our iZone-iHUB Bloggers Conference and by simply blogging about what’s to come for iZone-iHUB!



Mechanics

1.    The contest is open to all amateurs and professional bloggers. It starts upon completion of attendance to our blogger’s conference.
2.    Bloggers will be invited to attend the iZone-iHUB bloggers conference this January 4, 2013 at iZone-iHUB Tech site. Slot reservations are a must.
Venue: Penthouse 12^th floor 1 Agustin Building, Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Business Center, Pasig City 1605.
3.    Each blogger will publish a post (not more than 600 words) in their blogs regarding the events and what to expect from iZone-iHUB.
4.    Theme of the contest: iZone-iHUB as a beacon of innovation in the Philippines.
Note: entry should stick to the theme and the blogger’s knowledge/understanding of iZone-iHUB and the activities they have planned for. Bloggers are allowed to use a maximum of 5 photos and these photos should be relevant to the topic.
5.    Contestants are required to fill up the online registration form in order to join the contest. To register they need to visit this link: http://ihub.izonetech-ph.com (http://ihub.izonetech-ph.com/) . They will be required to fill up the required fields and provide the URL link of their blogs. (The registration form will appear on the site on the date of the Bloggers Conference)
6.    The entries must be published on their own respective blogs on or before the (Date) or for amateur bloggers you can contribute your entries to technology driven blog sites for exposure of your content. Again blogger must be registered in order to qualify.
7.    Deadline of submissions will be at January 14, 2013. ( 2 days before the Grand Launch)
8.    All entries will be judged following this criteria:
a.    50 pts – Traction of Blog (Unique visits, number of visitors from the time frame of the contest)
b.    30 pts – Quality (includes writing style / ability to understand iZone-iHUB and its goals)
c.    15 pts – Creativity ( Includes choices of words and overall layout of the entry)
d.    5 pts – Technicality (Should be written in English, use of Filipino and /dialect must be provided with English translation enclosed with parenthesis, word limit and number of photos in the entry.
9.    3 winners will be selected among all the entries.
10. Announcement of winners will be done in the Grand Launch event at January 16, 2013 at iZone-iHUB Tech Site.
11. Judge’s decisions are final and binding.
12. By participating, you are giving iZone-iHUB the right to use the blog in any marketing promotions, including announcement of winners of publicity purposes.



iZone-iHUB © 2012 iZone Technologies Corporation Philippines, All rights reserved.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Blogger's Conference - iZone-iHUB



Blog about iZone-iHUB and win!

Calling all amateur and professional bloggers! Turn that golden hand to great prizes by attending our iZone-iHUB Bloggers Conference and by simply blogging about what’s to come for iZone-iHUB!

Mechanics:

  1. The contest is open to all amateurs and professional bloggers. It starts upon completion of attendance to our blogger’s conference.
  2.  Bloggers will be invited to attend the iZone-iHUB bloggers conference this January 4, 2013 at iZone-iHUB Tech site. Slot reservations are a must. Venue: Penthouse 12th floor 1 Agustin Building, Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Business Center, Pasig City 1605.
  3.  Each blogger will publish a post (not more than 600 words) in their blogs regarding the events and what to expect from iZone-iHUB.
  4.  Theme of the contest: iZone-iHUB as a beacon of innovation in the Philippines. Note: entry should stick to the theme and the blogger’s knowledge/understanding of iZone-iHUB and the activities they have planned for. Bloggers are allowed to use a maximum of 5 photos and these photos should be relevant to the topic. 
  5. Contestants are required to fill up the online registration form in order to join the contest. To register they need to visit this link: http://ihub.izonetech-ph.com. They will be required to fill up the required fields and provide the URL link of their blogs. (The registration form will appear on the site on the date of the Bloggers Conference) 
  6. The entries must be published on their own respective blogs on or before the (Date) or for amateur bloggers you can contribute your entries to technology driven blog sites for exposure of your content. Again blogger must be registered in order to qualify. 
  7. Deadline of submissions will be at January 14, 2013. ( 2 days before the Grand Launch) 
  8.  All entries will be judged following this criteria: 50 pts – Traction of Blog (Unique visits, number of visitors from the time frame of the contest) b. 30 pts – Quality (includes writing style / ability to understand iZone-iHUB and its goals) c. 15 pts – Creativity ( Includes choices of words and overall layout of the entry) d. 5 pts – Technicality (Should be written in English, use of Filipino and /dialect must be provided with English translation enclosed with parenthesis, word limit and number of photos in the entry. 
  9. 3 winners will be selected among all the entries. 
  10. Announcement of winners will be done in the Grand Launch event at January 16, 2013 at iZone-iHUB Tech Site.
  11. Judge’s decisions are final and binding.
  12. By participating, you are giving iZone-iHUB the right to use the blog in any marketing promotions, including announcement of winners of publicity purposes.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

10 game-changing business innovations for 2012

image compliment of smartplanet.net

Is business at an inflection point? The economy continues to wring its way through a major, pain-inducing shift, and organizations are emerging from the other side of the recent downturn looking very different than before they went in. There’s a greater reliance on information technology, more global approaches to problem solving, and a greater willingness to try more unconventional ways to innovate.

