(From L to R) Prim Paypon, Executive Director of AIM-DBI, Dr Jikyeong Kang, President & Dean of AIM, Eileen Ong, Director for Commercial Partners & SMC, and Precious Lim, Territory Channel Manager – SMB
05 DECEMBER 2018 – Grounded on its advocacy of helping develop startups worldwide, Microsoft Philippines today announced its partnership with the Asian Institute of Management – Dado Banatao Incubator (AIM-DBI), which aims to strengthen the incubator’s initiative by equipping Philippine startups with solutions mainly powered by Microsoft’s cloud-based technology, Azure, through rhipe Philippines, Inc., its cloud indirect provider.
The AIM-DBI is the Philippines’ first incubator housed in a business school that is also backed by the Department of Science of Technology. It provides programs geared towards startups with science, technology or engineering backgrounds that introduce new alternative solutions to existing problems.
With a thriving local startup scene, which the Department of Trade and Industry’s database puts at approximately 500 companies, Microsoft and AIM’s partnership is a much-needed boost for Filipino startups intent on leveraging technology to expand and enrich their operations.
“Our partnership with Microsoft is a strategic step in developing the startups in The Incubator,” said Primitivo Paypon, Executive Director of AIM-DBI. “Microsoft’s expertise in cloud solutions allows our startups to constantly improve its business processes and services.”
The AIM-DBI, through the AIM community of faculty and alumni and network of founders and industry leaders, provides the startups world class mentorship and programs, as well as customized training and education that would best fit their needs.
The curriculum provided by the Microsoft and AIM-DBI partnership has three progressive program phases: the Nesting Program, Building Program, and Scaling Program. The Nesting Program digitally assists startups through cloud tools, while the Building Program provides startups with technology architecture creation, and peer-to-peer collaborative consultation and building. The Scaling Program is the final program which ensures that startups are market-ready with a marketplace for selling through Microsoft’s network of business partners.
One startup that already undergoing the synergy of Microsoft and AIM-DBI is the Futuristic Aviation and Maritime Enterprise, Inc. (FAME), which has developed a monitoring system utilizing radio waves. Currently operating under the Building Program, FAME provides hardware and software platforms that track the location and activity of general aviation aircrafts and small boats, effectively monitoring vessels and reducing their propensity to accidents.
Microsoft Azure, the tech leader’s cloud platform, through its cloud indirect provider, rhipe Philippines Inc., extensively supports FAME’s operations. Through this service, rhipe optimizes FAME’s solutions on Azure, thereby enabling them to receive and retain data including speed, location, sensor data, messaging, and estimated time of arrival of airborne and maritime vehicles.
Microsoft’s business analytics tool, Power BI, will soon be integrated in FAME’s operations. This will be providing easier management of information being transmitted from devices and sensors, making data easier to process into useful business insights.
Through fully utilizing Microsoft’s cloud technology, FAME has quickly developed its business and subsequently gained clients including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for tracking vessels of small scale fishers in southern Mindanao, and a leading utility company in the Philippines, for monitoring the lifespan of its transformers through the use of intelligent tracking devices.
“Through our cloud and business analytics solutions, startups at the AIM-DBI are given advanced tools to effectively develop their businesses to further equip them to become more competitive in their respective industries,” Eileen Ong, Director for Commercial Partners and Small Medium Corporate Business Unit of Microsoft Philippines, said. “In empowering local startups, Microsoft’s overarching goal is to fully prepare them for global competitiveness,” Ong said.