Sibugay
ICT Council hosts Rural Impact Sourcing Roadshow
By Alma L. Tingcang
IPIL, Zamboanga
Sibugay, Jan. 27 (PIA) – The Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Council in Zamboanga Sibugay, in collaboration with the ICT Office recently
conducted a Rural Impact Sourcing Roadshow at Sibugay Technical Institute Inc.
(STII) with the theme, “Online Jobs for Juan and All.”
Board Member Eufemio D.
Javier Jr., ICT Council Chairman expressed his gratitude for the interest and
participation of the academe, national government agencies and the support of
the local government units, as well as the ICT Office headed by OIC Director,
Ms. Ma. Teresa M. Camba.
“The ICT sector is at the
core. The impact of ICT and various technological advancement has greatly contributed
in improving the life of every Filipino,” BM Javier said.
The lawmaker cited that
last year, he passed the creation of the ICT Council to have a head start in
technology and economic development of Zamboanga Sibugay.
Rural Impact Sourcing is
one of the initiatives under the digitalPH program of the DOST-ICT Office which
aims to develop the Information Technology- Business Process Management
(IT-BPM) industry in the Philippines.
“We are doing this for our
people. There is no formula to address poverty but we can still do something.
The Rural Impact Sourcing is a way we can upgrade ourselves, and upgrade our
lives,” Mayor Eldwin M. Alibutdan told the students, adding that no one should
be left out in economic development.
Ms. Camba lauded the mayor
for allocating funds for the establishment of a Tech4ED Center in Ipil that
aims to harness ICT to bridge the digital gap and alleviate poverty in both
urban and rural areas.
STII President Ms. Bella
C. Javier expressed her support to have a similar Tech4Ed Center to be set up
in the school to help students achieve
their dreams so that they do not need to go to big cities to earn a decent job.
They do not have to leave their families and just work online through the RIS.
“The Philippines is now a
global leader when it comes to BPM. This is a growing industry in our country,
and at such fast pace. We are no. 1 in voice services, and no. 2 in non-voice,
next to India,” Camba informed.
Jhonny Paul H. Lagura, RIS
Philippines founder and councilor of Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte said, “We were
able to position Kapatagan in the ICT map of the country. We made history as the first municipal-based ICT
council in the Philippines.”
“Kapatagan’s economy is
agri-based so we depend on farming. But with the advent of IT, we started to
realize that we can mix agri-based economy with RIS,” Lagura explained.
“With the advent of RIS,
we will encourage the young workforce to stay in Ipil. You don’t need to go to
big cities to work as call center agents… that is the spirit of RIS,” he
encouraged.
