Philippines Invest In Blockchain To Shield Itself From AI Incursion
Blockchain technology will aid the Philippine economy to maintain jobs that the advent of artificial intelligence (AIs) is supposed to get rid of, as reported by Edwin Bautista, president, and CEO of Union Bank of the Philippines.
Bautista told Crypto vest in an exclusive interview:
“Blockchain could play an important role in the Philippine economy. If we play it right, we have the potential to emerge as one of the leaders in block chain’s future.”
The emerged AIs will eliminate many jobs, and developing the blockchain abilities of Filipinos could cancel out these job losses, Bautista added on the sidelines of the launch of XLOG, a Block chain-based logistics solutions platform developed provincially.
The founder and CEO of XLOG creator Shiptek, Eugenio Ynion Jr., repeated Bautista’s warning about the threat of robots for hundreds of thousands of Filipino jobs.
“Me and my wife just came from China to discuss XLOG with capitalists there, and we were informed by Chinese officials that their country would be needing close to five million IT developers, programmers, etc., over the next five years. China is looking at the Philippines for skills and talents to fill up the various IT-related positions,” Ynion said.
The pleasant familiarity between China and the Philippines with President Rodrigo Duterte’s pivot towards its Asian neighbor, it is very likely that Beijing will look to Manila for its new job requirements.
China provided the Philippines about 300,000 jobs, including 100,000 positions for English-speaking teachers.
As reported by Ynion, the government should invest in blockchain skills development to assemble the country for a wave of “brain drain”.
He later added:
“We have seen how brain drain has stunted the growth of our cottage industry. Our cottage industry products used to be exported worldwide. But now you can buy these products that are made by Filipinos working for Chinese companies. Those products are now labeled ‘Made in China.’”
However, with the blockchain skill set in place, Filipinos will not have to go abroad in search of jobs. Rather, companies who want to be involved in blockchain development will come to the Philippines to invest. Local investors should transfer money to blockchain projects, Ynion added.
In the latest interview, members of the newly established Philippine Association of Digital Commerce and Decentralized Industry (PADCDI) said the organization seeks a closed collaboration with the government to up-skill local workers.
PADCDI chairman Mary Rose Magsaysay said she had made contact with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) with a view to having it offer blockchain training courses in one of its many accredited schools. TESDA is tasked with providing alternative training and skills development for employment.
