MINDANAO ICT: Full Blast in 2006

Expect this year that Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Mindanao will be taking a massive leap to profitable and ever-expanding services. Similar to emergent and forward-looking economies, Mindanao is “upgrading” itself to be at par with the world’s best ICT applications. Its vision for competitiveness and modernization was evident during the 4th Mindanao ICT Congress, wherein various key players from the six regions gathered to address the need for innovative revolution in our ICT industry.

The congress focused on enhancing the rapid distribution of knowledge and information as means to finding its proper niche in the global village of the 21st century. Conducted in General Santos City last year, the successful gathering resulted to the passing of seven policy resolutions and the discussion on the several key issues of the industry.

One of the resolutions calls for both the public and private sectors to intensify the promotion of investments in the ICT sector in Mindanao. This cooperation is critical particularly in encouraging investors that Mindanao is peaceful, orderly and above else, ICT-ready. To support this marketing initiative, a resolution urging the Telecommunications Office (TELOF) to fast-track the establishment of 37 identified community e-centers (CeCs) and 42 e-LGU CeCs in Mindanao was presented. It specifies the generalized resolution calling for the expansion of rural connectivity in the Mindanao regions, specifically in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The stakeholders also urged concerned government agencies to develop the IT skills of Mindanao’s human capital and businesses. In this campaign, it was suggested that the Department of Education (DepEd) subsume effective computer applications in the curriculum of primary and secondary education. Likewise, the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) were tasked to monitor IT schools and business process outsource companies to guarantee that graduates possess the skills acceptable to the ICT industry. Mindanao is targeting markets of contact centers, BPOs, animation, software development and medical transcription. Each sector demands different knowledge and skills, and therefore more education and training programs are needed in order to address the special labor requirements attached to it.

Open Source technologies gained a considerable amount of curious, or otherwise fearful, following at the second half of 2005, when authorities allegedly raided offices and internet shops for copyrights violations on operating systems. As such, the private sector began urging government agencies to mount an aggressive and widespread information drive to all ICT stakeholders about the nature and benefits of adopting Open Source technology for business operations. This is, in fact, a very attractive alternative for small businesses who could not afford the legal rights to utilize commercial systems, but could not afford to do without a computer. Open Source is not only free, but it’s the option for lawful business transactions for those who are tight on the company budget.

Overall, the successful 4th Mindanao ICT Congress highlighted the necessary inputs from all stakeholders in order to achieve the goal to make Mindanao the “Knowledge Center in the Asia Pacific” by 2010. Will we be able to keep up with the times? We will surely take it one step at a time, but for sure, Mindanao is getting there.