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Thursday, June 08, 2006
Ng: Off to a good start
By Wilson Ng
Wired Desktop
Last Tuesday, I attended the second session of the Cebu Provincial IT Council. It was attended by various stakeholders, including representatives of the Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Science and Technology and Department of Education.
From the private sector, six representatives were chosen to serve in the IT Council, among them were Gil Genio of Globe Innove, Polly Nazareno of Smart Communications, Andoni Aboitiz of Aboitiz Equity, Jajo Quintos of IBM, Francis Monera representing Cebu Holdings and the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and myself. Not all were able to attend, but they were ably represented by their staff.
The discussion of the meeting, chaired by Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, revolved mainly on how Cebu can achieve competitive advantage in becoming an IT hub. It was really a learning experience with the governor having the uncanny ability to “cut the chase,” if I may quote Jajo Quintos of IBM, who has more than 25 years of corporate experience.
The governor listened, was able to zero in on the area of concern and asked pertinent questions. She asked what the council’s deliverables, quantifiable goals and concerns are. Not like a government official at all, according to Jajo, but more like an executive of a private corporation.
It is refreshing that meetings are conducted in such manner since it saves a lot of time, and clearly works for the stakeholders. The good starting point is that the governor understands that we are behind the council and the Provincial Government’s goals.
Unlike many government officials who believe we are doing a great job in IT and that we are ahead (especially and only because of our English skills and close affinity to the United States which purportedly gives us an edge in computer programming), the governor understands we are left behind and the window of opportunity is not much. As such, she was able to articulate to the people in the meeting the urgency of the action.
There were three main issues that were chosen in the agenda, which represented excellent points of discussion in view of the goals to be achieved.
The first involves the recommendations from the Second ICT Strategic Summit. The points discussed were well taken, and the governor requested that the five-year plan be compressed into a six-month quantifiable project plan with definite goals and timeline.
The second was our lagging ICT infrastructure, particularly in public elementary and high schools. According to the report of DepEd Director Borgonia, only 10 percent of schools have more than 10 computers. He recommended a five-year plan to achieve this.
This is a daunting task. The conservative plan of installing 10 computers in all schools in the province will mean the purchase or donation of at least 14,000 computers.
The third point of discussion was how CVISNET, an non-government organization that started by offering dial-up ISP services to government centers, is now setting up access centers in poor municipalities all over Visayas and Mindanao. According to the report, they have set up over 65 in the last few years, mostly in remote areas where farmers can now get access to Internet, inquire farm prices, surf for information and the like.
It is really an enviable record that should be supported more by both private and public sectors.
Evidently, for a first meeting on the IT Provincial Council, things are off to a good start. Three topics were tackled: one addressing the environment to enable technology entrepreneurship and business to thrive, another addressing the serious lack of ICT in education, and the last on how to bring ICT and internet to remote areas.
I’m sure more great things will happen in the next months as the Provincial Government is now seriously tackling the issues that will cut down the digital divide, or the more positive-sounding “working for digital inclusion” of the masses.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 8, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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