Geeks on a Beach returns to Boracay this year. Here are new things to expect

2015 Geeks on a Beach organizers and partners.

Tech-savvy entrepreneurs, startup founders, web and app developers will return to the world-famous island paradise of Boracay on August 20-21 for the third edition of business conference Geeks on a Beach.

Geeks on a Beach brands itself as an honest-to-goodness, no-holds barred conference where people exchange ideas about tech, startups, and design – minus the coat and tie.

The two-day event at the Crown Regency Resort and Convention Center in Boracay will be packed with workshops and training sessions, breakout talks, networking, opportunities to secure funding and partnerships, and of course, lots of fun (it’s on a beach!).

“This year’s theme is ‘Let’s get back to basics: building apps that will help the common man’,” says Tina Amper, founder of TechTalks.ph, the non-profit organization behind the conference.

Started in 2013, the annual conference has drawn prominent investors such as Dave McClure and Khailee Ng of 500 Startups, and more than 400 participants from across the globe. Here are new things you can expect:

Unveiling of Philippine startup roadmap

This will be the highlight of the event. The Philippine government will present for the first time the country’s startup roadmap, a framework for both the government and private sector in developing the startup ecosystem.

The roadmap was crafted by the Philippines’ Department of Science and Technology-Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO), with help from private groups and individuals, including incubator-accelerator IdeaSpace, investment firm Kickstart Ventures, notable entrepreneurs Jojo Flores and Jay Fajardo, as well as startup founders such as Paul Rivera of Kalibrr and Ron Hose of Coins.ph.

Under the roadmap, the Philippines is aiming to establish at least 500 startups with aggregate valuation of US$2 billion, and total funding of US$200 million by 2020.

The roadmap contains various programs and action plans for achieving these goals. These include bridging the tech education gap in the country, streamlining processes for incorporating and closing down companies, and amending immigration policies.

Session on academe

Richard Abendan, Research & Industry Partnerships manager at USAID-STRIDE / RTI International Philippines, is leading a panel discussion on the role of the academe in helping students develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Panel members will include tech managers from key Philippine universities such as the University of the Philippines and De La Salle University.

“There’s a lot of knowledge and research locked in universities, we want to unlock them and make sure startups can access them,” Abendan says, noting that the USAID-STRIDE will play a key role in creating interaction between the two sides. USAID-STRIDE provides grants to university research. Abendan says they will also start funding R&D projects between universities and startups.