UP Students Win in Hackathon with device and app that could help save lives

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyEXamB7Qn3Vct4WwwRuywNLU4yqapw-Dkdud6zISC7gTOQc3OBiUBj7Xn-i8kmJ6YlFk8yI6MtyC6LkFA2r3xTDpgDEiRAWZZiP7p8z84tEtIHF3dXc313k0lER3Nu12HX8zAlBwR37W2/s1600/UP+Hackathon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyEXamB7Qn3Vct4WwwRuywNLU4yqapw-Dkdud6zISC7gTOQc3OBiUBj7Xn-i8kmJ6YlFk8yI6MtyC6LkFA2r3xTDpgDEiRAWZZiP7p8z84tEtIHF3dXc313k0lER3Nu12HX8zAlBwR37W2/s400/UP+Hackathon.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><br />The Philippine public health system have come a long way. This writer remember stories told by grandparents who had brothers and sisters, parents and relatives who died of cholera, typhoid and dysentery. This was a time wherein there was no piped water and there was open sewage. <br /><br />The breakthrough came when clean water was provided and a sewerage system was constructed. In  an urbanized community, wherein there is a dense population, such infrastructure is one of the basics of public health.<br /><br />Now it is still a health concern since population pressure in the urban areas continues unmitigated. Also, infrastructure development is still very much wanted in rural and remote localities.<br /><br />With these in mind, a group of students from the University of the Philippines (UP)  is trying to address this health concern via their mobile device and application. This device and app won first prize at the #thinkOPENhealth Hackathon for Health that was held last April 16 – 17, 2016 at the Asian Institute of Management. The group won Php100,000 in cash and various gadgets for their entry. <br /><br />Physics students from UP, called Quantum Hackers developed and created a device that analyzes the quality of water. This was done in Hackathon manner within 24 hours. Norman Mascarinas, Kit Guial and Junel Bagcong came up with a user-friendly device and app that has sensors that can test for water quality such as salt content and turbidity (clearness from particles). It is called Shine Herald.<br /><br />It is a product with remote and far flung areas in mind wherein a barangay official need only push a button to conduct tests on water quality. It can then be transmitted to the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) where sensors can be installed for water quality monitoring.<br /><br />The inspiration came from Guial’s sister who is a nurse and have experienced medical missions in such areas wherein water quality has to be assessed first and tends to me a tedious process. Water from the area needs to be brought to a laboratory in Manila for analysis.Then can only the health professionals go to the location and conduct the medical mission with the data and information at hand.<br /><br /> “Our goal is to identify which rural areas have polluted water which could lead to diseases. We want to equip barangays with affordable and easy- to-build instruments. The locals can test and assess water quality themselves. They just have to submerge the probe into the sample,” said Mascarinas.<br /><br />“As a startup, we could deploy to rural areas these devices with the help of the DOH. Many of these places are not easily accessible to government agencies. We want to automate the entire water testing and analysis process,”  Bacong disclosed.<br /><br />“The portable Shine Herald device, which cost just P4,000.00 to build, has a microcontroller that acts as its CPU. We wrote a program that can generate a message of 140 characters, very much like the maximum characters of a text message,”  according to Bagcong.<br /><br />Source: Readings from DOH website</span></div> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=5544835517721897626&postID= 423854549433421486&target=facebook" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9Bov-5jxblscorzGCopVL5Xz68i6dvP9jIudFNjEHqR8MMdmVfysddhDjGUhuvlerb67aHnfQDJEUeUQZ5kjo_Wx4ig1t1Up2WOpNkMj-NaNLwPtxqdA3ez_SOd-1IwiRZWwI2BCbpA/s1600/sharefb185.png" /></a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=5544835517721897626&postID= 423854549433421486&target=twitter" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMggqAn9B6n_ue3iBOqDQgfJmfpRxWvLyKJRt7IFP17wasPqRAsizTNNHpZHUKMuDMZm5A4duwa4m0IFs-cBh79J03YQVVToXxjf2LZ6qNn4CyLwa8Wy-c4jj2UC8QFH081Ja_q0iaXdM/s1600/sharetw185.png" /></a></div> <br />

Community Clinics DOH Equipment Health IT Hospitals Technology UP Students Win in Hackathon with device and app that could help save lives

The Philippine public health system have come a long way. This writer remember stories told by grandparents who had brothers and sisters,...

