Technopreneurship and IT Education - Part I

My past posts in this blog have been dominantly on technopreneurship and IT education. A lot of ideas and experiential learnings on these two areas have been "pushed" down my "knowledge stack" and they seem to be crying out for expression -- to be "popped" out, so to speak. Pardon my analogy to the stack data structure, but I hope you don't mind the "popping" streak I'm having regarding these two very much related themes. This post explores on the tight relationship between technopreneurship and IT education. I already shared these thoughts in many occasions through presentation slides and I wish to put them down in narrative form in two parts. This post is the first part...

A Default Mindset

"Go to school, get good grades, land in a high-paying job." This is the usual mindset that most people have about formal education. Parents send their children to school with this mindset. Students imbibe this mindset and carry it with them until college. Most schools subscribe to and support this mindset. It is like a default mindset. We can formally call it the employment mindset.

The results of the employment mindset can be beneficial or destructive, depending on one's perspective. From the perspective of schools subscribing to this mindset, they take pride in the fact that their best graduates are sought after by companies, offering them attractive compensation packages. In the case of Davao schools, the best graduates are lured to companies in Manila, Cebu, and other prosperous urban cities. The average graduates try to remain in Davao but find it hard to land in good-paying jobs and find themselves following the route of their better classmates. Schools beam with pride when they get feedback that their graduates excel in the companies they are working for. However, I cannot help but be disturbed by this following reality check. Our best graduates help in the development of other places, not Davao -- and they have reservations in coming back. This "brain drain" cycle happens yearly and Davao's industries remain thin and their development snail-paced. With this yearly exodus of our best minds to other places, will we allow Davao to remain as a sought-after human resource provider forever? This reminds me of a local saying, "tayo ang nagsaing, iba ang kumain." I guess there has to be an end to this yearly phenomenon.

An Alternative Mindset

"Go to school, get good grades, create and own a company."
"Use your knowledge, skills, core values, creativity and passion to create and innovate through technology."
"Contribute and be involved in the technological development of Davao."

These statements offer an alternative mindset. We can formally call it the technopreneurship mindset. Technopreneurship is entrepreneurship in the field of high technology. It is the healthy interplay of technology ideas, technology skills, management skills and the entrepreneurial mindset. It starts with an idea, which when pursued, has the capacity to be transformed into a viable technology-based enterprise. The cultivation and nurturing of this alternative mindset can start in schools. A technopreneurship track in the IT curriculum can prepare students to be budding technopreneurs.

A technopreneurship track in the IT curriculum of Davao schools can lead to the following scenario... Our graduates decide to pursue their technoology-based business plans as start-ups in technology-business incubators. Venture capitalists invest in their viable high technology product(s). Their start-ups mature into stable IT enterprises and eventually locate in IT parks or buildings. The IT enterprises compete in the domestic and global market and spur economic growth in the locality. The local IT industry blossoms and attracts more locators and investors. Our graduates decide to build their careers and families in Davao. Graduates who left Davao return and decide to take root here. Davao becomes the IT hub and capital of Mindanao -- and possibly the Philippines, BIMP-EAGA, or even the Asia Pacific Region. Davao becomes the home of highly competent and efficient IT professionals with sound social and ethical standards. The Davao schools become renowned worldwide for producing such graduates.

The Macro Strategy

To attain and sustain the healthy scenario described above, a technopreneurship ecosystem in the region has to be in place. This requires the synergy of the academe, IT industry, government, and business community. This so-called synergy is sustained with the following components: (1) technopreneurship programs in the academe; (2) technology-business incubators; (3) venture capitalists and funding insitutions; (4) IT business incentives and a supportive legal framework; (5) IT parks and buildings; (6) access to domestic and international IT market; (7) domestic and international locators; (8) IT-enabled business enterprises and government agencies; (9) IT-enabled hotels and tourist destinations; (10) IT-friendly real estate environment.

