Manila, Philippines [2 December 2020]—The Philippines’ leading digital services provider PLDT Inc. (PLDT), along with its wireless arm Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), is reinforcing integrated telco superiority by being ranked the top company in Asia and emerging markets, and 4th out of the Top 100 Most Influential ICT Companies worldwide in the 2020 Digital Inclusion Benchmark (DIB) of the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA).

The WBA developed the study in close collaboration with an Expert Review Committee (ERC) of members from the World Bank Group, GSM Association (GSMA), International Telecommunication Union, and more. Stretching across 33 economies worldwide, the benchmark covers digital systems across three industries: telecommunication services; hardware, consisting of the manufacture of digital goods such as end-user devices, network equipment and semiconductors; and IT services, consisting of software applications, data centers, cloud computing and platform services.

"We are honored to be recognized by the WBA, as it affirms how our technologies can play a significant role in making major contributions to the sustainable development of the country,” PLDT Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Manuel V Pangilinan says. “This is the larger mission before us. This is the purpose that drives our organizational will and energy towards sustainability on the triple bottom line of profit, people, and planet."

The in-depth analysis tracked how these ICT companies are helping advance a more inclusive digital economy and society. DIB used four measurement areas ---access, skills, use, and innovation—which are all aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) and informed by research, stakeholder engagement, and related indexes. The WBA then evaluated the companies according to their disclosures, commitments and performance.

Upgrading access to technology

WBA lauded PLDT’s level of reporting on its economic value generated and distributed, citing it as an example of best practice in the Access measurement area. In 2019, the company reported a total of PhP 72.9 Billion capital expenditures for network transformation and expansion, PhP 24.9 Billion in employee wages and benefits, PhP 6.7 Billion in income taxes and payments to regulatory bodies, and PhP 582 Million in community investments, all of which are detailed in the Group's Sustainability Report. PLDT has been reporting environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices since 2015, way before the requirement of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that all Philippine-listed companies publish its Sustainability Reports for year-end 2019.

The benchmark also commended PLDT and Smart for its Libreng Tawag (Free Calls), Charging, and Internet efforts. The Group’s institutionalized public service program provides communication as aid to the affected communities, local government units, national agencies, non-government organizations, media, and humanitarian agencies in the wake of man-made and natural disasters.

Cutting across various WBA DIB measurement areas is Gabay Guro, PLDT’s flagship advocacy program that empowers teachers through Seven Key Pillars – Scholarships, Teachers’ Trainings, Classroom Donations, Livelihood Programs, Connectivity and Computerization, Teachers’ Tribute Events, and Digital Innovations. WBA cited the 13-old-program specifically for its SHEroes financial literacy project for women educators with Insular Life Insurance, trainings that have benefitted over 60,000 teachers nationwide, and the free-to-download Gabay Guro App which hosts digital resources and ready-to-use online platforms that are aligned with the Department of Education (DepEd) and Commission on Higher Education (CHED) curriculum.

Improving digital skills

Launched in 2004 as PLDT pioneered its digital subscriber line (DSL), PLDT Infoteach was commended under the DIB's skills benchmark for articulating the importance of information and communications technology (ICT) in education during the early stages of Philippine internet. The program reaches out to high school students, primary to secondary level teachers, and out-of-school youths nationwide through digital literacy trainings, with over 32,000 program graduates to-date.

For upholding #TechnologyForDevelopment in bridging the digital divide, WBA commended the Smart School-in-a-Bag program, wherein learning communities nationwide – including “last mile schools” without electricity and internet connectivity – benefit from tablets and laptops that are pre-loaded with educational content. This program also provides Pocket WiFi kits, solar panels, battery charging stations, and other learning materials, along with teacher trainings to help over 60,000 student beneficiaries.

Fostering trustworthy use

Under the Use benchmark, WBA lauded PLDT and Smart for efforts in pursuing cyber security governance, with the Chairman and Board of Directors subjected to annual trainings on cyber security, and a Cybersecurity Operations Group that reports directly to the Top Management.

