• The program aims to integrate data science with technical and soft skills toward the development and implementation of projects focused on specific SNAP functions
• Essential data science and AI subjects are covered such as math and statistics, programming, data processing, machine learning, deep learning, AI research, communication, and visualization

SN Aboitiz Power Group recently marked a significant milestone in its data science journey with the graduation of its first batch of Citizen Data Scientists last month. Nine team members from various functional groups completed SNAP’s Data Science Upskilling Program (DSUP), which aims to future-proof the company’s business and operations by unifying its data science vision, strategy, and technical roadmap.

Launched in 2020, the DSUP is one of the major initiatives in SNAP’s Data Acquisition, Reporting and Analytics (DARna) Program, which seeks to achieve the following transformational goals: increase revenue through improvements in trading efficiency and commercial availability; create new products, services, and complementary business models; minimize opportunity losses and the cost of asset life cycles; streamline processes; and improve the overall quality of data processings for operational analysis and reports. DARnA is part of the Aboitiz Group’s overall data science and AI strategy.

The DSUP covers essential data science and AI subjects such as math and statistics, programming, data processing, machine learning, deep learning, AI research, communication, and visualization, with instruction coming from the Aboitiz Data Innovation mentors. The program’s curriculum aims to reinforce the participants’ business acumen by integrating data science with technical and soft skills toward the development and implementation of projects focused on specific SNAP functions.

Following a rigorous selection process, 15 team members were accepted and nine successfully completed the nearly two-year program, consisting of a series of workshops and training spanning a total of 900 hours, and a development and testing phase for the pilot contingent’s capstone projects.

“This is absolutely a phenomenal feat,” said Aboitiz Data Innovation managing director David Hardoon. “That is absolutely representative of your commitment and willingness to get these capabilities, skill-sets, and know-how that make a substantive difference to the organization.”

In keeping with DARnA’s objectives, the first batch of projects are focused on plant and commercial operations and will be used to improve and transform SNAP’s internal processes with data-driven and innovative solutions: ancillary service utilization forecasting, rainfall forecasting, econometric modeling of fundamental price forecasting, unit capability forecasting for Magat hydro, and customer load profiling and forecasting.

Over the past decade, data has emerged as the world’s most valuable resource. Some participants cited this as a major motivation in applying to the program. Sean Peña, manager for Market Risk and New Markets, whose project with Portfolio Management Specialist RC Cruz on customer load profiling  is intended to promote a new revenue stream and be a risk mitigation measure for the organization, said, “The DSUP [is] one major opportunity to increase my competencies in the different aspects of data science while being a major contributor to the data science aspirations of the organization.”

This sentiment is echoed by SNAP-Magat’s Sr. Operations Manager Homer Ramos. “Data science is the future. The ability to extract, process, and analyze data to provide additional value and advantage to our Operations and Maintenance is key for us to thrive in this business moving forward.” He, together with Plant Control Engineer Ohmer Echavillo and Operations Sr. Supervisor Jun Pua, is working on Magat’s unit capability forecasting project which aims to increase the accuracy in declaring capabilities and effectively increase revenue.

While all the capstone projects are primarily directed towards internal processes, some have the potential to positively impact SNAP’s stakeholders as well. One such initiative is Field Hydrologist Richard Logronio’s Project Dakbayan on rainfall forecasting, which aims to provide better quantitative and qualitative weather forecasts for improved water management and natural disaster preparedness and response for SNAP as well as dam operators NIA (for SNAP-Magat) and NPC (for SNAP-Benguet).

As with any major undertaking, the DSUP also presented some challenges: participants had to juggle their workload and lectures, and they had to devote extra hours to their lessons especially as the discussions became more complex.

“[It] gives me so much pride knowing that we are starting to see the results and achieve the outcome we envisioned two years ago. We will continue to improve the program as we continue towards accelerating value creation for our business and our people,” SNAP Group’s Assistant Vice President and Chief Information Officer Mitch Cabigon said.

In his speech to the graduates, SNAP Group President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Yu acknowledged the resilience, perseverance, and fortitude it took for the contingent to juggle their workload and DSUP activities, saying:

We achieved something that was far beyond what we expected when we first started. We’ve always said that we want to enable, equip, and augment the talent we have inside SNAP using data science so we can have better insights and better knowledge. By doing these, we create a competitive advantage.

Ultimately, for SNAP’s newly minted Citizen Data Scientists, all the hard work is worth it. As Sr. Trader Sheena Vergara-Martija puts it, “The late tennis player Arthur Ashe once said, ‘Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is more often more important than the outcome.’ DSUP is a promising journey. It has its ups and down. Not all results will align with what you are expecting. But what matters is that you learn from it and continuously strive towards something bigger.”

For Markets and Portfolio Sr. Analyst Penny Laine Sokoken, the journey has been a fulfilling one. “It helped me see more potential problems that are actually opportunities and solve them by using the DS applications I learned from the program.” And the journey is far from over: “I believe I’m just entering the DS realm and there is so much more to learn along the way.”