This synergy scenario is still far from reality but a lot of inroads have already been achieved towards this direction. We have an active IT academic community with the presence of PSITE-XI, CDITE-XI and PSITS-XI. Twelve schools as of the moment have committed to implement a technoproneurship course in their IT education programs. The IT industry is now in good hands with ICT Davao, Inc., the umbrella organization of all IT organizations in Davao. To date, there are 10 IT organizations coming from distinct subsectors under its wing. We have quite a number of supportive City Councilors from the Davao City Council. A number of resolutions and ordinances in support of the IT industry have been passed by these supportive councilors. An IT Committee was created during the previous City Council to respond to the needs of the IT industry. We also have a supportive business community in the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII). Quite a number of initiatives and programs in support of the IT industry have emanated from the Chamber. To date, we have one IT incubation center in the campus of the Brokenshire College. We also have one IT Park at the Damosa property while NCCC Mall is preparing their fourth floor to be an IT Zone. We also have a lot of establishments providing free wi-fi access to customers. A number of locators have already set up camp in the city and there are others following soon. Things seem to be falling in the right place but the big challenge is how to sustain the emerging synergy and eventually maintain the ecosystem.

In my next post, I will focus on the micro strategy for IT schools in helping sustain the technopreneurship ecosystem...

TechnoKapihan@ADDU

The 6th TechnoKapihan of Davao was held last June 20, 2007, 2:00-4:00pm, at the Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU), 7th Floor, Board Room (F700), Finster Building, Roxas Avenue, Davao City. It was hosted by ADDU, Council of Deans for IT Education in Region XI (CDITE-XI) and OBTECH (a local IT firm).

The monthly roundtable discussion on IT trends, issues and events in the Davao context is a gathering of personalities and guests from the IT community of Davao. This event is an offshoot of the Technopreneurship Training held last November 2006 to January 2007. The first TechnoKapihan was held at the Royal Mandaya Hotel last mid-January 2007 after the initial promotion of the Technopreneurship course developed by a core of IT educators, administrators, and practitioners to the movers and shakers of Davao City. Since then, this gathering has been sustained on a monthly basis with many organizations volunteering to host it every third Wednesday of the month.

One of the highlights of the TechnoKapihan@ADDU was the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) involving the Mindanao Business Council (MinBC), Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII) and ICT Davao, Inc. as partners in holding the 6th Mindanao ICT (MICT6) Congress and 1st BIMP-EAGA ICT Conference on October 23-24, 2007 at the Convention Center of the NCCC Mall, McArthur Highway, Matina, Davao City. Mr. Santos (President of MinBC), Atty. Duerme (President of DCCCII) and Manolito Tee (President of ICT Davao, Inc.) did the honors of formally signing the MOA to seal the partnership.

Wit Holganza, External VP of ICT Davao, Inc. and designated Conference Director of MICT6, followed suit by giving updates on the progress of the preparations since the last TechnoKapihan@NCCC . The Steering Committee, Technical Working Group, and 6 Committees were already formally formed to buckle down to work. Another update was the plan of sending a Davao contingent to the Cebu ICT 2007 event on June 26-28, 2007 to promote MICT6.

Edwin V. Marañon, Chair of the Computer Studies Division of ADDU and President of CDITE-XI, gave a presentation about the Academe Perspective on Technopreneurship. He presented the implications of the default employment mindset parents, students, and schools adhere to which contribute to the yearly exodus of our best graduates to other prosperous places like Manila, Cebu and other urban areas. He also presented the implications of an alternative technopreneurship mindset that can unleash the creativity and passion of students and decide on creating their own businesses through their brilliant technology ideas. By developing further their ideas in technology-business incubators, they can hopefully build mature IT enterprises that can eventually compete in the domestic and international IT market and spur economic growth in the locality. He further stressed the need for a technopreneurship ecosystem in the macro (region) and micro (IT schools) levels to sustain the initiatives and gains.

Dickie Gonzales of the Philippine Emerging Startups Open (PESO) was also around to express his support for the technopreneurship initiatives of Davao and reiterated the role of the regional business plan competition (PESO-Davao Challenge) in the building of a sustainable techopreneurship ecosystem. A lively discussion ensued, focusing on the implications and challenges of sustaining a technopreneurship culture in schools and enterprises. The session ended with a positive note.

The venue of the next TechnoKapihan will be at the Conference Room of the Mindanao Economic Development Council (MEDCO), 4th floor, SSS Building, J.P. Laurel Avenue, Davao City on July 18, 2007, Wednesday, 2:00-4:00pm.

