2 September 2022, Cagayan de Oro City—Local Economic Development and Investment Promotions Officer (LEDIPO) Eileen San Juan served as a panelist at the European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines’ (ECCP) hybrid forum "Anchoring ICT: A Business Strategy for Continuity & Productivity" today at the University of Science and Technology of Southern Philippines (USTP), and on the Zoom virtual meeting platform.
The hybrid event emceed by Ms. Joanne Natindim, ECCP’s Cagayan de Oro Branch Officer, brought together ICT professionals in the public and private sectors to discuss business continuity and productivity, and explore new horizons in connectivity, data protection, and security.
Mr. Albert Antig, Accounts Manager for Eastern Communications’ Mindanao Regional Operations started the ball rolling, presenting trends in the ICT industry and the ways in which Eastern Communications is supporting the digital shift, which is spreading and inexorable, encompassing sectors as seemingly farfetched as agriculture.
Ms. Sittie Rahma Alawi, Region X Director of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT-X), presented the country’s ICT milestones, our standing in world connectivity rankings, and her agency’s initiatives and directions in spurring the growth of startups and the digitalization of cities and local governments.
LEDIPO Eileen San Juan cited the City Government of Cagayan de Oro’s strong partnership with the Cagayan de Oro ICT Business Council as vital to keeping the LGU attuned to the needs of the industry, one of the city’s leading employers, providing more than 7,000 jobs to locals.
Ms. San Juan also talked about how Cagayan de Oro is one of the digitalization pioneers among local governments, even prototyping one of the country’s first online business permit registration, tax payment, and building permitting systems, working with the academe in its automation efforts, and with industry in bridging skills gaps.
In the open forum that followed, moderated by Mr. Jaime Rafael Paguio, Senior Vice President of the Cagayan Electric Power and Light Company (CEPALCO), the discussion touched on the need for school curriculums and office systems to accept the inroads of computing into all fields of study and work.
In his closing remarks, Engr. Reuel Pallugna, USTP Presidential Assistant for External Affairs, speaking on behalf of University President Ambrosio Cultura, spoke about how the university is fostering an industry-academe-government-community ecosystem to keep the conversation and collaboration going as we all move forward in the ever-evolving normal.
