Together with Microsoft, the Makati Business Club (MBC), Infocomm Technology Association of the Philippines (ITAP), Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), Women’s Business Council Philippines, and the US-ASEAN Business Council Inc., in partnership with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), announced the formation of the AI Pilipinas Coalition recently. Bringing together key organizations and leaders in government and the private sector, the Coalition endeavors to empower people and organizations through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Across public and private sectors, industries and communities, AI will play a key role in helping the Philippines respond to, and recover from COVID-19, build resiliency, and increase its competitiveness on the global stage in the years to come. The AI Pilipinas Coalition was formed to address the need for its responsible adoption in the country. It jumpstarts on both local and national levels, to explore AI capabilities that can spark positive transformation and digital acceleration for Filipinos, founded on a clear roadmap and framework of execution in the form of its AI Action Agenda.
Designed and co-authored by the entire Coalition, the AI Action Agenda will help frame its national effort through six key pillar actions:
- Establish a clear mandate from the highest level of government for Philippines’ AI vision
- Define clear roles and responsibilities with government
- Build trust in AI by encouraging implementation of responsible AI
- Support data-driven innovation that is central to AI
- Provide legal and regulatory clarity to encourage responsible use of AI
- Prepare the workforce for the AI economy
During the launch, DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez emphasized the critical role technology will play in the nation’s economic recovery, adding that AI in particular is poised to make a significant contribution to enabling Filipino individuals and enterprises for the future.
Recent years have seen AI move increasingly into mainstream products thanks to a confluence of factors: the massive computing power of the cloud, the availability of enormous datasets that can be used to teach AI systems, breakthroughs in developing AI algorithms and improvements in AI methods such as deep learning. With far-reaching impacts permeating all areas of society and economy, a study by McKinsey estimates that globally, AI techniques will have the potential to create between $3.5 trillion and $5.8 trillion in value annually.
Microsoft’s AI tools and technologies are used in workplaces, classrooms, home offices, research labs and manufacturing facilities around the world, empowering everyone from students to factory workers. Powered by its Azure cloud, people and institutions around the world can do things like better understand their customers, share information more quickly and enable scientific breakthroughs.
For his part, Coco Alcuaz, Makati Business Club executive director said, “The business sector and business orgs need to be responsive to technological and economic change. We have to embrace AI and its potential applications. This Coalition, which welcomes other businesses and organizations, represents the business sector’s commitment to promote national and economic development through responsible AI.”
Trust is the foundation of Microsoft’s work in AI from its principled approach anchored on human-centered design, fairness, inclusiveness, reliability & safety, transparency, privacy & security, and accountability, to the shared responsibility it creates with customers and partners by providing practical guidance, best practices and tools to enable the responsible creation of AI.
