Friday, August 19, 2005
C. Mindanao schools form academic consortium for ICT
KORONADAL CITY -- Colleges, universities and technical-vocational schools in Region 12 or Soccsksargen has formed a consortium that would serve as primary vehicle for the development of the region's manpower pool for the growing information and communication technology (ICT) industry.
Dorecita Delima, assistant regional director of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in Region 12, said the consortium was created as an offshoot of a forum last month that gathered various academic and tech-voc institutions in the region in a bid to help address the areas needs for ICT manpower.
"The consortium committed to be a productive forum and prime mover for the development of human resource responsive to the needs of ICT industry," she said.
Dubbed "Academe-TechVoc Institutes Consortium," the group was formally convened last week through the initiative of the DTI and the Commission on Higher Education.
The consortium was initially composed of at least 24 schools from Soccsksargen's four provinces and five cities.
Soccsksargen is composed of the provinces of South Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, Cotabato, and the cities of General Santos, Koronadal, Tacurong, Cotabato and Kidapawan.
Dr. Sergio Revuelta, vice chancellor for academic affairs of the Mindanao State University, was elected as convenor of the group that also formally established affiliation with the newly formed ICT Solutions Association of Region 12.
"We acknowledge the collective responsibility of the academe and technical institutions so as to make the country a global giant in IT and IT-enabled service industry," Revuelta said in a statement.
The consortium initially created two area clusters that represented by officials of schools within the areas of coverage.
Established were: Socsargen cluster covering South Cotabato, Sarangani and General Santos City; and Cotabato cluster covering Cotabato province, Cotabato City and Sultan Kudarat.
Delima said the creation of the consortium was very important since "more and more businesses from all over the Philippines look at the region for a variety of ICT services and customer service needs."
During an ICT forum here last year, Manila-based call center firm, eTelecare International Inc. signified to include the General Santos City and the neighboring area in its long-term plans as a possible future location of its centers due to the presence of highly-qualified call center applicants from the area.
eTelecare, one of the pioneers of the call center business in the Philippines and considered the largest and most awarded call center company in Asia, has initially chosen the area as a major source for its human resource pool in Mindanao.
This city, which has been identified as the host of the region's first ICT park, has at least two active telecom firms, 78 internet cafes, seven internet service providers and several high-band fiber optic ready locations. (Allen V. Estabillo)
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(August 15, 2005 issue)
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