Here are 10 disruptive forces that stand out as game-changers for the year ahead:

1) Analytics. Analytics is seen as the competitive differentiator — perhaps the only competitive differentiator — between companies competing in the new global realm. A global survey of 4,500 executives, managers and analysts, released earlier this year by MIT Sloan Management Review and the IBM Institute for Business Value, finds the information ‘haves’ — companies with in-depth experience with analytics technologies and methodologies — increasingly saw competitive advantage, and were more than twice as likely to have outperformed their analytically challenged peers over the past year. (Full report available from MIT SMR or IBM.) Overall. adoption of analytic capabilities has been rapidly proliferating as of late. Fifty-eight percent of organizations now apply analytics to create a competitive advantage within their markets or industries, up from 37% just one year ago, the study confirms.

2) Watsons. Earlier in 2011, IBM’s Watson defeated two reigning Jeopardy! champions, demonstrating that artificial intelligence has matured to a point where it can address queries in areas relating to business intelligence, medicine, engineering, and more. Expect to see more systems capable of responding to natural-language queries supporting decision-making across a variety of disciplines and industry areas.

3) Do-it-yourselfers. The New York Times’ Tom Friedman described it as the emerging DIY economy, made possible through “the mass diffusion of low-cost, high-powered innovation technologies — from hand-held computers to Web sites that offer any imaginable service — plus cheap connectivity. They are transforming how business is done.” It’s all about self-service, and the ability to start, fund and staff businesses through online resources. The barriers to entry have fallen dramatically, and expect to see a boom in startups with very low capital requirements. This may offer a partial explanation as to why the actual size of the workforce has remained flat over the past decade (declining 1.1%), while corporate profits, GDP and productivity have risen.

4) Cloud. Computing power is almost becoming “too cheap to meter” – thanks to the cloud, massive data center power is available for literally pennies. This is a good value proposition for companies looking to expand or needing to expand their IT capabilities. Cisco’s latest Global Cloud Index, finds that organization’s data centers will be moving to the cloud in a big way. This also good news for economic growth. Thanks to the availability of powerful and low-cost on-demand technologies, innovators now have access to computing and information resources unheard of even a few years ago. There was a time when launching a serious startup required serious capital for hiring talent, marketing and promotion, office space, and for technology to make it all happen. Thanks to cloud computing and social networking resources, it now costs virtually pennies to secure and get the infrastructure needed up and running to get a new venture off the ground.

5) Crowdsourcers. Talk about outside-the-walls innovation. Many organizations will increasingly be turning to online resources for new ideas or to solve tough business problems. From digitizing library collections to prediction markets, online resources and collective talent will be brought to bear on many areas. One example is prediction markets — there are external markets, but organizations will be increasing applying their own internal markets to help drive decision making. Internally, organizations may have thousands of employees and petabytes worth of information — prediction markets and crowdsourced competitions may help capture that knowledge efficiently.

6) Smartphones. Smartphones will continue disrupting just about everything that moves. A entire new delivery channel has emerged for the delivery of data and services to consumers and partners. The rise of the smartphone is also disrupting an unheard-of number of product markets. Things now disrupted by smartphones include cameras, portable music players, video games, GPS devices, PCs, watches, remote controls, alarm clocks, levels and other measurement tools, thermometers, radios, microscopes, calendars, advertising, and, oh, yeah — cellphones and landline telephones. Who knows shat’s in store for disruption in 2012?

7) 3D printers. Greater efficiencies through IT, combined with eEmerging developments such as 3D printing brings more production back to North America. Research by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) suggests that production of transportation goods such as vehicles and auto parts, electrical equipment including household appliances, and furniture will soon return to US shores. The most promising new concept with the greatest implications for manufacturing and production, however, is “desktop manufacturing,” made possible by 3D printing. If 3D printing takes hold, mass production within the US could be far cheaper than producing and shipping products from overseas.

8 ) Games. ‘Gamification’ may be the latest buzzword du jour, but there’s big money now riding on it. A 2011 survey of 755 Internet users conducted by the Pew Research Center confirms the economic viability of the game business: 19 percent of respondents said they had purchased online games in the most recent quarter. Considering the fact that there are about two billion Internet users across the globe, that translates into one big, big market. Gartner predicts that 50% of organizations that manage innovation processes will gamify those processes by 2015, 70% of global 2,000 organizations will have at least one gamified application by 2014, and M2 Research predicts there will by $2.8 billion in direct investment in gamification by 2015. (Nice infographic here.)

9) Talent (not enough of). While it may seem paradoxical at a time when unemployment is still running high, many organizations are having difficulties finding the skills they need to move forward with greater automation. A survey of 1,201 CEOs by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), finds business leaders are confident about their growth prospects in 2012, but are not confident they will be able to find enough talented employees to carry that growth forward. As economic worries recede to the back burner, new priorities now occupy the business leaders’ agendas: driving innovation, and finding the right talent to drive that innovation. A majority of business leaders say looming skills shortages is a big issue: Two-thirds say they face a “limited supply of candidates with the right skills,” and 54% cite “challenges in recruiting and integrating younger employees.” Another 52% even report they are having issues with “competitors recruiting some of our best people.” However, organizations have been stingy with support for training — which would close a lot of the skills gaps now being experienced.

10) Social responsibility. Corporate social responsibility will enhance engagement with customers and communities. Companies are far more transparent now, thanks to information technology and social media. This calls for a new type of relationship with the world. As reported by my colleague Heather Clancy, management consulting firm KPMG shows that a vast majority of top companies around the world are now reporting on their corporate social responsibility activities as a matter of course. Areas benefiting from CSR include reputation and brand, ethics, employee motivation, innovation and learning, and risk management.

Article by Joe McKendrick
URL: http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/business-brains/10-game-changing-business-innovations-for-2012/20656