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HACT App To Help Fight HIV/AIDS

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBbhFYfonmhIOItYRtV9s-tdpd73HoP8NR3Va71ML2HjfU6lmeUrl_0fkM7VB25l6R0wO7dN432NM7XK_MCdBfTBYGrCn9zVJIDolmX3vDtSUyLZh-NcGnA98NZLp4Np1yGFeLiF5DrUK9/s1600/HACT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBbhFYfonmhIOItYRtV9s-tdpd73HoP8NR3Va71ML2HjfU6lmeUrl_0fkM7VB25l6R0wO7dN432NM7XK_MCdBfTBYGrCn9zVJIDolmX3vDtSUyLZh-NcGnA98NZLp4Np1yGFeLiF5DrUK9/s400/HACT.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span>The HACT Bacolod Application launching ceremony led by Dr. Julius Drilon, Medical Director, CLMMRH, </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);">HACT Hub Head Dr. Joan Cerrada, MD., </span></span>John Dave Duenas, Chief Operations Officer TTC, Atty. Kimberly Cua Corporate, Lawyer, TTC and Kent Ronato, Chief Technical Office, TTC.</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Said to be a first in Southeast Asia, a software application that is sensitive and responsive to the needs of people with HIV/AIDS (human immuno-deficiency syndrome) and are undergoing anti-retroviral therapy (ART) has been turn over to the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital (CLMMRH) yesterday, July 19, 2016.<br /><br />Developed by TAS Tradesoft Corporation (TTC), a Bacolod-based software development company as part of its social responsibility, the HIV AIDS Core Team (HACT) Bacolod Application was warmly welcomed by officials of the hospital led by it head, Dr. Julius Drilon.<br /><br />John Dave Duenas, TTC chief operation officers explains, "the focus on developing the HACT Bacolod Application is to facilitate greater knowledge management to alleviate the efficiency of case management and monitoring of the HIV/AIDS Patients from the inception of the infection towards full care administration. The development of the app is geared towards collecting data to be used for research and analysis, patient care and prioritization of healthcare provider resources".<br /><br />Witnessing the turn-over, the Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology (BNEFIT) Executive Director Jocelle Batapa-Sigue says, "the project will be a great boost to creating a more responsive and holistic set of strategies to address the lack of important data in the fight against HIV-AIDS. Data analytics today is seen as an effective tool to understand and provide solutions to real-world problems. The young men and women of TAS Tradesoft Corporation has done the world a big favor by looking at the problem of HIV-AIDS in a more objective and systematic manner, affording persons with the infliction the respect, convenience and privacy of health information, at the same, providing aggregated data to medical practitioners in the hope of developing more effective interventions".<br /><br />Duenas told the media in a press conference that followed the launch, "the consideration of the application’s full potential is on using the information from the electronic medical records of “real time” value to support the HACT Hub, the national, and international organizations involved in HIV/AIDS care, for research and prevention strategies. The standards and modules for HIV-specific reporting functionalities are developed patterned on the Epidemiology Bureau of the Philippines data requirements and the World Health Organization Guidelines (May 2015)".<br /><br />Sigue adds, "this intelligent data gathering system is the most important value of the project, and something that might just be the greatest adversary of HIV-AIDS".<br /><br />TAS TradeSoft Development team worked closely with the Technical Working Group (TWG) of the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital HACT Hub, which is composed of their Medical care professionals, site implementation officers with the direction of the HACT Hub Head Dr. Joan Cerrada, MD.<br /><br />It took six months for the application to be developed by a young team of developers. The functionalities of application include Patient Module or General Profile of the Patient; Medical Abstract Module or Medical Summary of the Patient’s health profile; and Consultation Module  which Medical Care professional can use while recording the clinical consultation records of the patients. This works as the main module for the Electronic Health Record.<br /><br />The application also has a VCT Module or Voluntary Counseling and Testing module that collects the data of the patient/client prior to the extraction of the blood specimen for HIV testing. This profiles the patient when it comes to their sexual habits, occupation and sexual preferences.<br /><br />It has a Laboratory Module which module records all the Laboratory results of the patient which were requested by the Medical care professional. It automates summarization of the results and graphs the movement thereof.<br /><br />It has a Tuberculosis Module which is a specialized module that focuses mainly on the TB profile of the patient; an OB Gyne Module that captures the OB Gyne records of the female patients; Mortality Module that keeps the records of all moratility records of the HIV/AIDS Patients and their underlying causes and a Pharmacy Module that works as the warehouse management system of the center for its storing of ARV’s and other medicines.<br /><br />It also has Reports Module which summarizes the entire reports that can be generated by the system from all the data encoded. /bnefit<br /></span></div> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=5544835517721897626&postID= 8515927232367413190&target=facebook" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9Bov-5jxblscorzGCopVL5Xz68i6dvP9jIudFNjEHqR8MMdmVfysddhDjGUhuvlerb67aHnfQDJEUeUQZ5kjo_Wx4ig1t1Up2WOpNkMj-NaNLwPtxqdA3ez_SOd-1IwiRZWwI2BCbpA/s1600/sharefb185.png" /></a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=5544835517721897626&postID= 8515927232367413190&target=twitter" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMggqAn9B6n_ue3iBOqDQgfJmfpRxWvLyKJRt7IFP17wasPqRAsizTNNHpZHUKMuDMZm5A4duwa4m0IFs-cBh79J03YQVVToXxjf2LZ6qNn4CyLwa8Wy-c4jj2UC8QFH081Ja_q0iaXdM/s1600/sharetw185.png" /></a></div> <br />

