Hit by “Yolanda”  

PALO, Leyte-The National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP) is committed to help the region’s business sector especially in the area of information technology.
This was assured by Wilfredo Sa-a, Jr., president of NICP, in his remarks during the 8th NICP Information and Communications Technology (ICT) two-day summit held this town.
“To the people of Samar/Leyte, this is your time to rise and rebuild your IT/BPM industry. The National ICT Confederation of the Philippines and the Department of ICT are committed to see you back in business,” he said during the two-day summit which ended on November 11.
“We have seen tremendous amount of rebuilding. It needs more catalyst to help rebuild better and even faster,” he added.
Sa-a informed his audience that the IT/BPM industry has generated at least 300,000 jobs in the countryside since NICP has actively developed and promoted cities outside Metro Manila like Cebu, Iloilo, Bacolod, Davao, and Metro Clark.
Much of this success could also be credited to the efforts of then Commission on ICT which has evolved as ICT Office and now to the newly created Department of Information, Communication and Technology (DICT), he added.
Sa-a claims that NICP continues to partner with DICT in not only bringing IT/BPM jobs to the countryside but also creating new opportunities such as rural impact sourcing or home based outsourcing and encouraging our local techpreneurs to go into startups.
“Through the 8th NICP ICT Summit, we want the IT/BPM companies to rediscover the potential of Leyte/Samar through its people,” Sa-a said.
Engr. Edgardo Esperancilla, regional director of the Department of Science and Technology, in an interview said that this year’s national ICT summit attended by nearly 600 delegates from all over the country which carried the theme “Accelerate Growth thru Digital Economy,” is the first major national event after super typhoon Yolanda battered the region three years ago.
“This summit is spearheaded by the Regional Information and Communication Technology Committee-Eastern Visayas Federation for Information Technology (RICTC-EVFIT), in partnership with the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines, the province of Leyte, the city government of Tacloban and the Department of Information and Communication Technology,” Esperancilla said. (RESTITUTO A.CAYUBIT)