JOSEPH GAMBOA l July 12, 2022 l Business Mirror
SAN FRANCISCO, USA—Contrary to anecdotal evidence that the rise of remote work and so-called “Zoom towns” have rendered this city and its surrounding region irrelevant, the San Francisco Bay Area is still the center of the tech world.
According to a recent report from US think tank Brookings Institution, San Francisco actually expanded its share of tech jobs in America during the pandemic. Brookings policy director and senior fellow Mark Muro said: “Anybody who thinks that the big tech hubs are sad and closing down is wrong.” So the report of San Francisco’s demise is greatly exaggerated after all.
Muro attributed the continued dominance of regional tech superpowers like the Bay Area, Greater Seattle, and New York Metropolitan Area to the fact that they are still crucial to early-stage business development as well as research and development work for startups. “These major cities are often where the corporate R&D labs and areas for collaboration are. As tech companies mature, that’s when they start to recruit elsewhere,” he explained.
Silicon Valley, which is part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California, is considered the tech capital of the world. It serves as a global center for innovation, high technology, and social media.
Last week, Silicon Valley-based Nautilus Data Technologies announced its partnership with Filipino-owned gaming and tech firm DFNN Inc. to develop the first green data center in the Philippines. The joint venture’s project location will be at the Freeport Area of Bataan (FAB).
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, DFNN stated: “Building the country’s first green data center is a critical component of a sustainable technology ecosystem that will ensure the speedy growth and evolution of the tech sector which will hold the backbone of the digital economy.”
Founded by Fil-Am tech industry leader Arnold Magcale, Nautilus is known for creating the world’s most innovative water-cooled data center design. Globe Telecom, PLDT, Converge, and other tech firms have been investing in data centers as they anticipate increased demand in the new normal. Data centers cooled by Nautilus offer unprecedented advantages such as environmental sustainability, energy savings, water conservation, and rapid global scalability.
Another Filipino company, Basic Environmental Systems Technologies Inc. (BEST), has teamed up with Stellar3 LLC of Arizona for a project that aims to make the Philippines a leading hub for waste-to-energy (WTE) technology in the Asia Pacific region. They plan to establish modular WTE facilities across the archipelago for the transformation of waste into renewable energy. Their initial facility will be set up at a landfill site in Morong, Bataan that will convert waste plastics into low-carbon liquid fuels in a safe, environment-friendly manner.
BEST and Stellar3 want to position the Philippines as a global leader in waste management and a primary venue for expansion—especially with the existence of fund-raising platforms such as the new Global Trade Xchange (GTX) that recognizes the latest technological breakthroughs and values the protection of intellectual property rights. Last year, iWave Advanced Research Group started the operations of GTX at the FAB freeport zone in Mariveles, Bataan.
Recently, the World Bank conducted a study on plastic circularity in the Philippines, the third largest contributor of plastic waste into the world’s oceans. This has brought the issue of plastic pollution to the forefront of consumer consciousness among Filipinos. Hopefully, the BEST-Stellar3 joint venture will help address the challenge of plastic waste management in our part of the world.
*** Joseph Gamboa is the chairman of the Finex Media Affairs Committee and director of Noble Asia Industrial Corp. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the opinion of these institutions and the BusinessMirror. #FinexPhils www.finex.org.ph.