Starting out as a shipping journal in 1900, the Manila Bulletin marks its 122nd anniversary today.
“By definition, a company that survives for more than a century,” an article in the Harvard Business Review points out, “exists in a world it cannot hope to control.” The ability to continuously adapt to change is essential to corporate longevity and viability.
The Manila Bulletin has thrived through more than a century and two decades punctuated by cataclysmic changes and upheavals by dint of its resilience and adaptability. Throughout its existence, there have been two world wars and several pandemics, as well as a procession of political upheavals and transitions that have witnessed the establishment of five Philippine republics.
According to a recent McKinsey report, “digital adoption has taken a quantum leap at both the organizational and industry levels.” Moreover, it observed that “COVID-19 has pushed many companies over the technology tipping point — and transformed business forever.”
Responding to the imperatives of digital acceleration, the Manila Bulletin’s shift to a digital-centric content creation platform more than five years ago has primed its organization to the major changes brought on by the pandemic. Our content producers are able to perform vital functions such as information gathering, fact checking and story writing — thanks to digital tools and software that have enabled round-the-clock work either at the company offices or from the safety of their homes.
Fulfilling its role as the “leading exponent of Philippine progress since 1900,” the Manila Bulletin’s pages mirror important developments in digital transformation that are continually reshaping the financial and capital markets, agriculture and agribusiness, the automotive industry, real estate, education and other vital domains of knowledge.
Indeed, information and communication technology have become the main driver of innovation and change in what has been touted as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Industry 4.0 is “characterized by a range of new technologies that are fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, impacting all disciplines, economies and industries, and even challenging ideas about what it means to be human.”
The four industrial revolutions are defined by the primary sources of energy for large-scale production of goods and services such as coal, gas, electronics and nuclear power, the Internet and renewable energy.
New concepts such as crypto currency, digital currency bitcoin, and metaverse have emerged — and these are featured in the special supplement that accompanies today’s 122nd anniversary issue of the Manila Bulletin.
Metaverse broadly refers to “shared, immersive digital environments in which people can move between and may access via virtual reality or augmented reality headsets or computer screens.” It is seen by some quarters as the emergent technology that could supersede the mobile Internet. Facebook has even changed its name to Meta, positioning itself as a pioneer promoter.
The Manila Bulletin renews today its commitment to its audience, readers and stakeholders to stay ahead of the exciting challenges in the borderless digital universe.