Innovate or perish

Brick-and-mortar stores are here to stay but more and more small businesses, including this T-shirt seller, are riding the online selling bandwagon. AFP

The over 900,000 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in the Philippines will have to innovate and adopt evolving technologies to position their businesses front and center of the economic landscape.

This school of thought was expounded upon as the nation trudges on towards Industry 4.0 through technology innovation and the proper use of dedicated resources whether based on-site or hosted via cloud.

Industry 4.0 is seen as a world where digital transformation will disrupt the physical and digital worlds for a range of industries including business, finance and government.

With this backdrop, HP Inc. Philippines and Go Negosyo, a local non-profit organization, have announced plans to collaborate over the next 12 months to drive the adoption of digital technology across the Philippines.

The two entities pledged to deliver technology innovation, knowledge and resources to MSME customers at a recent Go Negosyo Mentor Me launch and Summit events.

In a press statement, HP said it aims to encourage Filipinos to address poverty through entrepreneurship and the building of an online presence for their business.

“The collaboration addresses a key challenge facing MSMEs, many of whom own their own businesses that showcase locally-made products and a wide range of services,” said HP and Go Negosyo.

“The customer reach for these local products and unique services can be further extended through digitization and personalization of their offers, as this makes them more accessible for the rapidly evolving Philippine market that embraces digital methods of commerce,” they added.

But many MSME today lack the knowledge, know-how or technology expertise to build a digital presence and this presents a barrier to further growth for many local entrepreneurs, HP and Go Negosyo averred.

At the Department of Trade and Industry’s Kapatid Mentor ME (KMME) program and the SIGN UP Summit, HP provided MSME on the range of technology innovation they can access to position their businesses for success.

The talk included how the latest line-up of HP PC and printers, such as EliteBook x360 laptop, EliteDesk Desktop Mini PCs and Engage One Prime Retail POS can serve businesses well.

HP said its equipment line-up is anchored on an innovation platform keyed by security, design and collaboration. It added that while priced competitively, the products do not sacrifice quality while maximizing functionality.

Participants in the Go Negosyo events were assured of access to dedicated HP resources like HP LIFE (life-global.org), a set of free online self-paced training courses designed to help entrepreneurs learn core skills required to establish, grow and sustain a business.