Our DSL Internet connection at home sucks. It used to be that the problem was just the disconnections during bad weather. But now, rain or shine, there’s longer down times than actual connectivity. See, it’s not a cabled DSL connection — it’s broadband via mobile cell site broadcast. •••Read on»

Updated: 27 June 2007

From the 29th of June 2007, Google Philippines Country Consultant, Aileen Apolo, will be in Davao City for a series of seminars. The Google Davao Roadshow will be for the benefit of owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as college students and faculty members. Aileen will also meet up with Davao-based bloggers and SEO practitioners. •••Read on»

The Technical Working Group (TWG) of the newly-activated ICT Task Force met for the first time yesterday, 13 June 2007. During the first organizational meeting of the Task Force, it was decided that the TWG should meet once a week, in order to meet the 3-month deadline for creating the city’s I.T. industry development plan. The TWG now meets every Wednesday at 2:00 PM, at the office of the Davao City Investment Promotions Center (DCIPC).

There will, however, be no meetings for the next two weeks. This is because on 20 June there will be the Techno Kapehan at the same time as the TWG scheduled meeting; and in the following week, a number of the TWG members will be in Cebu for the CEBU ICT 2007 event. •••Read on»

Last 7 June 2007 I was invited by the Rotary Club of Davao to be their guest of honor and speaker. Rotary Davao, otherwise known as “the mother club”, is comprised of Davao’s captains of industry. The membership roster boasts an impressive list of the city’s leading businessmen and professionals. Needless to say, it was rather daunting to stand in front of them and deliver a speech, although that was actually my second time to be invited by the mother club.

What immediately drove out the butterflies was the Rotarians’ apparent interest in my subject matter. I had thought it would be difficult for me to inspire enthusiasm among a group of “traditional” industrialists. But I was mistaken. After all, they did invite me specifically to talk about Davao’s information technology industry. The interaction after my presentation was lively, and it was clear that the advances our I.T. industry has made have reached the ears of Davao’s industry leaders. •••Read on»

On 3 November 2006, the Davao City mayor’s office issued an executive order constituting an information and communications technology task force. Executive Order No. 16 is an offshoot of the proposal by Councilor Pilar Braga to create the ICT Task Force, which is now mandated to create a road map of the city’s I.T. industry. That is, to provide the local government unit with a much-needed development plan.

With the sudden increase in I.T. investments in Davao, the city government has finally adopted a more serious stance vis-à-vis the I.T. industry. In the past, Davao’s elected officials merely paid lip service to the wonders of information technology — having used the word “wonder” makes it rather clear that the government wasn’t yet all that clued-up, doesn’t it? While EO16 deserves our gratitude, we in the private sector see it as a knee-jerk reaction: not a well-planned strategy to address the burgeoning new industry. Nevertheless, the EO does have its merits, and the task force appears to be ready for action. •••Read on»

As Silicon Valley has proven time and again, the foundation of a successful and sustainable I.T. industry is academe. Cebu, by the success of its Cebu Educational Development Foundation for I.T. (CEDF-it) program, is adding credence to this model. And Davao City (“Silicon Paddy” according to my colleague, Jason Banico) might also contribute empirical data to this in a few short school years.

A couple of years ago, through the initiative of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce & Industry Inc (DCCCII), an extensive educational program was instituted for the development of entrepreneurship training at colleges in the Davao Region. This was in partnership with the Philippines-Australia Human Resource Development Facility (PAHRDF), and funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID). This bore fruit when 12 colleges and universities were introduced to curriculum development coaching for an entrepreneurship program in information technology courses. The coaching ran from December 2006 to January 2007.

According to Cornelia Victolero, I.T. consultant of Davao Doctors College, the output is an elective course (3 units) which is targeted at students enrolled in Computer Science and other related majors. Each college may have different guidelines, but I think it would be a beneficial idea to offer this elective to students of any course. •••Read on»