The inaugural EdTek Excellence Awards, an annual celebration of innovation in education and technology, was held with a VIP dinner and recognition ceremony at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino in Lahug last Friday, March 28, 2025.
The awards night also served as an opportunity for awardees to network with principals and deans, school officials and owners, and professionals in the EdTech space, among others that attended the EdTek Excellence Awards that was part of the larger National Education & Technology Conference (EdTek Con) 2025 event program.
Select awards were given to representatives of the public and private sectors, including members of government agencies, learning institutions, education technology developers, training centers, consultancy services, start-up ventures, enterprise incubation facilities and business process outsourcing companies.
Awarding categories ranged from groundbreaking strides made in data privacy and cyber education to innovative efforts to in the artificial intelligence and blockchain-in-education space. Notable among the recognition given was the Lifetime Achievement in Science and Technology Award, ICT Lifetime Achievement Award, Lawyer of the Year Award, and Future Ready Curriculum Award among others.
The awarded trophies themselves were studies in innovation with sculpted pieces of traditional and state-of-the-art materials that fused together and represented the seamless integration of old-school values with new generation technological processes.
Helping to hand out the trophies of recognition along with tokens of appreciation were EdFolio and SkoolTek CEO Ursel Murillo-Laureno, who was the founder of EdTek Con, and ICT Industry Council of the Philippines president Riki Dacanay, who was also an EdFolio and SkooklTek board director.
During the first half of EdTek Con 2025, held at the same venue earlier in the day, Dacanay said in his opening remarks: “The future of education is in our hands, and together, let’s uphold the future of education, [which] knows no bounds.”
For her part, in her keynote speech during the morning session, Laureno reassured the educators that advancements in educational technology such as artificial intelligence would not replace them but rather, would help further the advancement of their field of expertise.
Joining the awardees and helping to make the EdTek Excellence Awards 2025 possible were delegates from the roster of event co-presenters, partners and sponsors, namely Unisol, DOHE Philippines Inc., Hydro Flask, GRND, Res│Toe│Run, Basecamp by Power Mac Center, Syph, Lesson Planner PH, Rapoo, Philteq Enterprise Inc., Pag-IBIG Fund, School of Tomorrow Philippines, the American Institute for English Proficiency, the Australia New Zealand Institute, Nutriplus, Six Sigma, éslite, Cerebro, Juan, Quest Ventures, Doconchain, Regional Association for Private Elementary and Secondary Schools, Yam Agency, IdEYA, Pic-A-Talk and CodeChum.