During the launch of the 6th MICT Congress last 25 July, Commission on ICT Acting Commissioner Mon Ibrahim presented some challenges to Mindanao’s economic development. One of which is the challenge of improving Mindanao’s negative image. Ibrahim said that overcoming this obstacle will result in better opportunities for Mindanao’s I.T. industry to flourish.

Well, one very effective way to address this need is to have more and more people writing about Mindanao. The best medium for this is the Internet. And the best tool the blog.

The Mindanao Bloggers Summit, which will be held during the MICT Congress this October, has a very apt theme: “Spotlight Mindanao: Blogging for Culture, Identity and Understanding“. The fundamental idea behind the Summit is to promote the use of blogs as a powerful tool for bringing out to the world the true image of Mindanao. Also, the Summit aims to foster understanding among the various peoples and cultures in Mindanao. •••Read on»

The 6th Mindanao ICT Congress, which will be held on 23 & 24 October 2007, was formally launched yesterday in simple ceremonies. This year’s host, the Davao City Chamber of Commerce & Industry, is teamed up with the city’s umbrella oranization of I.T. associations, ICT Davao Inc. If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time that the MICT is being spearheaded (at least in part) by the actual stakeholders of the I.T. industry.

The MICT Congress franchise is owned by the Mindanao Business Council (MBC), and it awards the privilege to host the event to a member Chamber each year. The Davao Chamber hosted the first 2 congresses, and once more this year.

What’s unique again in MICT’07 is the holding of the BIMP-Eaga ICT Conference for the very first time. The MBC, through the auspices of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (Medco), was able to convince our opposite numbers in Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia to join forces with us this year to help us give deeper meaning to the MICT’s theme: “ICT Beyond Borders“.

The entities directly involved in the MICT are the following: MBC, the Davao Chamber, ICT Davao Inc, Medco, and the BIMP-Eaga Business Council. The Department of Trade & Industry - Region 11 and the city government of Davao are also lending their support towards a successful 6th MICT Congress. •••Read on»

The first time I wrote about the upcoming 6th Mindanao ICT Congress was, I believe, in early May of this year. Soon after, the planning for this major undertaking was begun, albeit rather lethargically, due to coordination concerns among the three MICT stakeholders. This year, two organizations have been awarded the franchise by the Mindanao Business Council (which owns the event): the Davao City Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and ICT Davao Inc.

During the initial two months, the schedule for the MICT had finally been set, from 23 to 24 October 2007. Events attached to the Congress were scheduled around those dates; the Mindanao Bloggers Summit, for example, was supposed to be held on the 27th. Recently, however, the MICT technical working group (TWG) made a sweeping decision to move the Congress a week early, this time from 19 to 21 October, and even directed the organizers of the Mindanao Bloggers Summit to move this event to the 20th. •••Read on»

A strong indication that Dabawenyos have firmly stepped onto the digital world is the wide acceptance of Internet-based services. Davao’s I.T. industry leaders should really come up with hard figures because we have no clear picture of just how many Internet users there are, but judging by the traffic Davao websites get, we can get a good idea. An excellent example of such a high-traffic website is Davao Exchange (www.davaoexchange.com) — a free online classified ads site.

Davao Exchange was built from the ground up by Marc Javellana, a netrepreneur who staunchly believes in the power of the Internet as a springboard for emerging businesses. Marc is blessed with a solid background in computer programming, plus an acute sense for online commerce. •••Read on»

Attention college students in Davao!

Do you have a bankable I.T. business idea? Do you have an e-commerce vision that could potentially become a sustainable business? Do you want to acquire the necessary skills to formulate a sound business plan?

The P.E.S.O. Davao Challenge, launched last 20 June 2007 at the Ateneo de Davao University, is the perfect venue for enterprising young Dabawenyos who’d like the chance to see their ideas transformed into real businesses. The Philippine Emerging Startups Open is a nationwide business plan competition that was initiated by Filipino graduate students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This “brain gain” initiative was inspired by the MIT US$100,000 Entrepreneurship Competition, which is 17 years running. This prestigious contest has facilitated the creation of more than 60 I.T. companies to date, with an aggregate value of US$10.5+ billion. •••Read on»