USAID’s Industry Day: Enhancing govt- private partnerships for a secure digital economy; Digital Pilipinas spotlights TrustTech for consumer safety

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1 September 2023, Manila, Philippines – Emerging tech issues in consumer protection and data privacy investigation were put in the spotlight during the Industry Day 2023 on August 11, 2023, at the Ascott Makati.

The event was presented by the United States government with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in the Philippines through the USAID Strengthening Private Enterprise to the Digital Economy (SPEED) initiative, in collaboration with the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Trade & Industry (DTI), and the National Privacy Commission of the Philippines.

Industry Day is the culminating activity of a 5-day workshop – a workshop on “Emerging Tech Sector Issues in Consumer Protection and Privacy Investigations and Enforcement” – and served as the venue for collaborative dialogue and knowledge sharing among the private sector and government partners on how best to shape consumer experiences and business practices and steer towards a more secure and safer digital economy.

Amor Maclang, Convenor of Digital Pilipinas, Digital ASEAN, and the Philippine Fintech Festival and Co-founder of the One ASEAN Fintech Movement and GeiserMaclang, shared her thoughts on how the private sector can contribute to further beef-up consumer protection.

She presented before an audience comprised of industry representatives, technologists, representatives from national line agencies, the academe, and the development sector Digital Pilipinas’ various workstreams with an emphasis on TrustTech.

TrustTech is boosted by the pillars of Cybersecurity, GovTech, and RegTech – Cybersecurity protecting our assets, GovTech protecting our government that provides the services, smart nation infrastructure, and the digitalization of the public sector, and RegTech managing regulatory compliances that protect the identity of consumers.

According to Maclang, TrustTech instills a renewed sense of confidence in digital interactions – from safeguarding personal information to empowering informed choices, TrustTech fends off cyber threats and fosters responsible innovation.

Likewise, she shared the partnership that Digital Pilipinas has with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for its eGOV PH super app efforts in teching up the government and with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and its attached agencies – the Board of Investments, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, the Philippine Trade Training Center (PTTC), the DTI- Competitiveness and Innovation Group, and the DTI- Export Marketing Bureau.

Aside from investment promotions, the said workstreams target one of the most vulnerable sectors to cybercrime – the MSMEs – this is aligned with USAID SPEED’s objective of mobilizing the digital economy for enterprise development and increasing the participation of SMEs in the economy.

According to Forbes, the cost of cybercrime is projected to reach an annual $10.5 trillion by 2025, and it costs MSES an estimated $2.98 million in losses.

Maclang emphasized that TrustTech helps empower MSMEs, enabling them to go cross-border which leads to better experiences for both consumers and businesses. “We are not truly digital if we are not cross-border,” she stressed.

Digital Pilipinas is working closely with the Global Financial Institute (GFI), Proxtera, UNO Digital Bank, Globe, Esquire, and the PTTC in providing MSMEs with financial literacy programs and the basics of cybersecurity to better equip them, especially in the E-commerce space.

Digital Pilipinas is also gearing up in mobilizing consumer movement through possible workstreams with the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, and is also activating its research partner, Tangere, to do product research data will be vital in helping keep both the industry and consumers informed.

TrustTech is one of the major pillars that will be discussed during the upcoming Digital Pilipinas Festival and Philippine Fintech Festival Year 2 on Nov. 21-24, 2023, at the SMX Aura, Manila and in other innovation hubs across the Philippines.

About Digital Pilipinas

Digital Pilipinas is now the largest private sector-led movement for creating an innovation and technology ecosystem in the country that is actively engaged in a global digital economy through its domestic and international trajectories.

To learn more about Digital Pilipinas, the Digital Pilipinas Festival and the Philippine Fintech Festival Year 2, visit https://digitalpilipinas.ph/