THE National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP) on Wednesday, October 11, announced that Cagayan de Oro City will be hosting the 9th NICP Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Summit this November 16 and 17.
The summit will be attended by stakeholders and ICT councils composed of the academe, local government units, and industries that work together to attract investments and to drive innovation and ICT development.
"We are targeting about 700 participants as a minimum coming from all over the Philippines, we also have some delegates coming from other countries as well, in fact we have speakers coming from other countries," NICP President Stephanie Caragos said, adding that about 50 speakers will attend the summit.
The Department of Information and Communications Technology and NICP will also launch the Digital Cities PH program on the first day of the summit with theme: CDOx or Countryside Digital Opportunities Exchange.
"This is our version of smart cities. Right now there is a global movement of cities becoming smart cities, how big data is affecting even our policy making process in the city level," Bacolod lawyer Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, NICP Founding Trustee, said.
Caragos said they will have discussions in the summit about the next generation of skills and work force in the industry, adding that with the spotlight on Cagayan de Oro City and with a lot of visitors especially larger companies coming over, they are hoping that the visitors will be able to see the city’s economic boom.
"We hope that they also see the growth that we have right now. And when they do see that we hope that they will also consider Cagayan de Oro City as well as a location for them to set up their companies and be able to employ many of our graduates here in Cagayan de Oro City," Caragos said.
On the second day of summit is the 6th eGov Awards or Awards for Excellence in ICT for Good Governance for Local Government Units.
The eGov Awards is an annual search for the best practices in local government units.
"Our eGov Awards, which started on 2010, is an awarding system for local government units which integrate ICT into their system," Sigue said.
She also said that for the last five years, they only have two categories but this year, they added three more.
Sigue added that there will be 39 entries from all over the Philippines, including Cagayan de Oro, taking part of the eGov Awards, with 25 local government units participating.
The two-day event is supported by the Department of Trade and Industry, Cagayan de Oro Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Cagayan de Oro ICT Business Council, and the City Government.