The PESO-Davao Challenge

The PESO regional business plan competition, dubbed as the PESO-Davao Challenge, was launched last June 20, 2007, 9:00-11:00am, at the Dormitory of the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP), Barrio Obrero, Davao City. The launch was done in coordination with the Philippine Emerging Startups Open (PESO), Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (DCCCII), Philippine-Australia Human Resource Development Facility (PAHRDF), Council of Deans for IT Education in Region XI (CDITE-XI) and Philippine Society of IT Educators-Region XI (PSITE-XI).

The launch was also attended by personalities from government agencies such as the Commission on Higher Education-Region XI (CHED-XI), Department of Science and Technology-XI (DOST-XI), Department of Trade and Industry-XI (DTI-XI), Department of Education, Culture, and Sports (DECS), Davao City Council as well as faculty and students from some of the participating schools in the Technopreneurship Training held last November 2006 to January 2007.

The main highlight of the launch was the presentation by Federico "Dickie" C. Gonzalez, President/CEO of PESO, on the concept, philosophy, guidelines and mechanisms of the regional business plan competition which was patterned from the PESO national business plan competition. To stir up the audience, Dickie sponsored a 15-minute "technology-business idea competition" for the students who were around. The students were made to compose their own teams and write down their bright technology-business ideas within the given time. A price of Php1,000.00 for the best technology-business idea was dangled as an incentive. Among those who submitted, there were four that were selected as good potentials, namely: (1) a triangulation strategy to locate the nearest taxi for a calling passenger; (2) enzymes in sour fruits such as kalamansi as possible alternative source of electricity; (3) a voice-to-text messaging mechanism for cell phones; and (4) a pen that can store whatever it writes or scribbles on paper. The fourth entry (a pen that can store data) was chosen as the winner and won the Php1,000.00. The results of the short contest were proof that our young students are capable of coming up with bright ideas and just need to be guided.

Calbert Dagatan, a fresh BSCS graduate of the Ateneo de Davao University, also shared his experience in joining the PESO national business competition last year and gave some tips and advice to the students on how to take advantage of the competition, prepare for it, and have the right attitude. The business concept of their team qualified for the first round but did not make it to the final round due to lack of guidance and communication lapses with the organizers in Manila. With the PESO Challenge now in Davao and the presence of possible mentors, the students have greater chances now of winning in the business plan competition.

The 3-5-page business concepts are due on August 20, 2007 for the initial screening and qualifying round. Those who qualify will undergo enterprise management enrichment workshops within the months of September and October 2007. The full-blown business plans (around 20 pages) will be due on October 20, 2007. Some of the good business plans will be presented during the 6th Mindanao ICT Congress on October 23-24, 2007 at the NCCC Mall. The final presentation and judging is slated on November 10, 2007. The final winners will be announced on November 14, 2007.

Twelve schools were involved in the Technopreneurship Training and will be the main source of business concepts for the qualifying round come August 20, 2007. Big prizes are at stake in the competition and will be announced in the next few weeks when finalized. Roadshows in different schools have been set to encourage more teams to participate.

The PESO Challenge website is at http://www.pesochallenge.org. The PESO-Davao Challenge website is hosted at http://ite.uic.edu.ph/peso/index.htm and the email address is pesodavao@gmail.com.

The IT Academic Community of Davao

In my past posts, I have been mentioning about PSITE, PSITE-XI, CDITE-XI. And there's another one which I have not mentioned yet -- PSITS-XI. These acronyms refer to organizations in the area of information technology education.

PSITE stands for Philippine Society of IT Educators. It is a national organization which has chapters in almost all regions of the country. In Luzon, Regions 1 to 5 and the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR) have active chapters. In the Visayas, Regions 6 to 8 have active chapters too. In Mindanao, Regions 9 to 12 have active chapters as well. The Caraga Region (Region 13) already has a working core group and is seeking for recognition as a chapter. It is only in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) that PSITE has no presence. The main mission of PSITE is to improve the quality of IT Education in the country. And I personally believe that this national network of IT Educators is making a lot of inroads in terms of this mission. I can say that since I get to see things from the top being part of the National Board as Vice-President for Mindanao for the past five years.

