THE regional office of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) in partnership with the Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-Davao, Inc. will develop a system on data banking and analytics designed for advanced business outlook mechanism in Davao City.
The program will be anchored by DTI's Negosyo Centers.
“We are closely working with ICT-Davao on a program that can provide analytics to what is really happening in Davao City’s business sector, with this we can now have a better look on the business climate in the city,” DTI city director Edwin O. Banquerigo said.
The program is projected to process all necessary data including the business capitalization, job generation, and all other analytics for economic indicators.
“We’re planning to launch it in the middle of this year,” Banquerigo added.
At present, the two working agencies are still finalizing the terms of references. They started working on the projects this month.
Banquerigo said that after it will be implemented in the city, plans of making it region wide are on hand.
“We hope to also have this regional after, we are planning to bring this program in all the key areas in the region including Tagum City in Davao del Norte, Mati City in Davao Oriental, Digos City in Davao del Sur, Nabunturan in Compostela Valley and Malita in Davao Occidental,” he said.
Initially, Davao will be using primarily the data from the Business Permits and Licensing System (BPLS) of DTI Davao and data from the city’s Business Bureau.
Banquerigo added that after the data banking and analytics program will be realized, the next step will create a “virtual assistant center” eyed to be established in each center allowing stakeholders to have 24/7 access to the data even without being physically present in the facility.
“Ultimate idea is to have a virtual assistance for every center for all who intends to seek help and access the data in Negosyo Centers will no longer need to be physically present in the facility because practically not everyone can go there as often as they want to, this virtual assistance will be of big help,” Banquerigo said.
The plan to have a virtual assistance center is targeted to be established next year after the data banking and analytics program.
The DTI official also bared that they are planning to open another Negosyo Center this year in the city, somewhere in Toril or Calinan.
Davao City has a bigger budget this year to P1.9 million for the center, much higher than 2015’s P1 million budget.
The budget will be used for the maintenance, repair and purchase of facilities and trainings.
For Davao City, the first negosyo center was launched last July in Davao City Investment and Promotions Center (DCIPC) office in Magsaysay Park Complex.
It costs P800,000 and has a total area of 110-square-meter floor area.
The agency allocated some P4.7 million this year for the establishment and operations of the six operational centers in the region.
The establishment of negosyo centers is one of the landmark programs of DTI providing assistance and facilitation to SMEs in terms of business registration, trainings, consultations, and information packages.
“For all the centers, we will be practicing “No Wrong Door Policy”, meaning all the customers will be entertained and assisted with professional advice by our business counselors who are trained by the University of the Philippines- Institute of Small-Scale Industries (UP-ISSI),” Banquerigo added.