Philips has initiated its Meaningful Innovation Program in 2011 in four countries namely Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, and Singapore. The same program was rolled out this year across Asia Pacific including the Philippines. The main thrust was to discover innovations that would help improve the quality of life of Filipinos. With the recent devastation brought upon by Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan specifically in the Visayas Region, Philips decided to refocus the program to benefit the affected communities instead and so was born the “Innovations That Matter to You” Campaign.

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What the Program is About

The Meaningful Innovation Program was introduced in the Philippines to solicit ideas from people in coming up with innovations that will improve the Filipino way of life. The disastrous aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan however necessitates an immediate response that Philips as a company has chosen to focus on. Together with the Department of Health (DOH), World Wide Fund for Nature Philippines (WWF-Philippines), and I Can Serve Foundation, Philips brings the “Innovations that Matter to You” Campaign to focus on defining and delivering meaningful innovations to those who need it most which in this case are the typhoon victims and survivors. Emphasis will be given to the attainment of healthy families, livable cities, and access to healthcare.

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One Idea to Improve the Lives of Many

In discovering innovations, the Philips brand believes in listening, co-creating, and delivering products and services that are actually needed by the people. Through this campaign, Philips hopes to work with the Filipino people in finding the best way to help rebuild Visayas. There are three main phases of the program that will be carried out through a 7-Step Process as follows:

Crowdsource

1. Listen and Define

2. Crowdsource

Curate

3. Screen

4. Vote

Deliver

5. Celebrate

6. Deliver

7. Launch

The crowdsource phase will require listening and defining the actual needs of the affected people. The public is encouraged to submit their ideas which they think can offer doable and attainable solutions to the victims’ plight. A group of Philips local and global executives, together with the partners, will shortlist six ideas from all crowd-sourced entries based on set criteria. Filipinos will be invited to vote for the innovation which they think best address the identified needs.

The winning entry is then recognized to be followed by the delivery of the actual innovation to the Visayan community chosen. After which, the very first Meaningful Innovation in the Philippines will be launched.  The importance of proposing an innovation that can be replicated in every affected community cannot be underestimated since this is obviously a long-term task of rebuilding.

Submission of Entries

Deadline of submission of entries is until December 20,2013. There is no limit to the number of entries that can be submitted. For more information on the “Innovation that Matters to You” Program in the Philippines, you can visit www.meaningfulinnovation.asia/philippines. For more information on the program in Asia Pacific you can visit www.meaningfulinnovation.asia.

My Say

I recently saw on TV a documentary that showed how beautiful the devastated areas were before the tragedy and cannot help but feel sad that such events had to happen. Never the less, we can still take this opportunity to rebuild one more time in the best way possible. Hopefully this can be done through innovations that can only come from the heart of Filipinos who experienced the real horrors of this tragedy.

ADDENDUM: Watch out for the shortlisted finalists for this contest soon.