UNIKO

By Baron Dimaranan, R. Marco Carpio, and Adrien Escobin

The Founders

FOWL Studios is a software development and multimedia studio, and the team behind UNIKO. UNIKO is currently composed of three members: Baron Dimaranan, founder of FOWL Studios, software developer, and a graduate of De La Salle University — Manila, with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, major in CSE. R. Marco Carpio, head of creatives, and a graduate of De La Salle — College of Saint Benilde, with a bachelor’s degree in Multimedia Arts. And Adrien Escobin, a software developer, and a graduate of De La Salle University — Manila, with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, major in CSE. All three members attended high school together at St Joseph’s Academy, Las Piñas City.

Our time in the industry has made us realize that there are certain areas that we were never taught about during our time in university. We were taught about systems, software, subjects, etc. that were considered outdated by the time we graduated.

This made us reflect about our time during our long breaks in between classes. Seminars and workshops were being held at that time that we never got to attend, covering topics that would have benefited us greatly. We didn’t know these events were happening until after it had already finished, because it lacked a platform that could reach a wider audience.

What is your change story?

UNIKO is a companion app for students to use so they can keep track of and join the events happening around the university. It’s a platform that students can go to, to find seminars and events that interest them, covering a wide selection of topics, programs, and courses. It also helps manage their schedule, offering a convenient system that adapts to the events they are interested in, to help keep track of their student life.

Through the user interactions, we can gather data on the trends and topics that are becoming popular and relevant to students. This data could help indicate the subjects and topics that audiences are interested in and could be interpreted as topics that are relevant to their industry’s future. Schools that connect with UNIKO will have access to our data in hopes of bringing meaningful change to the university, and thus helping both faculty and students alike when looking towards the future.

What is systems change?

UNIKO believes that students should be able to make the most out of their time in school and university. Their education should be preparing them for their future career, and the best way to do that is to learn what is relevant now: The programs and software being used, the topics being discussed, etc. through industry professionals, seminars, workshops and more. We want to help address the educational gap by expanding a student’s network and exposure, connecting them to events, orgs, and other schools. And it is our hope that, through the data we gather, we can help the schools make the changes that can help better a student’s future.

What is your systems action plan?

1. UNIKO is bootstrapped. The Founders have a day job, and some funding is allotted to UNIKO from their own salaries.
2. UNIKO is a platform that is planned to be developed as a web application, and as such there are costs incurred. For the prototype, the developer’s strategy is:
3. To make use of AWS (Amazon Web Services) Free Tier for as long as possible.
4. Scale the production / live site according to demand.
5. The Founders continue to uphold UNIKO’s core values by continuously hosting training sessions for struggling developers as well as students that are willing to learn what it means to be part of the software development industry and what skills they need.
6. The final business strategy, market research and value proposition has been put in place and have been ironed out. Developing a rapid prototype and iterating via user feedback is key.

What is your greatest takeaway from HiFi Future Shapers Program?

Before HiFi, the initial idea of UNIKO was a centralized platform for university events. This problem was initially experienced by the Founders during their college life, which drove them to slowly form this idea years later. During HiFi, Exploration opened the Founders’ eyes both personally and in a business perspective. Learnings about a fresh perspective on what the business should stand for, and what values are worth exploring moving forward. Transformative change was the goal, and UNIKO was further refined as an idea after the initial sessions of Exploration.

In our time with HiFi, UNIKO was supported through thoughtful exercises that enabled the team to really dig deep into the meaning of the business and what the idea brought to the table. With consideration to the current situation (COVID/Pandemic), UNIKO’s business strategies and plans were changed to accommodate the “new normal”, but at the same time retaining the essence of what would be an online campus for students who want to learn more skills during their academic years.

How might we support the organization?

1. Development comes at a cost. For the Founders this is simply time, but time is not abundant due to having full-time jobs. In this case, hiring an Assistant Developer to further progress development would be ideal.
2. Seed funding helps. Aside from development costs, it can pay for materials, marketing, and operational expenses when running a platform.
3. Scaling the business. Getting events into the platform will be the first step, and the next step will be to integrate with schools.
4. Connect Universities together. With UNIKO as the bridge, having a learning ecosystem with several Universities helps grow the Philippines’ education system. We plan to pitch UNIKO and hope that students can use the platform to maximize their student life.
5. Transformative Change. Not only do we want to bring change to a student’s life, but we also want to bring analytics to the school that UNIKO is integrated in. The team calls this the “Feedback Loop”, a concept where the platform is not self-serving in the sense that it only provides additional material to students, but it also brings valuable information on trends and student engagement to the University, allowing room for growth and justifiable changes in the system. This is one of UNIKO’s key objectives, and the value it brings to the University.