Megaworld wins big in digital awards

MANILA, Philippines — Property builder Megaworld Corp. has won two recognitions from an international award-giving body that judges the ability of organizations to adapt to the digital era.

Megaworld ended up as winner in two out of eight categories at the 2024 Future Enterprise Awards Philippines of International Data Corp. (IDC).

Megaworld chief data scientist Francis Adrian Viernes was named Chief Information Officer of the Year for leading the company in its digital transformation and urban safety programs.

In particular, Viernes was cited for his work on SafeGuardAI: Drone Enhanced Vision for Secure Townships, which, in itself, was given the Special Award for Smart Cities. The program incorporates the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in securing Megaworld’s townships.

The IDC said SafeGuardAI led to a 93 percent drop in accidents within Megaworld’s properties. It believes the program demonstrates how AI can be maximized in urban management.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.’s RCBC Pulz won as Best in Future of Customer Experience for enabling Filipinos to transfer funds both locally and overseas through its network of partners BancNet, Instapay, PDDTS, PESONet and SWIFT.

InLife’s Agile Academy secured the Best in Future for Enterprise Intelligence for giving employees a consistent schedule of bootcamps, masterclasses and workshops.

E-wallet pioneer GCash bagged the Best in Future of Trust for deploying a security wall so tough that it blocked 11.7 million account attacks and rejected 1.5 million takeover attempts  in 2023.

Manila Electric Co.’s Powertech Innovation and eXperience Lab (PIXL) took the Best in Future of Work for rendering metaverses based on actual data for educational purposes. The IDC selected the PIXL as winner for this category given its contribution to stabilizing Meralco’s operations.

UNO Digital Bank was given the Special Award for Digital Innovation for attracting Filipinos to join the banking system. The IDC saw that 30 percent of UNO account holders were first-time participants of formal banking.

The Department of Agriculture’s Philippine Rice Information System was conferred the Special Award for Sustainability for becoming the country’s first satellite-based rice production monitor.

For topping the country level, the winners advance to the Asia-Pacific competition, which would be judged by IDC analysts, industry leaders and members of the academe, with the awarding set on Nov. 19 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore.