No less than 42 distinguished local and international speakers on startups and technology are expected to share their expertise to budding entrepreneurs during the fourth Geeks on a Beach (GOAB) event slated on Aug. 25 to 27 at the Bellevue Bohol Resort.
With the theme “Empowering Startups, Leading Change,” the event will feature the cutting edge of the tech world in a laid-back atmosphere where communities of startups or innovation-driven enterprises based on software or apps are highlighted.
Panel of experts
Local VIP speakers include Mon Ibrahim as innovation consultant from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), Sen. Bam Aquino, Diane Eustaquio of Ideaspace.ph, Jocelle Batapa Sigue as board member of the National ICT Confederation of the Phil., Janette Toral of Digital Filipino, Maria Ressa of Rappler.com, Steve Benitez of Bo’s Coffee, Albert Padin of Symph, Tina Amper as instigator of GOAB, and many others.
Prominent international speakers include Dave Brown of Techstars.com, Dave Overton, CEO and founder of Sym.ph, Ashran Dato Ghazi, CEO of Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Center (MaGIC), Epi Nekaj, founder of Crowdsourcing Week, Arnaud Bonzon of 500 Startups, Koichi Saito, founder of KK Fund, Timothy Scott Case of Founding CTOUpside Travel, Judah Hirsch, CEO of Salanum, and Frank Denbow, founder of Startup Threads.
Talking points
Keynote speeches will discuss Empowering and Government’s Role in Innovation; The Global Startup Phenomenon and Its Impact on Emerging Countries; Enabling Disruptive Innovation: The IdeaSpace Story; Nation Building by Supporting Startups; Corporate Startup Engagement, among other topics. Panel and breakout discussions will cover such topics as Are Philippine startups leading change?; How startups are changing the economy; Innovation programs for academe and industry; Geek secrets: How to find the best geek talent and build a rock star team; Why build startups and tech companies in the Philippines; How to build a startup community in your city; Lessons learned from building fashion e-commerce in Southeast Asia; Crisis in Philippine startups? How investors evaluate technology companies, among others.
A special highlight is the GOAB International Startup Pitching Competition which is open to all early stage tech startups that have revenue and traction.
The Investors Roundtable Dinner will feature exclusive roundtable discussions by investors for investors.
There is also a Business Matching session for outsourcing companies in order to meet startups, software development companies, outsourcing partners, mentors, investors, clients, and other related parties.
GOAB is organized by TechTalks.ph, co-organized by the DICT, and co-presented by the PLDT SME Nation, Ideaspace and SmartDevNet. Partners are HappyGaraje, Sym.ph, and PR Works.
Silver Sponsors are Zalora, Mynimo, Teradoor, and PouchNation, while bronze sponsors are A Space, Yoyo Holdings, Payoneer, Eurekloud, USAID-STRIDE, US Embassy, Launchgarage, and StarTechUp Inc.
The first three GOAB confabs have yielded positive results which included the formulation of the Philippine startup roadmap which is now pursued by the government and the community paving the way for local startups to achieve success.
For more information, vsiit www.GeeksOnABeach.com or email Hello@GeeksOnABeach.com.
 
By RICHARD RAMOS