The Alliance cited PLDT’s fully operational 24x7 Cyber Security Incident and Response Team (CSIRT), which enables the detection and response to security incidents within less than one minute, on average. The company’s cybersecurity group recently secured membership of the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), a global leader in cyber security incident response that provides access to best practices and tools, and trusted communication with other member incident response team.

In terms of information security management system, data centers of corporate business unit PLDT Enterprise are covered by the global standard ISO 27001. Other efforts to institute the company's Corporate Information Security Policy (CISP) also follow several global standards and frameworks of the US National Institute of Technology Standards (NIST) and the CIS Critical Security Controls.

The company reports on substantiated complaints concerning breaches of customer privacy and losses of customer data. These are handled by the Group's Data Privacy Office, which analyzes which incidents meet the threshold for mandatory reporting to the National Privacy Commission and notice to affected subjects.

Showing a similar approach to its skills programs, PLDT and Smart maintain a company-wide child safeguarding policy that is integrated into the risk assessment framework of all its business units. This is a result of the Group's partnership with UNICEF for the continuous adoption and application of Children's Rights and Business Principles (CRBP) framework into group operations within the workplace, marketplace, and stakeholder communities.

Innovating openly and ethically

The company supports technology innovation ecosystems, proof of which includes the PLDT Capital Pte. Ltd. The venture capital is part of the Group's digital arm which invests in mobile platforms and applications, and connects the company with startups in the US and around the world. Likewise, PLDT's in-house Innovation Laboratory (Innolab) is a venue for innovation and collaboration with Filipino startups, incubators and accelerators.

PLDT also supports IdeaSpace Foundation, a non-profit which runs key programs to support early-stage start-ups in the Philippines. With PLDT providing Php 15M a year to help launch start-ups, innovations under Ideaspace range from health, transportation, and energy, to name a few.

In terms of collaborating on big data for sustainable development, PLDT-Smart was cited for Connected Mangroves. This environmental stewardship initiative utilizes IoT solutions to collect data relevant to the preservation of these wetlands, then transmits data over a cloud system to a dashboard that is accessible to concerned stakeholders, such as local fisherfolks and authorities. This collaboration with network vendor Ericsson and the Municipality of Sasmuan, Pampanga became case studies in GSMA's 2020 Digital Dividends report and 2019 Case for Change initiative as the global mobile industry's solution to achieving the UNSDGs.

Continuously contributing to the SDGs

The Digital Inclusion Benchmark is part of WBA’s wider effort to measure and rank the 2,000 most influential keystone companies on how they contribute to the SDGs across seven critical systems transformations. Moreover, the study aims to equip relevant stakeholders – from financial institutions and investors, to civil society, to policymakers, and to consumers – with the data they need to inform their engagement with business and drive increased inclusivity within and across the sector.

Findings from WBA's DIB will be discussed at the annual Accounting for Sustainability (A4S) Summit, to be opened by the Prince of Wales. He established the event in 2004 with the aim of upholding sustainable decision-making in businesses.

Among the Top 100 Most Influential ICT Companies cited in the DIB, WBA chose PLDT to showcase its best practices in digital inclusion and sustainable development at the A4S Summit's Disruptive Technologies session. PLDT-Smart Chief Sustainability Officer Chaye A. Cabal-Revilla was invited to represent the company and will discuss concrete actions that can be taken by stakeholders, such as capital markets, along with WBA Executive Director Gerbrand Haverkamp, WBA Lead Digital Sector Transformation Lourdes O. Montenegro, United Nations' Anni Tervo from the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Digital Cooperation, and Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) ICT Director Michael Rohwer.

The DIB will be free and publicly available, published annually and shared widely with government, investor and civil society stakeholders worldwide, including 128 WBA allies representing USD 6.3 trillion assets under management.

For details on PLDT-Smart's ranking and more information on the World Benchmarking Alliance, visit www.worldbenchmarkingalliance.org/publication/digital-inclusion/companies/pldt.

For more information about PLDT and Smart’s sustainability initiatives, visit www.pldt.com or send an email to ChiefSustainabilityOffice@pldt.com.ph.