The 2nd Cebu ICT Summit: The Programs of Actions

The original summaries of the summit will tell you that we have a very long and very specific list of things we need to do. Like always, I have to find the more organized way to cluster activities and I was able to discern the general cluster of things we need to accomplish and lumped them into programs.

The many program of action enumerated and contributed by the delegates in the 2nd Cebu Information and Communication Technology Summit last May 24-26, 2006, in the four pillars and a special session, can be clustered in related and highly integrated cluster of activities. Regardless of who is the stakeholder or the provider of these action or activity, it can be generally clustered into the following programs:

Information, Education and Communication (IEC)
Information, Education and Communication are programs to get the message across to the stakeholders. Information is the content or the message in your campaign or your project. This should include editorial style, images, forms, fonts, layout, etc. Communication is the technology, media, channel or sets of activities that delivers the message. Education is the strategies, projects, tasks or activities that creatively and effectively use information and communication for a desired outcome. The outcome can be a certain course of action, acquisition of knowledge or skill, change of attitude and perspective or a decision in favor or against a certain issue.

Innovation and Enterprise Development
A cluster of programs that develops or enhances the capability and capacity of the business sector of Cebu to develop products and services, sell and deliver these products and services to their chosen market niches, create alliances, build equity or capital, encourage a culture of innovation, and build infrastructure support. The program must also encourage the inflow of investments that enhances local competence and technology transfer in the area of engineering design or software development.

Brand Management and Business Development
A program to market all products and services from Cebu under a single brand and the development of a unified strategy to market the Cebu brand globally. The initiative shall include establishing alliances with international regional business or trade organizations and setting up Cebu marketing or business centers near diplomatic offices and creating a single point of entry over the Internet.

Education and Human Resource Development
Strategies or cluster of programs to develop or enhance the infrastructure, processes, mechanisms, investments or capabilities of stakeholders delivering or using education and managing our human resource. This encompasses stakeholders like the academe, human resource development practitioners, independent HR service providers, training or capability enhancement providers, workforce development institutions, etc. Institutional partnerships and collaboration shall also be encouraged in this program whether formal or informal.

Standards and Best Practices
A program that gathers information, analyze, collate, document, coordinate, develop, and disseminate industry standards and best practices in information and communications technology for whatever applications. These standards cover professional standards, education, infrastructure, information systems, data or information management, security and privacy, communications, e-governance, e-commerce, etc. Also included in the program is the collaboration and cooperation between local and foreign institutions.

Research and Intelligence
Programs that encourage research both basic and advance whether initiated by the government, private sector or academe in the use, development, deployment or application of information and communications technology. These programs emphasize the development of products and services that meet niche market needs, solve an adverse human condition or improve the quality of life. Intelligence is the deliberate activities to gather information about markets, technological developments, local environment, foreign, and domestic trade with the objective of aiding our positioning in the global economy. Also included in this program are the collaboration and the alliances to bring research and development from overseas.

Laws and Incentives
A cluster of programs that cover review of existing laws, policies, processes and structure in the context of developing or using information and communications technology. This program also includes drafting a proposed bill, amending an existing law, developing and changing implementing rules and regulations in the context of regulating, encouraging or prescribing incentives.

Structural Support Development
A program to coordinate government and private sector initiated programs that include the creation of organizational vehicles to implement all programs of actions under the ICT agenda, acquiring the competence to manage programs and projects, and developing and managing logistical support for these programs.

I presented this Programs of Actions to the Cebu Provincial Information and Communication Technology Council last June 6, 2006, at the Old Session Hall of the Cebu Provincial Capitol Building. Our very own Governor Gwendolyn Garcia chairs this Council.

Read my next blog to see the highlights of the 2nd Session of the Cebu Information and Communication Technology Council or CPICTC.

The 2nd Cebu ICT Summit: Summit Manager's Notes

The Summit Discussions tackled issues that, as far as the online and live focus group discussions indicate, already have existing programs, projects or intervention strategies initiated either by not-for-profit organizations, private sector and the government (both local and national).

The rationale for this approach is to avoid starting discussions around purely conceptual approaches to issues. The first summit was peppered by so much of these discussions largely on purpose but mostly to find consensus. The 2nd Summit is no longer getting consensus to identify issues, it is to rally stakeholders to a more focused program of action.

In the early meetings to organize the 2nd Cebu ICT Summit in the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, it was decided that it will be a purely private-sector led initiative to be supported by government. The strategy was to set the direction by holding the 2nd Cebu ICT Summit first thereafter organizing a private organizational vehicle that will see the program through 2010 and eventually to 2015.

The Workshop Manager’s Notes are the summaries of the discussions of the four (4) Pillars of the Silicon Valley Model and the Special Session on the Digital Divide (or what was later on referred to as Digital Inclusion). The summaries are organized in a Program Matrix consisting originally of three (3) columns and a fourth column was added at the end of the session to reflect the ranking of the clusters of programs into priorities. The programs were ranked from 1, 2, 3 according to degree of importance to the delegates with one as being the most important and urgent.

The Program Matrices found in the Facilitator’s Notes are shown with four (4) columns and reflects the points from the raw discussions in the summit--Nothing was added and nothing was taken from the notes.

The first column reflects the ranking of the issues and programs. The second column reflects issues under each pillar and special session that are considered critical to that pillar or special session. Many of these issues came from as far back as the first summit. Overall very few new issues came up in this summit. The third column reflects the initiatives, programs, projects or intervention strategies already existing or models already being use to resolve the issues. These initiatives, programs, projects or intervention strategies are implemented by government, the private sector or not-for-profit organizations. In a sense, all points under the third column entitled “Program of Actions” indicate that there exist models for approaching issues within the pillar. The fourth column shows the specific stakeholder or clusters of organizations that maybe able to contribute to the execution of the programs or has already implemented the program.

A separate and more comprehensive set of notes is being prepared as an input to a project management template that will be the basis for subsequent planning workshops with stakeholders. The original organizational vehicle during the planning meetings of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry was assumed to be a Foundation to keep the intent of keeping the ICT initiatives private sector led and to take advantage of the perpetuity of such an organization until its tasks are completed and the overall goals achieved.

I wish to thank the following that made the preparation and completion of the summit possible:

Cebu Chamber of Commerce & Industry most especially Clarito “Lito” Fruelda who made himself available during the planning meetings and Francis Monera our new President who pursued the summit to its conclusion.

Bonifacio “Boni” Belen, Executive Director of the Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology or CEDFIT, who started the discussions going and who was with us every step of the way. The same appreciation goes to the staff of CEDFIT without their toils the many hundreds of “small tasks” that led to the summit would not have been possible.

The Office of the Provincial Governor that harness the resources of the Planning and Development Office and the Management Information Systems. The many arrangements before and during the summit was made possible by the very active teams of these offices.

The Centre for International Education or CIE that committed its research, library and publishing resources to help me compile the voluminous references that led to the completion of the focus group discussion and workshop materials.

The delegates who stayed through the summit in spite of their heavy schedules and have unselfishly contributed their thoughts to complete the program of action.

May this summit set a truly productive agenda for all of us.