PSITE-XI is the regional chapter in Region XI. It is now ably led by Dr. Randy S. Gamboa (University of Southeastern Philippines), the chapter president, and his core of officers. Established way back 2001, it flexed its orgnizational muscles when it immediatley hosted the 4th PSITE National Convention held last February 2002 at the Grand Men Seng Hotel. I was then the chapter president before Dr. Gamboa took over. PSITE-XI once again proved its organizational prowess when it hosted the 4th National Conference on IT Education (NCITE) last October 2006 at the Ateneo de Davao University. PSITE-XI is recognized as one of the most active and productive chapters of PSITE. For the past four years, it has been holding its own IT Education Week (usually during the late part of November and early part of December) which has the following components, namely: Mindanao Conference on IT Education (MCITE), Academe-Industry Dialogue, ACM-based Programming Competition, IT Quiz Bee, IT Sportsfest, IT Students Congress. The membership of PSITE-XI has two types: institutional members and individual members. The institutional members are the IT schools in the region (with two official reprentatives from each member school). The individual members are the IT faculty of the IT schools.

CDITE-XI stands for Council of Deans for IT Education in Region XI. It is composed of the IT Education Program Heads of all 26 IT schools in the region as well as their alternates. In an agreement with PSITE-XI, CDITE-XI will take care of the IT administrators while PSITE-XI will take care of the IT faculty. CDITE-XI was established in the later part of 2001, through the initiative the Commission on Higher Education-Region XI (CHED-XI),and had Vic Calag (University of the Philippines in Mindanao) as it first president who served for 3 terms until 2004. I took over as president and will end my third term by July 2007. I will talk more of CDITE-XI in another post.

PSITS-XI stands for Philippine Society of IT Students in Region XI. It is composed of students coming from the three IT Education Programs (BSCS, BSIT, BSIM) of IT schools in the region. It has its own set of officers with 1-year terms. Its main activities are synchronized with the annual IT Education Week. PSITS-XI anchors the IT Sportsfest and IT Students Congress in coordination with PSITE-XI. The chapter president of PSITE-XI acts as the adviser of PSITS-XI. I will request the current officers of PSITS-XI to write about their organization and I will post it here.

So there you are, the main players of the IT academic community of Davao: PSITE-XI, CDITE-XI, PSITS-XI. Expect more write-ups about them in the next posts...

Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise

A book that can serve as a good textbook for a technology entrepreneurship course is Dorf and Byer's Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise. I got a copy of the first edition but a second edition is already available. Below is the Book Forward written by John L. Hennessy, President of Stanford University, which I got from the Internet. Technology Ventures is analytical aside from being comprehensive. It is a must-have for students and professionals seriously considering a career in technology entrepreneurship...

I am delighted to see this book on technology entrepreneurship by Dorf and Byers. High-technology companies are both an important part of our world’s economic growth story as well as the place where many young entrepreneurs realize their dreams.

Unfortunately, there have been relatively few complete and analytical books on high-technology entrepreneurship. Dorf and Byers bring their years of experience in teaching to this book, and it shows. Their personal experiences as entrepreneurs are also clear throughout the book. Their connections and involvement with start-ups — ranging from now established companies like Sun Microsystems and Yahoo to new ventures just delivering their first products — add a tremendous amount of real-world insight and relevance.

One of the most impressive aspects of this book is its broad coverage of the challenges involved in high-technology entrepreneurship. Part I talks about the core issues involved in deciding to pursue an entrepreneurial vision and what characteristics are vital to success from the very beginning. I am pleased to see that building and maintaining a competitive advantage and the critical issue of market timing are key topics. During the Internet boom, while several great new companies were built, too many entrepreneurs and investors forgot several key principles: have a sustainable advantage, create a significant barrier to entry, and be a leader when the market and the technology are both ready. Hopefully, the material in these chapters will help prevent future irrational behavior by both entrepreneurs and investors.

Part II examines the major strategic decisions that any group of entrepreneurs must grapple with: how to balance risk and return, what entrepreneurial structure to pursue, how to find and cultivate the best employees and help make them productive, and the critical issues of intellectual property. Indeed, these are problems that every company faces, and ones that must be continuously examined by the leadership in any organization.

Part III discusses the operational and organizational challenges that all entrepreneurs must tackle. Virtually every start-up led by a technologist that I have been close to inevitably wonders whether it needs sales and marketing. Sometimes in such companies, you hear a remark like: “We have great technology and that will bring us customers; nothing else matters!” I remind them that without sales, there is no revenue, and without marketing, sales will be diminished. Understanding how to approach these vital aspects of any successful business is crucial. The related topics of building the organization, thinking about acquisitions, and managing operations are also important. If you fail to address these aspects of your company, it will not matter how good your technology is.

