Here are some of the articles we've written for the past few weeks that partly shares some updates in the club:

Growing interest of SMEs in e-commerce
September 28, 2006

A brief wrap-up of information gathered in the recent talks delivered during One Internet Day in Manila, Cebu, and Davao.

The best is yet to come
May 25, 2006

New medical transcription firm. The other day, I got a call from Victor Perez, chief executive officer (CEO) of MedTransOnline.com. We talked about the full launch of his medical transcription business.

Growing community networks
February 9, 2006

Two community network just got launched this week. They are XMG's ICT Executive Forum and PhilNITS Society. Both show great promise as the quality of emerging IT communities today have become specialized, competitive, and well-targeted.

Affordable payment solutions
January 19, 2006

Shopping. Last month, I got the chance to catch up with Cannie May, founder of YOSSN.com or Your One-Stop Shopping Network. This site started as an Internet portal where small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can post their products for free.

Budget-conscious Filipinos
November 24, 2005

LAST Monday, Vu The Du (VTD) of GFK Marketing Services, shared some insights on the Philippine Consumer Technology Market. GFK tracks purchase of consumer technology products in most countries around the world from microwave ovens to cellular phone in order to advise manufacturers which products are moving fast in the market.

Blog away
February 3, 2005

I started blogging two years ago using Blogger.com. Through referral, I was able to create another account in LiveJournal.com. Blogging is where you try to create a journal of your thoughts, insights, learning, articles and the like. The hardest part in blogging is figuring out what you want to write about. Is it meant for personal recording of daily activities or sharing knowledge? Does it matter if it gets read or not?

Online fraud database
January 27, 2005

Last month, I started exploring the idea of having a shared database of online fraudsters among online Filipino retail site owners who are also members of the DigitalFilipino.com Club. The idea is to have a common list of buyer names considered to have engaged in transaction fraud by credit card payment gateway systems, so these identities do not continue to be abused in other local sites.

Schools cyberfair and a new child
December 23, 2004

CYBERFAIR. On its fourth year, the Philippine Schools Cyberfair was just launched with the theme, “Prepare and Unite.” Students are challenged to create digital Web-based stories that showcase programs and people in their own local communities that look to the future.

Jovel Cipriano, an inspiring entrepreneur
September 24, 2004

In the course of my cyber life, I meet a lot of interesting individuals online and some became good business peers and friends eventually. One of them is Jovel Cipriano of PinoyDelikasi.com. During One Internet Day March 1999, Jovel walked-in the said event and introduced himself.He talked about his website, PinoyDelikasi.com, and his plans of leaving his full-time job then to focus in the business. Five months later, Jovel eventually launched himself as a full-time entrepreneur and things were never the same again.

Concerns about e-commerce
August 19, 2004

From August 17 to 20, I am conducting an e-commerce success seminar series here in Cebu City. There was a lot of uncertainty when we were preparing for it. Most registrants came in only last week. Friends were asking why we decided to do this since a lot of people are already discouraged as far as e-commerce is concerned.

New kid in town
April 22, 2004

SETTING UP. No- thing gives me greater satisfaction than meeting potential investors online and finally seeing them set up their operations. Two years ago, I got an interesting e-mail from Lawrence Hughes whose wife is from Cebu and will retire here. Lawrence has been working in the IT sector for more than 30 years. He is the co-founder of CipherTrust, a leading company in e-mail security, including corporate anti-spam. One of his objectives in retiring in Cebu is to start another potential successful company, InfoWeapons.

E-publishing
March 18, 2004

CLICK. Last week, I realized what business can really click online. This is the building of relevant communities and electronic publishing.

Dealing with payment fraud
March 04, 2004

E-COMMERCE. One of the primary hindrances in pushing for e-commerce in the country is the lack of jurisprudence and procedures on how to handle online credit card payment fraud. For Paul Hubbard, country manager of Yes Group in the Philippines, this is one challenge they decided to confront on a high-profile level when their website YesPinoy.com became the target of a credit card fraud syndicate.

Scoring in the US market
February 26, 2004

BUZZ. When outsourcing became the buzz in 2000, a few foreign and Filipino companies based in the US approached Philippine service providers offering marketing services and help in getting clients for them. One such firm is Global Reach & Associates, an Atlanta-based company that specializes in helping overseas technology companies sell more effectively into the US market headed by CEO Gary Cooper.

Co-opetition
February 19, 2004

NEW GUY. For anyone new in the business today, becoming the company to be recommended is not easy if you don’t have a track record. This is especially true for those who are into information technology (IT) services like Web development and programming, among others. However, one way to survive is to foster the co-opetition culture and business model. This is according to Cris Gamboa, general manager of IT Group.

Outsourcing marketing
February 5, 2004

How do you regard marketing? How important is it to your organization? For most companies in the Philippines, especially the small and medium enterprises, marketing is often overlooked and underestimated. That is why there are now consultants offering outsourced marketing services like Michael Abasolo of Assault Management and Consultancy Services.

New environment for software developers
January 29, 2004

WOMEN IN IT. There’s so much talk as to how few software development professionals today are women. Perhaps that is true. But on the other hand, the women I encounter in this field are either project managers, quality analysts, and some are even software testing experts. Vanessa Umali is one of them.

Preparing for a comeback
January 22, 2004

BOEING EXEC. The nice thing about the Internet is that you get the chance to meet great people online and get to know them more despite the lack of physical contact. A few months ago, I met Encarnacion “Cannie” May, born in Sorsogon and a University of the East graduate, who is currently working as an IT project manager for Boeing in the US. More than anything, she makes sure that the computing processes (SEI-CMM) are in place and streamlined in the organization. She also founded YOSSN Corporation (Your One Stop Shopping Network) that enables almost anyone to buy and sell just about any product or service.

Lovecats get business
January 15, 2004

MORE FOR LESS. For a lot of entrepreneurs today, the 2004 outlook is very conservative. As times are tough, customers are becoming cost sensitive and want more for less. This is the insight I got from Jan Alvin Pabellon, managing director of Ecommsite Solutions.

From service to product
January 8, 2004

As the market becomes more competitive, a major challenge among entrepreneurs is the survival and continuity of the business. Last Monday, I got the chance to meet with Erick Kalugdan of GiveMe Unlimited.