Filipino Community in Sydney Connects with Silicon Valley

Left photo: Acting Head of Post Consul Marford Angeles (right) handed a Certificate Appreciation to Filipino-Australian Silicon Valley expert Chris Peralta (left), for sharing his industry insights to a large gathering of the Filipino community at the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney. (photo courtesy of Mr. Jade Cadelina). Right photo: Mr. Peralta shared the latest developments such as the Internet of things (IoT), and how it impact our daily lives.

17 January 2018 SYDNEY — Over 50 leaders and members of the Filipino community in Sydney joined “Connecting with Silicon Valley”, a business talk on the latest global opportunities, innovations and trends in information technology (IT) held on 15 January at the Philippine Consulate in Sydney.

The event featured U.S.-based Filipino-Australian Chris Peralta, Founder and CEO of Manila Valley, an accelerator program that supports Filipino technology start-ups and provides access to the Silicon Valley ecosystem. The gathering tapped Peralta’s expertise as a founder of three companies, advisor to more than 10 start-ups, and mentor to over 150 businesses. 

“Connecting with Silicon Valley” examined how technology has disrupted every business and industry, and how individuals, businesses and communities could embrace, adapt, and take advantage of these innovations. Filipino entrepreneurs, executives, investors, managers, students, and seniors in attendance all learned from and interacted with Mr. Peralta, as well as with several other IT industry experts via real-time video link directly to Silicon Valley.

In his message at the event, Acting Head of Post Consul Marford Angeles thanked Mr. Peralta for sharing his knowledge, and for encouraging IT awareness and expertise within the Filipino community in NSW. Consul Angeles encouraged the Filipino community in Sydney to leverage IT technology to their advantage, whether their interest is in exploring entrepreneurial opportunities such as app development, forming tech start-ups, or finding novel ways technology can be incorporated in their field of expertise.

At the conclusion of the event, participants networked with Mr. Peralta and his colleagues, and took steps towards establishing a mentoring program for business and IT-minded Filipinos in the local community.  

“Connecting with Silicon Valley” was a collaboration between Filipino-Australian organizations Filipino Australian Movement for Empowerment Inc., Order of the Knights of Rizal, Tagalog Association of Australia, and Filipino-Australian Engineers Association of Australia, in cooperation with the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney. END

For more information, visit www.sydneypcg.dfa.gov.ph

Acting Head of Post Consul Marford Angeles (5^th from left), Consul Melanie Diano (rightmost). Consul Emmanuel Guzman (9^th from right) and Mr. Chris Peralta (7^th from left), with organizers Mr. Danny Peralta (9^th from left), Mr. Cesar Bartolome (8^th from left), Ms. Lilian delos Reyes (6^th from left) and Mr. Dan LIkete (7^th from right) of Filipino community organizations Order of the Knights of Rizal, Filipino Australian Movement for Empowerment, Tagalog Association of Australia, and Filipino-Australian Engineers Association of Australia, respectively.