TCS goIT students develop apps to address different community challenges

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Tata Consultancy Services celebrated the success of their goIT education program in the Cordillera Region

Tata Consultancy Services, a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, held an awarding ceremony on September 29 for the students of Cordillera who successfully completed their goIT program journey. Together with TCS executives and the Department of Education-Cordillera Administrative Region (DepED-CAR), ten groups from different schools in the said region created mobile applications to provide solutions to the many societal issues that their respective communities are facing today.

A year after its successful launch in Cordillera, TCS’ goIT program, which aims to demystify computer science and encourage students to pursue STEM education, successfully introduced to the students the design thinking, digital technologies, and agile methodologies. The program helped students gain 21st century skills which prepared them for the tech-driven world and will help to improve their communities and support the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

“On behalf of the entire TCS Philippines team, we would like to congratulate our first batch of goIT students in the Philippines. Their output proved that the Filipino youth are capable of creating a better future for the country. TCS is eager to bring the success of goIT Cordillera to the other parts of the Philippines and showcase the Filipino students’ impeccable talent for technology,” shared Shiju Varghese, TCS Philippines Country Head

The goIT program was implemented throughout the academic year with an engaging curriculum which includes innovation life cycle, product prototyping and industry-relevant entrepreneurial skills. The program was facilitated by TCS employee volunteers who are delivery heads, system analysts and team leaders from different business units. These employees provided industry context and real-world scenarios which helped students have a better grasp about the different IT careers.

The technological leaders of Northern Luzon

Through the partnership of TCS and DepEd–CAR, the goIT program reached the six provinces in the region, namely Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Mt. Province and Kalinga and engaged almost 300 students. TCS proudly presents the winning entries who undoubtedly showcased their skills and learnings from the goIT program through a mobile application.

The Cordillera Regional Science High School bagged the champion award with its entry “Transformers”. The app provided a solution to the community’s dilemma on waste management. The group highlighted the beauty in the trash by creating a marketplace between companies and regular consumers for an organized recycling and upcycling transactions. The app hopes to collaborate with GPS Tracking and delivery service providers for more convenient and safe disposal of orders. The app will not only provide income to its users but will also help the environment fight waste pollution.

The Cordillera Regional Science High School also won 1st runner up with its other entry Comstop which aimed to deliver solutions to the region’s food waste problems. The 2nd place was awarded to the app TY Alert from Alejo M. Pacalso Memorial High School. The app was designed as a holistic source of information in times of typhoons and relevant calamities. Baguio City Science National High School with the app Anemo and the Mountain Province General Comprehensive High School with their entry WeCare tied at the 3rd place. The Anemo addressed the challenges in water consumption while WeCare tackled the pressing issues about Mental Health. All winners will receive certificates, medals and trophies.

The Transformers app team from the Cordillera Regional Science High School shares, “It feels surreal to be considered as the TCS goIT Digital Innovation Fair 2021 Champion. We know that everyone put their best foot forward and exerted so much effort to create innovative outputs to help address the issues in our communities. This award won't be possible without the help and support of our coach, school, teachers, and the people behind TCS Philippines who relentlessly believe in the talent and skills of Filipino Youth. We're truly grateful for the opportunity and learning experiences. To all the participants, may we all be reminded that we are all game-changers here. We're all catalysts of change.”

TCS and DepEd-CAR celebrates these students’ achievement in creating a storyboard and mobile app prototype that addresses the issues of their communities such as lack of water supply, electricity consumption, education, mental health and medical assistance, and lack of awareness of natural disasters and calamities.

"We are extremely proud of our students here in the Cordillera Administrative Region for coming up with solutions to help their communities amid the many challenges we are facing today. DepEd-CAR is grateful to TCS Philippines for giving our students this opportunity to learn and contribute to society. DepEd-CAR remains firm in promoting quality education for every Filipino youth and in helping students become critical thinkers and more adept with technological skills needed in creating a better future. We are hoping that the goIT program will continue to encourage students to pursue STEM. DepEd–CAR is open and looking forward for more projects like this with TCS," said Estela Cariño, Department of Education–Cordillera Administrative Region Regional Director.

Patrick Veril, TCS Philippines CSR Manager also added that “goIT Cordillera is just the beginning of the many more TCS goIT projects in the Philippines. More than the official culminating of our first leg, our heart is full in witnessing how the young minds are aware of the needs of their communities and are capable of transforming society. TCS Philippines is grateful to DepEd–CAR for the partnership and the support from day one to this day.”

