MANILA, Philippines - PLDT Smart SME Nation played host to the recently established Facebook Philippines last week at TechIsland 3.0.
Interim Country Director of Facebook Philippines and Group Director of Global Marketing Solutions for Facebook Canada, Alfredo Tan, was the final speaker of TechIsland 3.0’s plenary, discussing media trends and digital disruption. In particular, how the dominant medium in the world today is changing towards mobile.
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“It’s an exciting time to be in business, in marketing and technology because the change of pace is so dramatic it’s amazing to watch,” Tan says.
“When the first high definition photos of Pluto were shared, NASA didn’t decide to share it on CNN.com, didn’t share it on television. They shared it on a platform called Instagram. What’s interesting about that is when we sent the New Horizons probe, the probe that we sent out to explore the far reaches of the solar system, Instagram didn’t even exist. That’s how rapid the change was, the sharing took place on a platform that didn’t exist when the probe was launched.”
While the shift towards mobile has been taking place over recent years, Tan believes that shift has already been completed.
“The biggest disruptive force that is taking place in the world is mobile,” he says.
Sheer numbers alone are staggering—there are 7.5 billion mobile-connected devices in the world today. Which means that, as of 2015, there are currently more mobile-connected devices on the planet than there are human beings. This phenomenon is seen in over 100 countries in the world—of which the Philippines is one—where the number of mobile devices is greater than the national population. Finally, global population growth is at about 1.2% per year, however, the number of mobile-connected devices is growing five times faster than the human population.
Mr. Tan joined TechIsland 3.0’s list of speakers and lent his expertise and insights as part of PLDT Smart SME Nation’s commitment to empowering and enabling the country’s MSMEs.