Case studies of how the science of data drives industry and government innovations in the Philippines

Authors

Christopher Monterola ⋅ PH Aboitiz School of Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, Asian Institute of Management

Abstract

The most innovative and valuable companies in the world such as Google, Amazon, and Facebook, among others, are led by visionaries with entrepreneurial mindsets and with deep understanding of the processes and value of data science. The development of the Page rank algorithm for example by Page and Brin, founders of Google, allowed them to trounce Yahoo's search engine by optimizing their algorithm based on the most searched words of users. In contrast with the more traditional scientific process of formulating a hypothesis that is more often than not subject to strong human bias and intuition and human's intrinsic irrationality, machine learning, complex systems and related methods in data science prove to be more effective in bringing business value and driving innovation. In this talk, I will share some of the real-world use cases we have worked on with more than 40 partner companies, here and abroad, in the last three years. I will then highlight how the tools we have developed for the stakeholders have resulted in a cumulative potential annual revenue of about 50 million US dollars. The experience derived from working with our partner companies is the primary driver of a 2.7x increase in the salary of our more than 150 graduates in the last three years. I will also provide a glimpse of the career that awaits physicists when augmented by a business school perspective. Finally, the presentation will conclude with a discussion of the country's National AI Roadmap and the Industry lead National Center for AI Research (NCAIR) that is geared towards promoting a strong public-private partnership that is seen to drive the Philippines to become an AI powerhouse in Southeast Asia.

About the Speaker

Christopher Monterola, Aboitiz School of Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship, Asian Institute of Management

Christopher Monterola is the Head of the Asian Institute of Management's Aboitiz School of Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (ASITE), the Executive Managing Director of the Analytics, Computing, and Complex Systems Laboratory (ACCeSs@AIM), holder of the Aboitiz professorial chair in Data Science, and the Academic Program Director of the newly launched Doctor of Philosophy in Data Science program of AIM, the first and only PhD in Data Science program in the Philippines and among the few in Asia. He was recently conferred the rank of Academician by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), the highest recognition and advisory body of the Philippines under the Department of Science and Technology. Dr. Monterola is a well-published scientist; in recent years, he has published in some of the most prestigious journals in complex systems, artificial intelligence, transportation, ageing, demographics, and basic research. On top of the academic publications, Dr. Monterola has led multimillion-dollar research and development projects with various sectors of society. He has also been responsible for training and mentoring young scientists and data scientists on an international level.

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Issue

2021: Proceedings of the 39th Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas Physics Conference

Article ID

SPP-2021-INV-2D-02

Section

Invited Presentations

Published

2021-10-13

How to Cite

[1]

C Monterola, Case studies of how the science of data drives industry and government innovations in the Philippines, Proceedings of the Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas 39, SPP-2021-INV-2D-02 (2021). URL: https://proceedings.spp-online.org/article/view/SPP-2021-INV-2D-02.