Finally, Part IV talks about putting together a solid financial plan for the company, including exit and funding strategies. Of course, such topics are crucial, and they are often the sole or dominant topics of “how-to” books on entrepreneurship. Certainly, the financing and the choice of investors are key, but unless the challenges discussed in the preceding sections are overcome, it is unlikely that a new venture, even if well financed, will be successful. In looking through this sage and comprehensive treatment, my overwhelming reaction was, “I wish I had read a book like this, before I started my first company (MIPS Technologies in 1984).” Unfortunately, I had to learn many of the topics covered here in real-time and often by making a mistake on the first attempt. In my experience, it is the challenges discussed in the earlier sections that really proved to be the minefields. Yes, it is helpful to know how to negotiate a good deal and to structure the right mix of financing sources, especially so that as much equity as possible can be retained by employees. If, however, you fail to create a sustainable advantage or have a sales or marketing plan that is solid, the employee’s equity will not be worth much.

Those of us who work at Stanford and live near Silicon Valley are in the heart of the land of high-technology entrepreneurship. With this book, many others will get to share the extensive and deep insights of Dorf and Byers on this wonderful process that builds tomorrow’s companies and business leaders.

Note: This Book Forward can be found at
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073529222/information_center_view0/book_forward.html

The World is Flat

Another book highly recommended for budding technopreneurs is Thomas L. Friedman's The World is Flat. Friedman discusses the impact and implications of globalization in the field of high technology. Below is a brief description of the book.

The World Is Flat is Thomas L. Friedman's account of the great changes taking place in our time, as lightning-swift advances in technology and communications put people all over the globe in touch as never before -- creating an explosion of wealth in India and China, and challenging the rest of us to run even faster just to stay in place.

This updated and expanded edition features more than a hundred pages of fresh reporting and commentary, drawn from Friedman's travels around the world and across the American heartland -- from anyplace where the flattening of the world is being felt.

Note1: An article by Friedman on the book can be downloaded at http://www.iowacontingencyplanners.org/library/published/FlatWorld.pdf
Note2: Friedman's website is at http://www.thomaslfriedman.com/

Crossing the Chasm

One of the recommended books in the Technopreneurship Short-Term Training that I joined with other IT Educators (which ran from November 2006 to January 2007) is Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore. I was able to get a copy of the book at National Bookstore-Gaisano Mall. Moore presents a differing perspective on the Technology Adoption Life Cycle (TALC) for disruptive high technology products and cautions readers on a "chasm" that separates the innovators and early adopters (who compose the minority of the market) from the mainstream market composed of the pragmatic early majority, conservative late majority, and skeptical laggards. Not understanding and mastering the differing mindsets of the "minority market" and the "majority market" invites failure and difficulty in crossing the so-called "chasm". Moore also presents his strategies on how to negotiate the so-called "chasm" and create inroads when reaching the other end. Below is a book review which I got from the Internet. As stated by an endorser, it is a must-read for those in the business of marketing and selling disruptive high technology products...

Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore
Reviewed by John Falsetto of DocuCenter Corporation
(http://www.writersblock.ca/summer1998/bookrev.htm)

Marketing is a challenging field, to say the least. The future of a company can hinge on the ability of its marketing department to plan and execute a product release. The volatile nature of high-tech marketing perhaps best exemplifies the challenges. Geoffrey A. Moore heavily reinforces this point in Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers. Moore warns of the issues to be faced and, although the high-tech industry has evolved substantially since the book's release (1991), the information is still useful today.

Moore begins by defining a commonly accepted high-tech marketing model — a Technology Adoption Life Cycle. The model has five divisions, each representing a group of buyers to whom a product is sold during its life cycle: Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, and Laggards.

Innovators are technology enthusiasts. They are keen to be the first to try out a new technology, but they represent just a sliver of the model.

Early Adopters, also known as visionaries, are somewhat keen to try out new technologies. They appreciate a product's potential to give their organization a competitive advantage. They represent a larger slice of the market, and they tend to have much more influence in an organization than do Innovators.

The Early Majority, sometimes called pragmatists, represent the bulk of the market. They tend to buy in to new technologies only after they perceive solid references and safety measures that guard against potential failures. Securing the pragmatist buyer is the most important marketing challenge.

