PLDT wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) backs Filipino youth in creating sustainable solutions through digital platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic.  PLDT-Smart have backed Youth Force in the Philippines Inc. (YFPH) in its SDG Bayanihan Summit (SBS) 2020 week-long hackathon anchored on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).  
  
Using the same digital platforms that help maintain connectivity, learning and support during the COVID-19 pandemic, YFPH aims to accelerate the achievement of the UN SDGs.  
 
Through this partnership with the YFPH, Smart is able to grow and promote the sustainability programs of mother company, PLDT. These include continuous innovation, responsible and efficient operations, awesome customer experience and quality of service, environmental stewardship, corporate social responsibility and community relations, good labor practice and people management, and good governance and ethical business practices. 
 
All these initiatives are aimed at future-proofing the business of PLDT-Smart, and underscore the triple bottomline espoused by Sustainability: Progress, People, and Planet. 
 
Creating innovative digital solutions 
 
The SBS week-long hackathon, INAYAB Labs, challenged youth participants to offer real-life innovative solutions that can help advance and achieve UN SDGs. INAYAB, the reverse of the word Filipino word for hero—bayani, stands for Innovation & Advancement for Youth Activation Building. 
 
In the spirit of bayanihan, delegates collaborated to create innovative and high-quality digital solutions to address the four pillars of the Global Goals— People, Planet, Peace, and Prosperity.  Each delegate became a bayani, as they stepped up to take action and propose innovations. 
 
An empowered youth 
 
The support of PLDT and Smart to the YFPH is in line with the thrust of the country’s largest and only integrated telco to champion the youth—from helping bridge the learning gap the new normal has brought, to aiding students with the knowledge and tools to realize their potentials.  
 
The 2030 YFPH is a network of youth advocating for the achievement of the global goals through collaborations with all sectors stakeholders of society. 
 
It is an affiliate of 2030 Youth Force in the Asia-Pacific Region formed under the initiative of the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and UN Volunteers (UNV).