Communications & Technology

A strategic investment by Singapore's Temus in Filipina-founded Thinking Machines Data Science is reinforcing investor confidence in Philippine-built artificial intelligence, as demand for enterprise AI solutions accelerates across Southeast Asia.

Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries worldwide, but Philippine businesses are still lagging in adoption, prompting GCash to rally government, regulators and the private sector behind a faster, safer digital transformation.

Trade Secretary Cristina A. Roque said the landmark ASEAN Digital Economy Framework Agreement (DEFA) could reshape regional commerce by lowering barriers to cross-border digital trade, opening a larger market for Philippine businesses and accelerating Southeast Asia's digital economy into a multi-trillion-dollar growth engine.

Senator Bam Aquino is pressing the House of Representatives to pass a landmark transparency measure that would use blockchain technology to track government spending, arguing that digital innovation should be as much about rebuilding public trust as modernizing the economy.

Cities that have fully digitized business permitting are collecting significantly more local business taxes than those still relying on paper-based processes, adding fresh evidence that digital government can directly strengthen local economies.