For the safety of the students and the rest of the participants, the awarding ceremony was held virtually via Zoom. Banking on Building on Belief as its core value, TCS vows to continue its initiative to help students improve their technology skills and build more digital leaders of tomorrow.

TCS’ goIT is a signature community engagement program in North America, LATAM, Europe, and the Asia Pasific. It is tailored to meet the specific needs of local communities in each region. The program is estimated to have reached more than 97,000 students worldwide across 32 countries.

Enjoy a more rewarding cashless experience at National Book Store with PayMaya

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Whether you’re going back to school, replenishing home office supplies, or looking for a new book to dig into, National Book Store surely has what you're looking for. With over 230 branches nationwide, it has long been a trusted partner in Filipinos' education, creativity, productivity, and life-long learning. Today, it's making your shopping experience even better and more rewarding with PayMaya!

Until October 15, 2021, you can enjoy 10% OFF, max of PHP100, with a minimum PHP500 purchase at National Book Store* when you go cashless with PayMaya. To avail of the discount, all you have to do is pay via PayMaya QR at the cashier. Check out more details on this special offer as well as all the participating stores here: https://pymy.co/NBS2021.

With this deal, you can not only enjoy a more convenient cashless experience but also save some money and make the most of your budget.

Aside from National Book Store, you can also pay via PayMaya QR at your go-to establishments – including Jollibee, McDonald’s, The SM Store, Robinsons Department Store, Landers, Robinsons Supermarket, Shopwise, Waltermart, Mercury Drug, Watsons, Petron, and many others.

Download the PayMaya app for free at the Google Play Store or iOS App Store today. Sign up for a PayMaya account and shop for anything online and in stores, pay your bills, and perform other essential transactions with just a few swipes on your smartphone!

PayMaya is the only end-to-end digital payments ecosystem enabler in the Philippines, with platforms and services that cut across consumers, enterprises, communities, and government. Through its enterprise business, it is one of the leading payments processors for "everyday" merchants in key industries such as retail, food, transportation, utilities, and e-commerce.

It provides more than 38 million registered users access to financial services through its consumer platforms. Customers can conveniently cash in, pay, cash out, and remit through its over 300,000 digital touchpoints nationwide. Its Smart Padala by PayMaya network of 55,000 partner agent touchpoints nationwide serves as last-mile financial hubs in communities, providing the unbanked and underserved access to digital services. For more information, visit www.PayMaya.com.

*discount will not apply to markdown items and items with an existing discount (higher discount applies)

Enjoy Up to 56% off on your favorite OPPO Gadgets at the 10.10 Mega Sale on Shopee and Lazada!

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Celebrate the gift-giving season early and treat yourself or someone special in the upcoming 10.10 online sale as OPPO offers up to 50% discount free shipping vouchers, great deals, and freebies on Shopee and Lazada from October 10-14.

Catch the best discounts on OPPO’s smart devices on sale for some of the best-selling OPPO products such as A15, A15s, A54 6+128G, Reno5 4G, Enco Buds, and Band 1, together with A16 3+32GB only available in Shopee and ​​A16 4+64GB exclusive in Lazada store.

Beginning October 7 you can start collecting store vouchers amounting to Php 200 for every minimum spend of Php 9,999 and Php 400-off which you can redeem for a minimum purchase of Php 14,999. All vouchers are valid until October 14.

You can also get a free wireless G25 earphone worth Php 1,499 only available for the first 500 purchases of any participating discounted OPPO smartphone products plus a phone holder worth Php 499 for a limited time only on October 10, from 8:00 AM - 11:59 PM.

Exclusive to Shopee are special online store deals where you can get 0% Spay later interest for OPPO products such as A16 3GB, A16 4GB, and Enco X.

Meanwhile, shopping on Lazada gives you a voucher amounting to Php 300 redeemable for a minimum purchase of Php 6,999 if you share the OPPO Official Store voucher to 3 friends who will receive a Php100-off voucher each which they can use for a minimum spend of Php 1,999.

What are you waiting for? Add to cart now and start this Joyful season shopping with OPPO.

For more updates and detailed promotion mechanics about the sale, visit OPPO’s official website at www.oppo.com/ph or via the official Facebook page at OPPO Philippines. Or visit OPPO official stores on Shopee and Lazada.