Equipment Health IT Innovations Technology HACT App To Help Fight HIV/AIDS

The HACT Bacolod Application launching ceremony led by Dr. Julius Drilon, Medical Director, CLMMRH, HACT Hub Head Dr. Joan Cerrada, MD.,  ...

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Best Public Healthcare System: DOH Sec. Paulyn Jean Ubial off to Cuba

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjilBA0x2jEkDAeBw9w_mwrin43i_cTb3e9r6Zkp_PT-m65LrYBO_z80cf1AZjsH_xQcNcX8lJf7UO6UuT5vex4gm_nNpvtzr3mWofrcNXAeRtI_jY4W_tkZo4v3Y4i5-7-zjQpLzUAZiD6/s1600/Cuban+Health.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjilBA0x2jEkDAeBw9w_mwrin43i_cTb3e9r6Zkp_PT-m65LrYBO_z80cf1AZjsH_xQcNcX8lJf7UO6UuT5vex4gm_nNpvtzr3mWofrcNXAeRtI_jY4W_tkZo4v3Y4i5-7-zjQpLzUAZiD6/s400/Cuban+Health.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />In efforts to have meaningful and effective health and social services, the new administration is off to emulate the best health and social practises that is available. In a laudable move, President Duterte is sending his secretaries and experts all over the world in studying, developing and implementing projects and programs that will benefit the Filipino people.<br /><br />One of the most notable public healthcare systems can be found in Cuba. Notwithstanding the economic and political; embargoes since the late 1950s imposed on Cuba, that country has managed to evolve its healthcare system.<br /><br />Newly minted Department of Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial will be sent to Cuba in order to study its healthcare and health welfare system so as to assimilate and craft a system that will be applicable to the Philippine context. <br /><br />This is hoped top address the public health system wherein a considerable number of Filipinos die without even seeing the services of health professionals. President cited the experience of Philippine General Hospital physicians who had to provide money for patients to procure needed medicines. <br /><br />Although the DOH has had its budget increased during the past administration, such additional projects and programs that the new thrust would entail will need additional funding. PAGCOR is one of the potential source of funds since its last declaration of P11,549,625,355.77 of total income can be a source of such funds.<br /><br />“That’s why I’m sending Secretary Ubial to Cuba. So kung sinong gustong pumunta, that has something to do with human welfare, they have a good practice there and if you guys want to go there you can go, I will allow you,”, “They had perfected a welfare system for all na ba ka makopya natin (that we could copy),”  Duterte disclosed.<br /><br />Cuba has been cited by the World Health Organization (WHO) for being efficient in its implementation of universal healthcare.<br /><br />According to a case study titled “Cuban experience with local production of medicines, technology transfer and improving access to health”, which was published in 2015 by WHO,  enlisted the Cuban Government’s changes made in the health sector, which developed prevention of diseases.<br /><br />“Health activities to fight infectious diseases were carried out nationwide, among them the national polio vaccination campaign; this activity, held annually since 1962, has eliminated polio in Cuba, an achievement officially recognized by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the (WHO),” it cited<br /><br />Since 1966, Cuba created  the first health science institutes in specialized hospitals and is a fully integrated national system. Also from the WHO, in the year 2015, Cuba was validated as  the first country that eliminated transmission of HIV and syphilis in mother to child transmission mode. Cuba posted a national life expectancy average for its citizens at 78.45 years.<br /><br /></span></div> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=5544835517721897626&postID= 9194113461249898166&target=facebook" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9Bov-5jxblscorzGCopVL5Xz68i6dvP9jIudFNjEHqR8MMdmVfysddhDjGUhuvlerb67aHnfQDJEUeUQZ5kjo_Wx4ig1t1Up2WOpNkMj-NaNLwPtxqdA3ez_SOd-1IwiRZWwI2BCbpA/s1600/sharefb185.png" /></a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=5544835517721897626&postID= 9194113461249898166&target=twitter" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMggqAn9B6n_ue3iBOqDQgfJmfpRxWvLyKJRt7IFP17wasPqRAsizTNNHpZHUKMuDMZm5A4duwa4m0IFs-cBh79J03YQVVToXxjf2LZ6qNn4CyLwa8Wy-c4jj2UC8QFH081Ja_q0iaXdM/s1600/sharetw185.png" /></a></div> <br />

