DashCon 2025 convened one of the Philippines’ earliest community-led innovation unconferences, bringing together founders, creatives, technologists, policymakers, educators, and community leaders for a half-day gathering centered on “Alliance for Innovation and Human Dignity.” Held at Zero-Ten Park Makati (formerly The Company Makati), the event marked DashCon’s fourth year of fostering conversations grounded in clarity, ethics, and shared humanity.
Keynote Insights: Shaping the Philippine Innovation Landscape
DashCon opened with a keynote from Carlo Chen-Delantar, Partner and Head of ESG & Circular Economy at Gobi Partners, who presented insights from the Philippine Startup Ecosystem Report 2025. His talk highlighted signals influencing the country’s innovation landscape, including responsible investment behavior, rising founder maturity, and the growing importance of sustainability and dignity-centered systems. The themes helped frame the unconference, setting a shared lens for examining how Filipino innovators can build technology that values people.
Panel on Innovation & Human Dignity
The keynote was followed by a panel on Innovation & Human Dignity, moderated by Dominic “Doc” Ligot (Founder, CirroLytix), featuring Janette Toral, Francis Plaza, and Chelsea Nicole Pineda. The discussion highlighted digital inclusion, equitable access, and public trust as foundational pillars for emerging technologies and national policy directions. Panelists emphasized that responsible AI requires multidisciplinary perspectives and collaboration across sectors.
Community-Driven Sessions and Synthesis
Participants then joined four breakout sessions facilitated by Kia Abrera, Gab Billones, Lenz Dagohoy, and Artie Lopez. Topics explored included creative collaboration in the age of AI, AI literacy and capability-building, community-led digital governance, and the hybrid future of work and innovation. Each room examined tensions and opportunities in designing systems that honor human agency and collective responsibility.
Insights from all sessions were later brought together in a Re-Conference, where participants mapped themes across rooms and surfaced aligned priorities for collaboration.
Live Demonstrations on Responsible Technology
After the Re-Conference, attendees reconvened for three technology demonstrations:
• DashoContent, showing AI-assisted content operations for marketing teams
• Third Team Ventures, demonstrating responsible deployment of AI agents
• Laya Calculator, presenting an access-to-justice tool that computes lawful release dates of persons deprived of liberty
Positive Feedback and Future-Ready Focus
Participants described DashCon 2025 as “refreshing,” “authentic,” and “a powerful experience.” Many noted that the unconference format created space for genuine connection and peer-driven insight-sharing, in contrast to traditional lecture-driven events.
“We’re taking inspiration from how Japan enforces human-centric AI. This is the right moment to discuss how human dignity is preserved amid the rapid rise of AI, ML, and LLMs. Builders need to consider human-centered design even when development is fast. Our next step is forming the Alliance for Innovation and Human Dignity with the organizations and communities that stand with DashCon,” said Fleire Castro, Event Chair of DashCon and Founder of DashoContent.
Supporters
DashCon 2025 was presented by DashoContent and Third Team Media.
Venue Partner: Zero-Ten Park Philippines
Media Partner: Cimmaroon
Coffee Partner: Dumbo Coffee
Patron & Swag Partner: Filipino Homes and AWS PH
Community Partners: FOPSCo, BetterGovPH, NOA, TESDA, Brainsparks, IdeaSpace & QBO Innovation, Expoxur, UXPH, Filipino Graphic Designers, FHMoms, Creative Earners PH, DLSU–Microsoft Student Community, GDG on Campus DLSU, AWS Cloud Club Spade, A-House, and Digital Workforce PH.
About DashCon
DashCon is an annual community-driven gathering organized by DashoContent that explores creativity, technology, and human-centered innovation. Since 2021, DashCon has provided a platform for leaders and learners to exchange ideas, build connections, and shape responsible futures.
