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Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Cebu IT industry ‘undeveloped’ - Cedf-it
Despite its being identified as a major economic driver, the Cebu information technology (IT) industry is still undeveloped, according to a sector stakeholder.
Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technolgoy (Cedf-it) executive director Bonifacio Belen said the Cebu IT is “undeveloped” as its entire value chain, beginning from the education level, has not yet reached international standards.
This is why, he said, the Cebu Provincial Government will find marketing the province’s IT capacity to the world a challenge.
He said the underdevelopment of the industry also stemmed from the lack of support from the government in terms of financial incentives, among others, because of the government’s “lack of knowledge on how to help the industry.”
Potential
“But we see a demonstrated capacity. We see the potential of the industry, if developed, especially our IT talents, and we see that it’s worth marketing,” Belen said.
“If we are able to develop our IT talents, even just half of the 3,000 estimated IT human resources in Cebu, their value is higher than the other human resources in the country,” he added.
Talent
Belen said the number of jobs for the IT industry may not be as “dramatic” as those needed by the call center industry but the value of IT talents is higher.
This is why Cedf-it will start, during the culmination of the second Cebu Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Strategy Summit tomorrow, to advocate for government to give financial incentives to schools and universities that are offering IT courses, such as bachelor of science (BS) major in computer science, BS major in computer engineering and BS major in IT.
Belen clarified that Cedf-it is not blaming government for its lack of support to the sector because the foundation knows that the government still does not understand its role in this emerging industry.
Role
“Government could not support because they do not know what they are supposed to do. This is why we are inviting them to join us in the summit for them to be aware. We are giving them the chance to understand their role,” he said.
The ICT summit is designed to be a focused effort by ICT stakeholders of Cebu from all sectors, the academe, industry, government and civil society to map out the blueprint of each and every sector in a coordinated and concerted manner.
This year’s summit, a three-month event that will culminate tomorrow, works around the theme “Defining the tasks ahead for a united Cebu.” (JBN)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 24, 2006 issue)
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