The Late Majority, or conservatives, are also a very large portion of the market. They are extremely cautious when buying into a new technology. They want to see proof of results before they will accept a product's usefulness.

Laggards are skeptics who would prefer to avoid new technologies altogether. They will buy only if they really must.

When a new product is released, it should move from left to right in the Technology Adoption Life Cycle, until its useful life is expired. Although products are not guaranteed to follow this logical path, most naturally will.

Moore believes that small breaks exist between each division in the Technology Adoption Life Cycle, representing lulls in the market (refer to the figure entitled Revised Technology Adoption Life Cycle above). However, Moore posits that the break that divides the Early Adopters from the Early Majority is actually a chasm. As the title of Moore's book implies, this chasm is significant enough to warrant a full-scale effort to pass a product across. Moore argues that many companies get so caught up in early market success that they don't anticipate the chasm, and their products then fail owing to an inability to traverse the gap.

Exceptions to every rule certainly exist, but, by and large, every new high-tech product must find a way to leap the chasm, so that the organization can benefit from the rewards that await at the other side.

The difficulty comes because the Early Majority, by their very nature, need good references before buying into a new technology, and Early Adopters do not make good references. The chasm then becomes a treacherous hazard indeed.

Moore proposes a four-stage approach to crossing the chasm. He calls it the D-Day strategy, a reference to the Allied invasion of Normandy in World War II. The idea is to:

* target the point of attack,
* assemble the invasion force,
* define the battle, and
* launch the invasion.

These four steps allow an organization to successfully attract pragmatist buyers, and to build a significant market share for their new product (refer to the link above for the discussion of the four steps).

Note: A summary of the book can be downloaded at http://www.parkerhill.com/Summary of Crossing the Chasm.pdf

Convergent Ecosystems

In line with the purpose of this blog, I am posting the Closing Remarks I gave last February 28, 2007 during the awarding ceremonies of the BPI-DOST Science Awards 2007 at the Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU). The said award is given annually to three (3) graduating students from the science and technology disciplines of ten (10) select schools in the country (of which ADDU is one of them) with premium given on their researches (aside from the usual criteria of academic performance, leadership and involvements). My analogy of convergent ecosystems also applies to what the IT, business, government, and academic communities of Davao are collectively working for...

A pleasant afternoon to everyone.

When I was preparing for this message, I was trying to reclaim the meaning of this yearly ceremony which has actually become routine along the years. For the past fourteen years, way back 1994, the Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU) has been screening its candidates for the coveted award. Every year, since then, three exceptional students were chosen and conferred the award. Some of our best students in the Computer Studies (CS) Division have figured well in the past years except for the last three years when the criteria and timeframe were changed. The CS Division is actually still reeling from the change because our senior researches and projects get to be defended by late February or early March (just like what’s happening at this very moment upstairs at the 6^th floor). The new criteria and timeframe of the award expects the researches and projects to be fully implemented by late November or early December. The CS Division seniors don’t actually have a chance of being considered in the screening process since they just defended their proposals mid-October and two months will not be enough to implement and firm up their researches and projects. This somehow explains my lukewarm attitude towards the award lately.

In my effort to find meaning, the word “ecosystem” came across my mind. This project, the BPI-DOST Science Awards, is actually a convergence of three ecosystems: the Ateneo, BPI, and DOST. When I looked into its operational definition, an ecosystem is a relatively self-contained, dynamic system composed of a natural community along with its physical environment. It involves complex interactions between the natural community and the flows of energy and matter through it. Ecosystems have many classifications in many different ways and varied contexts. But this struck me – a rigidly separable ecosystem is not a precise notion. It is not clear where one ecosystem ends and another begins.

It dawned on me that even if we are unique and independent ecosystems, we are interconnected, we are interdependent, and we need to interface. And this is where the meaning comes in. An ecosystem cannot remain rigidly independent from other ecosystems since an ecosystem, by its very nature, is interconnected with other ecosystems. This interconnectedness requires a certain degree of interdependence and this can only be achieved through interfaces with other ecosystems. And the interfaces involve varied “flows of energy” – good or bad. The ecosystems, to sustain themselves, adapt to the effects of the “energy flows”.

