Philippines declares June ICT month

07.06.2005
Von Grace S.

For the first time, the Philippines will be observing a ?National ICT Month? this June, thanks to Proclamation No. 802 issued by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, president of The Philippines.

?I do hereby declare the month of June 2005 as National Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Month,? said the President in a proclamation she signed in February. The president detailed that the event shall be under the auspices of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology, together with other government agencies and private organizations involved in the development of ICT in the country.

?All heads of department, bureaus, offices, agencies and instrumentalities of the national government, including officials of the local governments, are hereby called upon coordinate with the CICT to implement the plans, programs and activities geared toward the objectives of this Proclamation,? Arroyo ordered.

In an interview, CICT commissioner Virgilio Pena said the commission is yet to detail the activities that will take place during the National ICT Month. He told Computerworld Philippines the events calendar will be and published on the first week of June.

Meanwhile, in conjunction with the president?s proclamation, the Cebu Chamber of Commerce is currently preparing for the southern city?s biggest ICT show ever -- the Cebu International ICT Convention and Exhibit that will take place on June 22-24. This event will cap the month-long celebration of the Cebu Business Month.

Focus on skills

Meanwhile, Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas expects the National ICT Month to boost ICT development in the country by enhancing local ICT talent and skills.

The labor and employment chief said the DOLE has strengthened its programs to equip workers, enhance job generation via the Labor Market Information (LMI) system, and bridge the digital divide for the benefit of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

"We have in fact actively encouraged ICT firms who have joined with us to spur human resource development, and harness the country"s ICT potential," said Sto. Tomas, adding that ICT firm Microsoft Corp. has been a partner is many of DOLE?s ICT skills enhancement program.

One of DOLE?s initiatives, includes an SMS and Internet system aimed at facilitating recruitment and hiring. This SMS facility called ?Trabaho?I-Text Mo!? complements the computerized Phil-JobNet system (http://phil-jobnet.dole.gov.ph) and can be accessed by job applicants and head hunters by simply texting ("TRABAHO" to 2376 for Globe, or to 2476 for Smart).

Also, DOLE has been pushing basic ICT literacy programs for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and their families in partnership with Microsoft. The program, aimed at bridging the digital divide, is ongoing at the DOLE"s Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, the Philippine Overseas Labor Offices (POLOs) in Singapore and Malaysia, and soon in Cebu, Taichung in Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

The OWWA has electronically activated the OFW e-card as of May 1, 2005. The e-card has been issued to more than one million OFWs. It contains security features and provides OFWs with critical data for documentation and identification.

Finally, the DOLE"s Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has launched the National ICT Certification Program (NICP) to deliver affordable certification examinations via discounts from participating companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, and others. TESDA has assessed some 152,939, and certified 34,805 ICT workers from 2001 to 2004. The TESDA certified another 12,673 ICT workers last year, compared to 3,798 in 2001.

ICT Employment Up

As a result of all these initiatives, the labor chief reported that ICT employment nationwide grew by an average of 3.85% to 80,750 last year compared to 77,750 in 2003. This report is based on the National Statistics Office"s (NSO) four labor force survey rounds in 2004.

The report said the rise in ICT employment covered occupations that included computer programmers, computer technicians, network specialists/engineers/managers, systems analysts, ICT sales workers/marketing consultants, MIS managers/planners, database administrators, and others.

"Obviously, the specialized employment in the ICT field does not yet include the growing number of Filipino workers who are computer literate, and inevitably use computers in various industries and offices here and overseas," DOLE secretary Patricia Sto. Tomas said. "Nonetheless, the figures show that employment in this sector continues to flourish and grow," she said.