Yesterday was the 2nd Techno Kapehan session (I wasn’t there for the first, but I’m sure to be there for the succeeding ones), sponsored by the Department of Trade & Industry - Region XI. Patterned after the media’s long-standing tradition of powwows, at the IT industry’s, the "bigwigs" — as host Arriel Nengasca termed it — get together to discuss the current events, issues and plans. Media people were there, as well. If I’m not mistaken, from Sunshine TV.

This is being conducted under the auspices of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and each session is sponsored by different organizations. The next one, on 21 March, will be hosted by the Sangguniang Panlungsod, care of ICT Chair Dr. Rene Lopez and Trade & Industry Chair Councilor Pete Laviña (the country’s first elected official to blog!). According to the announcement before the end of the session, the Kapehan is already scheduled up to May.

This is hopeful. It’s a surefire way of jump-starting dialog among colleagues and stakeholders. A venue for brainstorming, that will hopefully result in action. And, it would be really positive if it could also become a middle ground for, well, disagreeing ‘factions’ within the industry.

Kudos to the people behind Kapehan! And as usual, DTI-XI pulled it off nicely. Just a note, however: the setting was a tad stiff. It looked rather like a panel interview for a college thesis defense. But I guess it was because we had Japanese guests (from Jetro) that DTI thought it would be proper to be formal about the whole thing. No fault in that, really. But I hope that, in the interest of having people come in ready to share ideas, the following sessions will be more relaxed.