- University of the Philippines (UP) and Converge ICT signed a historic MoU for a three-year strategic partnership to enhance Filipino students’ AI, tech, and leadership skills.
- The collaboration spans AI, machine learning, cloud computing, cybersecurity, smart manufacturing, and digital business, including hands-on programs like the Future Forward Management Trainee Program.
- Initiatives include AI-themed hackathons, industry speaker series, speed mentoring, co-developed curricula, and the planned Converge Innovation Lab, aiming to build a sustainable talent pipeline and drive national digital transformation.
The University of the Philippines (UP) and Converge ICT Solutions Inc. signed a historic memorandum of understanding (MoU) to initiate a three-year strategic partnership to enhance Filipino students' skills and leadership competencies needed in the age of an artificial intelligence-powered global economy. The signing is a landmark moment in the transformation of Philippine higher education towards industry-integrated learning and digital innovation.
UP President Angelo A. Jimenez termed the partnership 'a convergence of two great institutions united in purpose and committed to our nation's digital future', emphasizing its function in connecting academic endeavor with technological progress. The partnership defines a road map for collaboration within key fields of technology including artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, cloud computing, cybersecurity, smart manufacturing, and digital business transformation.
It will benefit UP students directly in courses such as AI, Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electronics Engineering, and Business Administration. Converge CEO and Co-Founder Dennis Anthony H. Uy underscored that the project is more than skills training, a move to develop a sustainable talent pipeline of Filipino tech leaders that can compete on the international stage while driving innovation locally.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) also welcomed the collaboration, with its Secretary Henry Aguda praising it as a good model of public-private collaboration with the ability to drive the government's digitalization program and national innovation. Organized into three phases, the partnership kicks off with exploratory measures and will intensify integration by 2026.
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Phase One launches the Future Forward Management Trainee Program, a nine-month pilot for graduating students, offering in-depth training in AI, product development, and digital technology to close the long-existing knowledge gap between academic theory and industry practice.
Building on the international technology partnership of Converge, the program gives students global exposure to global best practice in digitalization while basing their learning in Filipino innovation and values. The program is a departure from the standard internship models, which add AI-themed hackathons, student competition, campus speaker series involving industry experts, speed mentoring sessions, and co-developed curricula integrating AI with business strategy.
A strategic objective is to open a Converge Innovation Lab in UP, an exclusive facility for research, proof-of-concept, and actual AI deployment, as a model for industry-academia partnership across the country. UP Vice President for Digital Transformation Peter A. Sy said the MoU is a model for how strategic collaboration between the academe and industry can drive national digital transformation, equipping students to not just meet present job demands but also to innovate new industries and solutions.
The MoU also promotes inclusive access, with programs supporting disadvantaged high-potential students and faculty-industry exchange programs for mutual learning and hands-on experience. Uy considered that this partnership is the future of Philippine higher education, wherein academic excellence and industry innovation blend to drive opportunities for student achievement and national growth. This deal has annual review and extension possibilities, ensuring flexibility as technology and education change over time.