The CS Division is a little ecosystem within the Ateneo ecosystem. It has been affected by the “energy flows” from BPI and DOST. It has to adapt appropriately if it believes in the essence of the interface with BPI and DOST. And we actually have started the adaptation stage. We are adjusting our curricula to have the proposals ready by end of the second semester of the junior year and the final defense ready by end of the first semester of the senior year. With this adjustment, our seniors can contend with the BPI-DOST Science Awards as well as refine further their researches and projects for possible entrepreneurial ventures before they graduate. So it’s just a matter of time that our best students will figure well again in this award as well as contribute to the growth of our local IT industry, another ecosystem, in the coming years. Abangan…

To end, I would like to believe that our convergence is anchored on the values of excellence and quality. And our two awardees, Liezel and Lesley, are epitomes of these core values. May we continue to sustain our partnership and defend it from the emerging culture of quick fixes, instant results and shortcuts – in short, mediocrity. We don’t want this negative “energy flow” to ruin our convergent ecosystems. Today, let’s celebrate the harvest of our interconnectedness, our interdependence, our interface. As Joey Ayala, a Davaoeño artist and product of the Ateneo, would put it in one his songs – “tayong lahat ay magkaugnay”. If ABS-CBN has “kapamilya”, GMA7 has “kapuso”, then we have “kaugnay”.

Magandang hapon po sa inyong lahat, mga kaugnay.

UM, UIC, UPMin are New Centers of Development in IT Education

The University of Mindanao (UM), University of the Immaculate Conception (UIC), and University of the Philippines-Mindanao (UPMin) join the elite circle of Centers of Development (COD) in IT Education for the years 2007-2010 aside from Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU) who also retained its COD status for another three (3) years (refer to the previous post for more details). Dr. Guillermo Torres (President of UM), Mr. Jerry Flores (IT Education Program Head of UIC), Mr. Vic Calag (IT Education Program Head of UPMin), and Mr. Edwin V. Marañon (IT Education Program Head of ADDU) received their respective plaques of recognition during the awarding ceremonies last March 23, 2007 organized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) held at Bayview Park Hotel, Roxas Boulevard, Manila. The second batch of awardees in the field of Information Technology Education (ITE) has nine (9) Centers of Excellence and thirty-one (31) Centers of Development (refer also to the previous post for the list of schools).

Having four (4) CODs in ITE in Region XI is right on track with the efforts of the Philippine Society of IT Educators-Region XI (PSITE-XI) and the Council of Deans for IT Education in Region XI (CDITE-XI) to make Davao as the IT Education capital of Mindanao. The four (4) universities now share in the responsibility of improving the quality of IT Education as well as assist the other twenty-two (22) IT schools in the region in attaining the same level of competence in the areas of instruction, research and extension.

This recognition conferred on the four (4) universities serves as the humble contribution of the IT academic community to the overall vision of the ICT Davao, the umbrella organization of all IT organizations in Davao, in making Davao as the IT capital and hub of Mindanao and the destination of choice for IT professionals, infrastructure, products and services. And surely, more contributions are still waiting to unfold...

ADDU Retains Status as Center of Development in IT Education

The Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU), through the Computer Studies Division, retained its status as Center of Development for Information Technology Education for a period of three years, from 2007 to 2010. Mr. Edwin V. Marañon, Chair of the Computer Studies Division, received the plaque of recognition last March 23, 2007 during the awarding ceremonies organized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) held at Bayview Park Hotel, Roxas Boulevard, Manila.

The Centers of Excellence (COE) and Centers of Development (COD) project of CHED is envisioned to be an efficient approach in developing program offerings of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) through the leadership of select COEs and CODs. CHED support for HEIs is granted strategically to a select number of institutions that has consistently performed well in instruction, research and extension. The project encourages HEIs to continuously strive for quality education. In doing so, HEIs that have exhibited excellent potentials are assisted by CHED in maintaining and further enhancing their competitiveness.

In return, the COEs and CODs are tasked to take the role of upgrading other HEIs in their areas of responsibilities through the following:

(1) offering and development of graduate degree programs and other faculty development activities such as short-term training programs and discussions in emerging trends in the field;
(2) conduct of research activities in certain areas of specialization;
(3) implementation of training projects for communities within its service areas;
(4) development of instructional materials appropriate to the local situation;
(5) active participation and leadership in industry-academe linkage activities;
(6) sharing of institutional resources to other HEIs.

