PRESIDENTS and top officials of colleges and universities under the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (Sweep) were among the privileged audience as guests of Smart Communications Inc. (Smart) at this year's Ateneo-MVP Center Sesquicentennial Leadership Forum.

The forum featured no less than Tony Blair as guest speaker.

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Blair, a world figure recognized for his achievements as the former Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and now the special envoy to the Middle East, shared his views and experiences on the topic "The Leader as Nation-Builder in a Time of Globalization".

It was a unique learning opportunity for the 24 school heads representing Sweep partner schools from all over the country as they listened to Blair emphasize the need for countries to form alliances and work together in the face of global challenges like the environment and security.

At the school level, there should also be cooperation among universities, according to Baldomero C. Estenzo, Executive Vice Chancellor and Dean of the College of Law of the University of Cebu-Main.

"No nation or person, no matter how powerful, can solve problems without the cooperation of everyone," he says. UC is one of Smart's active partners in the Visayas and the first Cebu school to enter the finals of the Sweep Innovation and Excellence Awards, Smart's annual search for the best wireless applications developed by partner schools nationwide.

Blair also issued a reminder that for the era of globalization to work, we need to be educated about the world and respect the differences among its people.

"One important thing that I would like to bring back to my school is the idea of Mr. Blair when he said that the objective is to have a better idea of the ideas of others," said Gloria G. Fuentes, Assistant Vice Chancellor of the University of St. La Salle Bacolod. "As a school administrator, what is important is you learn to listen and put yourself in the place of others. That way, it's not just the interest of one but the interest of all."

USLS is the first Sweep school that has signed on for phase 2 of the program, renewing the partnership for another five years to expose its faculty and students to broadband and other emerging wireless technologies and avail of the full benefits of industry learning.

The school heads also picked up on Blair's belief that politics is about public service, something that can be applied in the school setting.

"As the leader at the center of an academic community my role is public service and nothing more. I put everything above my personal preference and my primary concern is the welfare of the constituents and the university," said Abdurrahman Tondog Canacan, Chancellor of Mindanao State University in General Santos City.

MSU General Santos is a newcomer to the Sweep partnership, having signed on just last year, but the school is part of the prestigious state university system that encompasses seven autonomous campuses in the southern Philippines. With a relatively young ECE department that produced its first batch of graduates just this year, MSU General Santos looks to the program to help the institution produce industry-ready graduates.

Fr. Sixto Mataro Bitangjol, President of the University of Negros Occidental - Recoletos (UNO-R), acknowledges that management without being too spiritual is necessary and in fact doable. "It is taking into consideration other religions," he said.

UNO-R is one of the pioneering Sweep schools in the Visayas and an active participant in Smart's community service initiatives like tree planting.

But what also left an impression was Tony Blair's referral to the practice of politics, where more talk is often done than work even if "politics is all about public service."

"Less talk and more work is something that we have been practicing at Fullbright College," said Executive VP and Chancellor Eleutherius L. Edualino. The institution is the only Sweep school in Palawan and an invaluable partner in helping train public school teachers in ICT technologies under sister education program Smart Schools.

"This is the reason why our school's performance is exceptional. We are confident enough that with this practice and the support we get from Smart we can continue to apply the key points mentioned by Mr. Blair," he adds.

The sponsored attendance of the school heads is part of Smart's efforts to open opportunities for growth and development to the stakeholders of Sweep partner schools. This is in addition to the support it provides to help raise the level of technology and engineering education in the country through the Sweep industry-academe partnership program. (Press release)