BusinessWorld Economic Forum 2018 tackles realities of disruption
LAST May 18, BusinessWorld, the most read and most respected business newspaper in the Philippines, triumphantly staged the third edition of its annual BusinessWorld Economic Forum in the Grand Ballroom of Grand Hyatt Manila, in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City.
The forum, which has become one of the leading live platforms for discussing the key challenges and opportunities for the nation since its inception in 2016, brought together over 500 people from the private and public sectors. Titled “Disruptor or Disrupted? The Philippines at the Crossroads,” it delved into the forces and realities of disruption and their effects on industries and the country.
The keynote speech was delivered by Dennis A. Uy, one of the most exciting personalities in the Philippine business scene today. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive officer of Udenna Corp., a holding company which has interests in a wide variety of industries, including petroleum retail and distribution (Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc.) and shipping and logistics (Chelsea Logistics Holdings Corp.)
“If I have learned anything in life, it is this: Change — which we millennials call disruption — is constant. If you cannot adapt, you will be left behind,” Mr. Uy said.
Change, he pointed out, is usually a positive thing for what he called “business insurgents,” or those that rebel against the incumbents and think that there are better ways to do business, especially with technology. The same can’t be said for the incumbents, also known as the established businesses, because they refuse to see the changes in the landscape and consumer preference, and so they get left behind, Mr. Uy said.
“Change is coming, and we have no choice but to embrace it. If we do not evolve, we become extinct. We will be the products of yesterday, instead of being the brands of the future.”
Mr. Uy’s speech was succeeded by a series of talks by some of the esteemed personalities in their respective industries. The session devoted to big data and Philippine competitiveness was opened by Ret. Gen. Eliseo M. Rio, Jr., acting secretary of the Department of Information and Communications Technology. He pointed out that all aspects of human life are now controlled by information, and that information is the new oil.
Kristine Romano, managing director of McKinsey & Company in the Philippines, helped debunk and prove some myths about digital. It is not true that digital is creating value across sectors, that only digital natives can successfully disrupt, and that strategy no longer matters in