ABOUT 40 information technology (IT) instructors from different provinces in the Visayas such as Negros Occidental, Iloilo, Capiz, Aklan and Siquijor attended the Lean Startup 101 Bootcamp held at the Negrense Suites in Bacolod City on Friday.
The Lean Startup Bootcamp is one of the preparatory activities for professors in the field of IT, including computer studies and engineering, who will serve as faculty mentors for the 2016 Philippine Startup Challenge (PSC) set on the last quarter of the year.
Rosario Ito, co-founder of Spring.ph, a group under the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA), told Sun.Star Bacolod that professors were trained on how to use the lean startup tools in developing a business.
It is also for the purpose of enabling them to teach the teams in their respective schools, Ito said.
"Through this bootcamp, mentors will be equipped on the process and the tools so that the teams can use these tools to present their own startup ideas to the PSC competition," she added.
PSC, now on its third year, was launched by the Department of Science and Technology-Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO) in partnership with PSIA, Intel Philippines, and the Philippine Society of IT Educators.
It is a national student start-up competition aimed to open opportunities for young "technopreneurs" to create relevant innovation as they engage with society and learn from community leaders.
For this year, the competition is open for entries both in the fields of software, including web and mobile systems and applications, as well as hardware innovations which apply the internet of things concepts.
Aside from participating in the Lean Startup 101, participants also attended Saturday the Internet of Things Bootcamp, which further equipped college mentors the necessary tools and methods in guiding the students through the challenge as well as enriched their skills as ICT educators.
Moreover, Ito said Bacolod has really a huge potential in terms of startup industry.
"I am so encouraged by the ideas that are being put forward, it is just a matter of showing to them what is possible," she said, adding that "as to ideas and talents, I think it exist here."