DOH Global News Innovations Professional Best Public Healthcare System: DOH Sec. Paulyn Jean Ubial off to Cuba

In efforts to have meaningful and effective health and social services, the new administration is off to emulate the best health and soci...

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Filipino Students Develop App for Mental Health

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw6s1sounOz7f8wPNLKhIt3cyuXY73PHy1wc7v0M2paPQCvzo4U0PoxHZ3cRGdu7M0umdFypLzgy8S4aVewTYJLClU6O0tnDi7gvVEMtWU97SvlpF69P0fu2avdvewHuYa8Ie7d-wcw2NZ/s1600/Mental+App+Pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw6s1sounOz7f8wPNLKhIt3cyuXY73PHy1wc7v0M2paPQCvzo4U0PoxHZ3cRGdu7M0umdFypLzgy8S4aVewTYJLClU6O0tnDi7gvVEMtWU97SvlpF69P0fu2avdvewHuYa8Ie7d-wcw2NZ/s400/Mental+App+Pic.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Courtesy of Rappler</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: justify;"> <br /><span style="font-size: large;"><br />A Mental Health First Aid mobile App was developed by two University of the Philippines (UP) students. The Computer Science majors, Chad Errol Booc and Chara Mae San Diego crafted their thesis “PsychUP” with the Psychosocial Wellness Program (PWP) of UP. <br /><br />The duo cited the need to increase the level of mental health awareness in the Philippines.  Together with UP Manila’s guidance counselling program which aims to “foster  awareness of mental health as a priority issue”. Faculty, health professionals and student representatives participated and provided feedback on improving the mobile application.<br /><br />Currently, it is a campus-based mobile app that requires 3 participants in the process. The student, the peers who provide counselling and the university administration that will monitor the application.<br /><br />A message based app that will utilize the transmission of messages between the students and counsellors with the objective of the student attaining a resolution to a problem. Upon resolution, the chat history can be deleted so as to prevent any chance of reliving the process towards the resolution. <br /><br />Another important feature is the anonymity it will provide for those who would require the aid of the app. This will enable the students to freely express themselves without having the stigma of having mental health issues. <br /><br />The lack of laws that addresses mental health problems is resulting in growing concerns that the mental health problems of the Filipino is not being adequately served by the government. This is evidenced by the incidence of suicide among students that at least 10 college students in the past years and also among the youth.<br /><br />A law for mental health has yet to be passed by Congress that will enable early intervention such as mental health first aid in averting such mental health related tragedies.<br /><br />“[Mental health first aid] is necessary until the person receives professional help. This helps in ensuring that the person does not harm his or her self; in preventing the worsening of the problem; in recovering; and in giving relief to the person,” citing the thesis.<br /><br />The reason for the project according to Booc was “We have recognized the need for an accessible mental health care. I have friends who had suffered from mental health problems but were not able to seek help due to inaccessibility of services. They did not know what to do with it. Others were afraid of seeking help thinking other people might judge them.”<br /><br />Although the Philippines has the lowest suicide rate in Southeast Asia, the country has an estimated 4.5 million suffering from depression and that makes it the highest in the region and only 1 in 3 avail of help from specialists.<br /><br />The Information Management Service of UP Manila is already in discussions with both the proponents of the thesis for deployment and tests in the UP Manila campus.<br /><br />Sponsors willing to help may contact Booc at 0943-425-5212 or via email at chadbooc@gmail.com.<br /><br />Dwight De Leon is the president of DZUP Radio Circle, the official student organization arm of the official AM radio station of UP Diliman, DZUP 1602. He is also currently an intern for Rappler.<br /><br />Source: Readings from: http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/137967-up-students-create-mobile-app-mental-health-first-aid</span></div> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=5544835517721897626&postID= 3173715885793376646&target=facebook" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9Bov-5jxblscorzGCopVL5Xz68i6dvP9jIudFNjEHqR8MMdmVfysddhDjGUhuvlerb67aHnfQDJEUeUQZ5kjo_Wx4ig1t1Up2WOpNkMj-NaNLwPtxqdA3ez_SOd-1IwiRZWwI2BCbpA/s1600/sharefb185.png" /></a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=5544835517721897626&postID= 3173715885793376646&target=twitter" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMggqAn9B6n_ue3iBOqDQgfJmfpRxWvLyKJRt7IFP17wasPqRAsizTNNHpZHUKMuDMZm5A4duwa4m0IFs-cBh79J03YQVVToXxjf2LZ6qNn4CyLwa8Wy-c4jj2UC8QFH081Ja_q0iaXdM/s1600/sharetw185.png" /></a></div> <br />