Do you want to be an Artist? Join the annual year-end ABS-CBN Star Magic Workshops

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Do you want to be part of Star Magic’s Artist Registry talent pool and get a chance to act in ABS-CBN’s teleseryes?

The annual year-end Star Magic Workshops are about to kick off! Have the chance to be part of our Artist Registry and act in ABS-CBN shows and digital productions.

Hosted by Lou Yanong, together with Kiara Takahashi, Andi Abaya, Kobie Brown, and Christian Bables, and Head of Star Magic Artist Training and Workshops Direk Rahyan Carlos, know more about how you can take part of this awesome opportunity anywhere you are in the world.

After the success of the recent online launch of Star Magic Workshops, they will re-open the Artist Registry of Star Magic, to welcome more talents from our public workshops. Now, students will have more access to auditions and will have a chance to be a talent for the network’s teleseryes!

When the pandemic shut down all countries, their borders and economies last year, Rahyan Carlos, head of the Star Magic Artist Training and Workshops did not waste time in studying and finding ways to transpose all workshops and training for the actors. “Last April 2020 after a month-long of intensive studying, auditing classes abroad and transposing modules online with my teachers, we resumed the training for acting, dance, voice and conversational tagalog via zoom. And it worked!” said Direk Rahyan.

Even if after the network’s shutdown happened last year, this did not dampen the spirit of Direk Rahyan to stop training actors. In fact, he and his teachers held all workshops online via zoom. In June 2020, Star Magic had a soft launch of all workshops online. “We had 250 students all over the world during the pandemic from 22 participating countries such as England, London, New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Australia, Florence Italy, Virginia, New York, L.A., Guam, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, France, New Jersey, Dubai, Qatar and Canada. We had live and recorded online recitals and culminating activities of all our workshops and people were so entertained and cheered for their loved ones who participated in the online training,” said Direk Rahyan.

Last October 2020, Star Magic Workshops also launched its first-ever online workshop for participants in Canada in partnership with A.M.P. (Artist Movement Production), a group of Filipinos who provide education and training services in various aspects of the performing arts. The workshop was done in Canada EST time and the vernacular used was English since some of the Filipino participants were born and raised in Canada. Canada has the largest Filipino ethnic community and market for the performing arts. 40 participants graduated from the soft launch of the intensive workshop last year and it was a success!

This year-end, in partnership with Annabelle Regalado of E-Talent Musikademy, we will open our workshops in Australia. We will also do the first hybrid workshops in Canada under A.M.P. where 80 percent of training will be online and 20 percent will be face-to-face workshops as we will bring the rehearsal and recital physically to Toronto, Canada.

Direk Rahyan is the only certified Chubbuck Technique acting teacher behind the training of some of the most sought-after and award-winning actors of today such as Christian Bables, Coco Martin, Julia Barretto, Jake Cuenca, Liza Diño-Seguerra, Anna Luna, EJ Falcon, Alora Sasam, Ynna Asistio, Roco Nacino, Sandino Martin, Arjo Atayde, Paulo Avelino, Joshua Garcia, and Charlie Dizon, the recent Best Actress of MMFF 2020 for Fan Girl, among others.

More than the new elements in the Star Magic Summer 2021 Workshops, the same exclusive, focused and international-grade lessons through the help of the award-winning and seasoned teachers remain at its core.

Compared to other training, Star Magic Workshops are not only comprehensive --they are also exclusive to only a limited number of participants. Since all training will be done via Zoom App, the teachers will be able to focus on each student’s progress.

The adult acting classes are still handled by Carla Martinez and Rubi Rubi along with Lynnette Conception and Air Paz Pablico, while the kids’ acting classes are still handled by Edna Mae Landicho and HB Benitez. The dance classes are divided into three different genres namely jazz funk, hiphop and urban led by Nesh Janiola III of Axis, Brion Lim and Myke Monses of Manouvres Ignite and Geejay Romano, respectively. Meanwhile, the voice classes are still going to be led by Philippine Madrigal Singer alumni, Luningning San Jose, Julie Anne Reyes and Roland Roldan.