The first batch of CODs in the field of Information Technology was identified in 2000, of which ADDU was one of them. CHED and the Technical Panel for IT Education (TPITE) at that time decided not to identity COEs since the field of Information Technology was still relatively new compared to other programs. A total of twenty-four (24) institutions were identified as CODs and they were given funding to further enhance their potentials specifically in the areas of faculty development, facilities improvement and equipment purchases, books acquisitions, research capability building, and linkage and extension services. The first batch of CODs was able to accomplish modest gains and made considerable progress in maintaining the quality of their programs and extending their support to other HEIs in their regions.

The current second batch has nine (9) COEs and thirty-one (31) CODs. Most of the COEs were elevated from the first batch of CODs. Others retained their COD status and only two (2) were not able to meet the criteria either as COE or COD. There are eighteen (18) new schools in the roster. That goes to show how the atmosphere of friendly competition and healthy cooperation can lead to a unified advancement of academic programs in the regions. The nine (9) COEs are the following institutions, namely:

(1) Angeles University Foundation (Region 3);
(2) Asia Pacific College (National Capital Region (NCR));
(3) Ateneo de Manila University (NCR);
(4) Cebu Institute of Technology (Region 7)
(5) De La Salle University (NCR);
(6) University of the Cordilleras (CAR);
(7) University of the Philippines – Cebu (Region 7);
(8) University of the Philippines – Diliman (NCR);
(9) University of the Philippines – Los Baños (Region 4A).

The thirty-one (31) CODs are the following institutions, namely:

(1) Colegio de Dagupan (Region 1);
(2) Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University (Region 1);
(3) Lorma College (Region 1);
(4) St. Mary’s University (Region 2);
(5) St. Paul University – Tuguegarao (Region 2);
(6) University of La Sallete (Region 2);
(7) Holy Angel University (Region 3);
(8) Systems Plus College Foundation (Region 3);
(9) De La Salle University – Dasmariñas (Region 4A);
(10) Manuel S. Enverga University Foundation (Region 4A);
(11) Ateneo de Nagao University (Region 5);
(12) University of Negros Occidental – Recoletos (Region 6);
(13) Silliman University (Region 7);
(14) University of San Jose – Recoletos (Region 7);
(15) Asian Development Foundation College (Region 8);
(16) Ateneo de Zamboanga University (Region 9);
(17) Dipolog Medical Center College Foundation, Inc. (Region 9);
(18) St. Vincent’s College (Region 9);
(19) Capitol University (Region 10);
(20) Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology (Region 10);
(21) Ateneo de Davao University (Region 11);
(22) University of Mindanao (Region 11);
(23) University of the Immaculate Conception (Region 11);
(24) University of the Philippines – Mindanao (Region 11);
(25) Notre Dame of Marbel University (Region 12);
(26) St. Louis University (CAR);
(27) Far Eastern University – East Asia College (NCR);
(28) Mapua Institute of Technology (NCR);
(29) Technological Institute of the Philippines – Manila (NCR);
(30) Technological Institute of the Philippines – Quezon City (NCR);
(31) University of the East (NCR).

It is worthy to note that next to the National Capital Region (which has four (4) COEs and five (5) CODs) and Region 7 (which has two (2) COEs and two (2) CODs), Region XI has four (4) CODs. This is a strong indication of the improvement of quality IT Education in Region XI with the entry of University of Mindanao, University of the Immaculate Conception, and University of the Philippines – Mindanao in the elite circle. Ateneo de Davao University was the lone COD in Region XI for the first batch way back 2000. This is also a big step towards the shared vision of the Philippine Society of IT Educators-Region XI (PSITE-XI) and the Council of Deans for IT Education in Region XI (CDITE-XI) to make Davao as the IT Education capital of Mindanao. Things seem to be falling into the right places. It will only be a matter of time that Davao will be the destination of choice for quality IT Education and a rich source of competent IT professionals. The next big step is to strive to have COEs and more CODs in Region XI to establish this coveted reputation. The Computer Studies Division of ADDU intends to remain in the forefront of this strategic direction among IT schools in the region.

Note: This post was also submitted for publishing in the second issue of the Ateneo Chronicle expected to be out for circulation by mid-June 2007.