Equipment Health IT Innovations Technology Filipino Students Develop App for Mental Health

Photo Courtesy of Rappler A Mental Health First Aid mobile App was developed by two University of the Philippines (UP) students. The Co...

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EMR and Startup Talk : Where To Look For Your Marketing Co-Founder

<span id="5470330570513639941"> </span> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLx78Cxxt_xgJ_mEuu5Sp8sziXGqLUnmgggju8Po7xUBPaMT3sqz7JhroDfo6zOhU0bN4_yc9JAEiA9ZvhQ8sX3Z_iLNXH1NTvNWEdtTS0wnPHHUzWevRK4B2T7yrO5Hgim5-FwV5B3SKG/s1600/lloyd_tronco_negros_002.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLx78Cxxt_xgJ_mEuu5Sp8sziXGqLUnmgggju8Po7xUBPaMT3sqz7JhroDfo6zOhU0bN4_yc9JAEiA9ZvhQ8sX3Z_iLNXH1NTvNWEdtTS0wnPHHUzWevRK4B2T7yrO5Hgim5-FwV5B3SKG/s320/lloyd_tronco_negros_002.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <span style="font-size: large;"><span>It is interesting to observe the stages of where the Philippine Startup community is at.  A few years back, everyone was excited to start something.  This is not to say that people are not excited to start something at this time.  It's just that way back then, everyone was into ideation.  In the heirarchy of characters in the enterprise there are visionaries, leaders, managers, and the 'soldiers'. The active participants back then were the visionaries.<br /><br />Then came the stage wherein the founders' vision was laid out and the startup had to be given flesh.  Minimum Viable Product or MVP was the goal at the quickest possible time.  Thus the urgent need to partner with a good Chief Technology Officer.  Those who were good at coding and building the product, the inherent tech guys, did not have a problem with this.  They just simply built their product the best way they could.<br /><br />Fast forward to today, with thousands of apps and platforms built, the natural hurdle is taking the entire idea of the startup to the market.  Three to four years after all the fanfare first took place about tech startups, the fledgling tech enterprises are now beginning to realize the real role that marketing plays in the operation.<br /><br />With investors showing some signs of impatience with the young leaders who pitched the fantastic idea to build the next "Uber of something", the startup founder now realizes that an emphasis on a Marketing Guy should have been given as much emphasis as the Chief Technical Officer.  Note that I have not referred to a title of Chief Marketing Officer.  Real marketing guys know a marketing job that needs to get done without having to embellish themselves with such a title (Sorry, I'm quite old school and I'm only used to VP for Marketing).<br /><br />As a person who comes from the mainstream advertising, there is an old saying that goes, "Selling a product without advertising is just like sending smoke signals at night.  You know what you're doing, but no one else does".  I think this encapsulates what a lot of startups are doing.<br /><br />Yes, it is good to develop your product with all the bells and whistles, but remember not to overspend both time and finances on that.  You'll need to take it to the market.  This is where the marketing guy comes in.  If he is a co-founder, he will be the one to temper the executive team with the realities of budget and timelines to take your product to the public.<br /><br /><b>What To Look For In A Marketing Co-Founder</b><br /><br />In the same way that there are varying levels of proficiency among CTOs, so it is on the marketing side.  There are levels of proficiency in terms of handling the marketing efforts of a startup.  Offhand, here is a basic checklist of what you need to look for in your marketing person:</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><ul> <li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>    Thorough knowledge of marketing principles, brand, <br />       product </span><span>and service management</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>    Superb analytical skills</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>    Demonstrated ability to lead and inspire a team</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>    Outstanding communication and interpersonal skills</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>    Flexibility</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>    Passionate customer advocacy</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>    Well rounded knowledge of media and audience contact <br />       points</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>    Deep understanding of changing market dynamics</span></span></li> <li><span style="font-size: small;"><span>    Entrepreneurial spirit</span></span></li> </ul> <span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span><br />If you are a startup founder, a lot of these have to be in you as well.  