Document Digitization AI Solution: Pointwest Launches Document Digitization Platform Skriba

Kat Dacusin
November 21, 2019

Document Digitization through Artificial Intelligence technologies was the focal point as Pointwest, one of the leading IT companies in the Philippines, officially launched smart Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Platform Skriba last October 24, 2019, at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Office in Arthaland, Bonifacio Global City.

Skriba is an intelligent OCR platform that uses cutting edge Artificial Intelligence technologies to digitize any document image and extract information from them. The platform converts both printed and handwritten documents into digital form, making it ideal for business processes involving large amounts of paper documents such as accounting, human resources, healthcare, and many more.

Skriba-Launch

Artificial Intelligence Capability Head Mac Aydinan headlines the launch of Skriba.

The product launch was lead by Pointwest Artificial Intelligence Head Mac Aydinan. Skriba is the brainchild of Aydinan and his team. The product garnered interest from over 50 attendees from media, banking, and other industries as they asked questions on the capabilities of Skriba. The forum was hosted by Pointwest Human Resource Business Partner Spam Silag. 

To show the platform in action, booths with Skriba were present at the venue. Attendees witnessed firsthand how the platform digitized data from their identification cards, receipts, and forms and converted them to a format that could be used in various applications like in spreadsheets. 

The official launch was held at the event “Empowering Humans at the Age of AI” sponsored by Pointwest and AWS Philippines. Principles of human-centered AI are manifested in tools such as Skriba which makes work easier by saving hours of manual work for transcribing the document contents.

The event started with a Welcome Address from Jerry Bongco, Head of Enterprise for the Philippines of AWS. Afterwards, Pointwest President and CEO Ma. Crisitina “Beng” Coronel delivered the Opening Remarks.

Pointwest-Skriba-Launch-Speakers

Clockwise from left: Pointwest President and CEO Ma. Cristina “Beng” Coronel; AWS Head of Enterprise for the Philippines Jerry Bongo, Pointwest Head of Data Group Nicco de Jesus, and Energy Development Corporation Head of Transformation Office Joy Santamarina

The event proceeded with a talk on AI trends in Asia. This was delivered by Pointwest Head of Data Group Nicco de Jesus. He shared how East Asia, the Pacific, the EU, and North America are anticipated to be the fastest adopters of AI. Industry-wise, AI adoption is expected to happen fastest in banking, retail, tech, and entertainment. “First to adopt wins”, Nicco said, highlighting the advantage of early adopters in leveraging tech as a competitive advantage.

The next speaker was Joy Santamarina, Head of Transformation Office at Energy Development Corporation, who presented “Human-Centered AI in Companies from a Transformation Leader’s Point of View”. She started her talk with what the world had before AI and after AI; for example, from physical maps, we now have apps such as Waze and Google Maps. 

Joy also tackled the anxiety people feel about AI advancements, reflecting people’s doubts on whether such progress will be good or bad for humans. But she stressed AI as “a crucial part of transformation” as the technology empowers businesses. “At the core of any advancement is people.”, Joy stated, emphasizing the synergy of people, process, and technology to achieve transformation.

After the presentation on Skriba’s capabilities and a demo of how it works, the event proceeded with a presentation by Chief Technology Officer Veck Basinang on the other AI solutions offered by Pointwest. Besides intelligent OCR, Veck shared other AI solutions such as Computer Vision, Natural Language Processing, Sound Processing, Fraud Analytics, and Forecasting, which are applicable across industries. She ended her presentation with a thought-provoking question: “What social problem would you like to be solved by AI?”

AWS-Daniel-Joel

AWS Solutions Architecture Lead for ASEAN Partners Daniel Bucherer and AWS Senior Manager of Solutions Architecture Joel Garcia during the fireside chat.

The next part of the program was allotted for the AWS Fireside Chat which featured AWS Solutions Architecture Lead for ASEAN Partners Daniel Bucherer and AWS Senior Manager of Solutions Architecture Joel Garcia. The fireside chat was moderated by Partner Success Manager Marnie Tolosa, who helped keep the conversation going by asking questions to the two speakers. 

The conversation focused on how AI helps humans, the boundlessness of technology, and AWS as a customer-centric company. On the question of AWS’ take on human-centered AI, Daniel responded with “starting with the customer and working backwards”, advocating a deeper understanding of customers to serve them better.

The event ended with a raffle and a sumptuous lunch, as attendees went around the Skriba booths.

Prior to the official launch, a soft launch was previously held for the platform (under its former name Eskriba) on July 16, 2019 at Pointwest Pasig Office at Rockwell Business Center Tower 3, Pasig City. 

 

 

Skriba-Launch-Speakers

From left to right: AWS Manager for Partner Success Marnie Tolosa, Pointwest AI Capability Head Mac Aydinan, Pointwest Pointwest Head of Data Group Nicco de Jesus, Energy Development Corporation Head of Transformation Office Joy Santamarina, Pointwest President and CEO Ma. Cristina “Beng” Coronel, and Chief Technology Officer Veck Basinang.

 

About Pointwest

Pointwest is an IT company in the Philippines. Founded in 2003 by pioneers of the Philippine Global Sourcing industry, Pointwest creates value for its list of satisfied clients — including top Fortune 100 and local companies — with world-class digital innovation and IT modernization services backed by international-standard methodologies, and innovative practices.

For Inquiries, contact us:

+632 8814 1100 (Trunkline)

+1 (888) 210-9078 (US Toll-Free)

ask@pointwest.com.ph