Those who aspire to be trained by professional and practicing teachers in acting, dance, voice and language are all welcome to join the workshops. Enrollment is ongoing, and all classes will start in November 2021. This will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Go to our Facebook page: Https://www.facebook.com/Starmagicworkshops or at our Instagram account: @abscbnstarmagicworkshops , Click the google document link attached in the pos and fill up the information as needed. Wait for our email for the scheduled date of orientation. After the orientation, you will be given instructions on how to pay your workshop fee. You can also email us at starmagicworkshops@abs-cbn.com or text or call us at +639493975417

ShopeePay Drives Growth for Partner Merchants by Providing a Convenient, Secure, and Rewarding Payment Solution

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With Shopeepay, Gong cha, Moonleaf, and National Book Store broaden their market reach and offer a convenient payment option 

Consumer behavior continues to evolve as more people shop online and embrace digital payment methods. In Southeast Asia, there is a 70% year-on-year increase in shoppers who prefer e-wallets as a mode of payment; and in the Philippines, there is 133 percent growth in consumers who opt to use e-wallets - a contributing factor on why brands and retailers continue to ramp up efforts to offer safe, rewarding, and convenient digital payment options. 

ShopeePay, Shopee’s all-in-one mobile wallet, recorded a 57X uplift in the number of ShopeePay partner merchants last 9.9 Super Shopping Day compared to the 4.4 Mega Shopping Sale. Among the growing list of ShopeePay partner merchants, Gong cha, National Book Store, and Moonleaf share how ShopeePay helps drive their brand’s growth through enhanced promotional strategies.

For National Book Store, customers enjoy a safe and seamless experience with Shopeepay through its scan-to-pay features and exclusive promos. Xandra Ramos-Padilla, Managing Director at National Book Store, said, “ShopeePay has empowered our Laking National customers with a new way of shopping for books and supplies in our branches nationwide, and helped strengthen our omnichannel strategy as we adapt to challenges brought about by the pandemic.” Customers have responded positively to the availability of ShopeePay as a payment option at National Book Store outlets resulting in an uplift of transactions that more than tripled versus the previous quarter.

Gong cha also shares how partnering with ShopeePay allows them to showcase their products and reach a broader audience through regular participation in ShopeePay promos and campaigns. Gong cha Philippines, Inc., said, “ShopeePay enhanced Gong cha's publicity in digital marketing. Every month is most awaited because of the monthly sales and surprise deals; it's our way to give our customers more of the best milk tea experience from Taiwan to the world!” Through the acceptance of ShopeePay QR payments in their stores, Gong cha was able to grow their daily transactions via ShopeePay by 33X since launch.

Moonleaf also saw a 50x uplift in customers who use ShopeePay since the partnership was launched due to the exclusive discounts and promos they are able to offer. Mike Magallanes, Creative Director at Moonleaf, said, “ShopeePay has helped Moonleaf grow and establish its place in the digital market. We cannot wait for another exciting and fuss-free sale campaign, so we can also give our customers a double dose of good vibes in a cup.”

This October, even more ShopeePay merchants are participating in the 10.10 Brands Festival campaign; with the likes of BonChon, Papa John’s, Tapa King, and a slew of other brands from a wide variety of categories offering 10.10 exclusive ShopeePay ₱1 Deals.

Ruoshan Tao, Head of ShopeePay Online Philippines, said, “With ShopeePay, we aim to provide our partner merchants a safe, convenient, and secure alternative to offer to their customers. We are pushing to play a bigger role in making a cashless lifestyle much more accessible to everyone by partnering with more establishments from different industries, . We are committed to enhancing the e-wallet experience, and we will continue to push for initiatives and partnerships that make digital payments seamless for everyone.”

Shopee 10.10 Brands Festival

This 10.10 Brands Festival, get more exclusive promos when you Buy Load, Pay Bills, and Scan to Pay with ShopeePay! Stay connected with your loved ones when you buy mobile load at up to 50% off. Make sure to pay your bills on time this 10.10 and get up to 50% cashback from Meralco, Maynilad, Globe, Smart, and over 60 partner billers. Stock up on food and essentials when you avail of ShopeePay ₱1 Deals and scan to pay at Puregold, Potato Corner, Moonleaf, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and more ShopeePay partner merchants!

Make sure to activate and top up your ShopeePay wallet through online banking, debit card, and over-the-counter partners to enjoy a safe and rewarding cashless experience!

For more information about ShopeePay, and its perks and benefits, visit https://shopee.ph/m/shopee-pay.