Some though can rest heavily on your Marketing Co-founder.  His or her responsibilities will have to include overseeing the planning, development and execution of the startup's marketing and advertising initiatives. Reporting directly to the rest of the executive team, the primary responsibility is to generate revenue by increasing sales through successful marketing for the entire organization, using market research, pricing, product marketing, marketing communications, advertising and public relations.<br /><b><br />Where to look</b><br /><br />In the same way that the startup ecosystem is huge and can be narrowed down to alleys of FinTech, HealthTech, IoT, Media, Games, etcetera, so is the world of advertising and marketing.  You can't just pull in anyone to be your marketing co-founder just because he has a "marketing background".  Even someone in MLM and Network Marketing has a "marketing background".<br /><br />Just because someone came from an ad agency does not mean they came from one that has a defined method of creating the marketing plan.  There are people who come from graphic design studios and there are those who come from boutique agencies.  There are those who come from creative agencies and those who come from media agencies.<br /><br />It is nice to have someone from the creative agency.  Creativity is cool.  However, if the order of the day for CTOs are the MVP, the equivalent delivery of the marketing co-founder is traction.  Creativity is not a main multipier in creating traction.  This is where the guy from the media agency comes in.  <br /><br />The guys from the media agency have a different discipline.  Their emphasis is on a valid and relevant contact point for the message to be delivered rather than the message itself.  Channels not content.  In comparison to the guys in creative, they are the less flamboyant and can be perceived as boring for they are the number crunchers.  The ones who deal with statistics and ratings.  They are the ones who dealt with consumer behavior, media consumption habits, and demographic profiling long before the startup revolution gave birth to a fancy word called "Big Data".  Charts and graphs are really their domain.<br /><br />Adept knowledge of the media landscape and media consumption habits could spell the difference between saving or wasting your investor's money.  Simply put, a marketing guy with a level head about <u>all</u> media because in the final analysis, your marketing budget may be split 3:1 or even 4:1 in favor of media costs versus production/creatives.<br /><br />With these kinds of skill sets, it would be wise to look for them among those who work (or used to work) for media agencies, brands and product management, or even media research companies.</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.talonggo.com/2016/01/why-i-started-talonggo-and-why-you.html" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9XgKPsGqFNf7lXWKKTL6DBhE5B0EVNDfianIO9__XOsjTeWtJsH5rvDwQc1qlSpFSTx4dC3dqr9cKHd8epvoKZ7qcyJZJ_mTQEjfdbxJbmPt_LresOltfsdqIEPkVzAy4XY3dz8YtFhs/s1600/avataraablog.jpg" /></a>The writer, Lloyd Tronco, is from Negros Island, the Sweet Spot of the Philippines.  The principles he uses in Digital Marketing and Tech Startups, were learned in the sugarcane fields of Negros.  He is the COO of Medix.ph and does consulting for startups in the area of marketing.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=5544835517721897626&postID=https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5544835517721897626#editor/target=post;postID=5679960213202406948&target=facebook" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA9Bov-5jxblscorzGCopVL5Xz68i6dvP9jIudFNjEHqR8MMdmVfysddhDjGUhuvlerb67aHnfQDJEUeUQZ5kjo_Wx4ig1t1Up2WOpNkMj-NaNLwPtxqdA3ez_SOd-1IwiRZWwI2BCbpA/s1600/sharefb185.png" /></a> <a href="http://www.blogger.com/share-post.g?blogID=5544835517721897626&postID=https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=5544835517721897626#editor/target=post;postID=5679960213202406948&target=twitter" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMggqAn9B6n_ue3iBOqDQgfJmfpRxWvLyKJRt7IFP17wasPqRAsizTNNHpZHUKMuDMZm5A4duwa4m0IFs-cBh79J03YQVVToXxjf2LZ6qNn4CyLwa8Wy-c4jj2UC8QFH081Ja_q0iaXdM/s1600/sharetw185.png" /></a></div>

EMR Startup Technology EMR and Startup Talk : Where To Look For Your Marketing Co-Founder

It is interesting to observe the stages of where the Philippine Startup community is at.  A few years back, everyone was excited to st...

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