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BPM industry readies more job breaks for Pinoys, DOST exec says

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Published: 16 August 2013

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More job opportunities, more career options. With a total workforce of 776,794 in 2012, some 137,066 of these were new hires, the country’s IT-Business Process Management industry continues to burst at the seams with a US$ 13.2-billion revenue.

“The Department of Science and Technology - Information and Communication Technology Office (DOST-ICTO) is furthering its efforts in bringing jobs to Filipinos in the countryside, as we aim to hit our target of 1.3 million full time employees working in the industry by 2016,” DOST-ICTO Executive Director Louis Napoleon C. Casambre said. DOST-ICTO is the country’s main agency handling the IT-BPM sector.

Director Casambre said that for years, the country’s IT-BPM sector has shown strength in terms of revenues, positioning the country as the best provider in voice services and second best in non-voice.

Opportunities in the industry were echoed by speakers at the recently held IT-BPM Career Talk during the National Science and Technology Week at the SMX Convention Center as they also discussed the various skills needed in it, as well as options and perks.

According to the speakers, other IT-BPM sectors such as animation, game development, health information management, and software development are quickly catching up with the popularity and capability of call centers.

Getting on the game
Alvin Juban, president of the Game Developers Association of the Philippines, cited that the country today has an estimated 4,000 game developers involved in motion graphics, motion capture, sound design, conceptualization and game quality assurance.

Poised to further boost industry manpower is the newly established Human Development Facility. Owned by the Korea International Cooperation Agency, the government of South Korea and the Department of National Defense of the Philippines , the facility is designed to strengthen the skills of Filipino professionals in animation and game development, said Juban.

Nurses, medics join the fray
Meanwhile, Dr. Josefina V. Lauchangco, president of the Health Information Management Outsourcing Association of the Philippines (HIMOAP), elaborated that a background in the medical field is a big advantage for those seeking jobs in the health information management sector such as medical transcription. She added that the number of nurses hired by HIMOAP’s member-firms in the country was estimated to reach 43,000 in 2012. They aim to raise employment numbers to 100,000 by 2016, she reported.

However, Dr. Lauchangco added that professionals from fields of specialization other than medicine are also welcome to work in the health information management outsourcing sector.

DOST’s DATBED program to help youth start tech-based biz

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Published: 15 August 2013

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Students, young professionals, and out-of-school youths planning to put up technology-based enterprises may avail of assistance from the Department of Science and Technology’s Technology Application and Promotion institute (DOST-TAPI) through their schools or non-government organizations (NGOs).

In a technical forum held last July 31 during the recently concluded 2013 Regional Invention Contest and Exhibits for the National Capital Region (NCR) at the Technological Institute of the Philippines in Quezon City, Engr. Arman Bionat, assistant regional director for DOST-NCR’s technical operations division, disclosed that TAPI’s DOST Academe Technology-Based Enterprise Development (DATBED) Program will help get them started in their business ventures.

A project under DOST’s Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program (SET-UP), DATBED provides assistance through funding, training initiatives, and access to facilities and the latest technologies. At the same time, DATBED also develops income-generating projects for the school or the NGO with which the aspiring technopreneur is connected.

Engr. Bionat revealed that one of DATBED’s objectives is to “stimulate the development of an entrepreneurial curriculum and technology business incubation (TBI) among participating schools/ organizations” in its mission to produce more employers among the Filipino youth. TBI is a concept that refers to support programs for the successful establishment and growth of technology-based businesses.

To become a DATBED beneficiary, the school must have science and technology courses and entrepreneurship development programs in its curriculum, as well as a student-faculty ratio of 25:1 at the most in these courses, among other qualifications. On the other hand, an NGO should be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Cooperative Development Authority and should have existing or completed some youth development programs or activities, among others

The school or NGO will perform the screening and selection of their student recipients for DATBED.

The first stage under the DATBED program covers a period of three years during which training in enterprise development is provided, as well as financial assistance and technology transfer. In the second stage, financial assistance is extended for the full commercialization of the enterprise.

Financial assistance will cover both operating expenses of the startup enterprise and capability upgrading cost for expansion projects. The DOST-NCR official added that different financing schemes are available.

Some of TAPI’s successful DATBED-assisted projects are those involving broiler production using lagundi as a source of antibiotics, hydroponics, 3-in-1 instant cacao beverage, enterprise development and market testing of pili-based coffee, production and marketing of pili chocolait, vegetarian bakeshop, fish sausage, and White Tang Fish Tapa production.

According to Engr. Bionat, they receive around 20-30 student applicants for DATBED assistance every schoolyear. “There may be four or five students in a project. Sometimes too, a single school will approach us for assistance for more than one project – sometimes for more than four projects,” he said.

The DOST-NCR official also mentioned that technopreneurship involves high technology and low technology businesses. He cited ICT, electronics, biotechnology, service businesses such as e-learning, and cloud computing as among the high technology ventures while organic farming, organic production of livestock and new food recipes are among the low technology ventures.

For more information on DATBED, please call TAPI’s Technology Commercialization Division at 837-2071 to 82 loc. 2158/2165 or (632) 837-6186 or visit the DOST Regional Office.

Creativity’s many facets unlocked in DOST’s invention forum

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Published: 13 August 2013

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Before inventing something, take a look at what is currently available. Note both the positive and negative aspects. Then spot whatever is interesting about these inventions and improve on it.

This was the message of Dr. George M. Colorado, invention development division manager of the Department of Science and Technology’s Technology Application and Promotion Institute (DOST-TAPI) during the technical forum on “Creativity in Invention Development” last August 1, 2013 at the Technological Institute of the Philippines (TIP) in Quezon City.

Held as one of the activities during the DOST- National Capital Region 2013 Regional Invention Contest and Exhibits, the forum raised the awareness of students and professional researchers and inventors alike on the importance of creativity in the invention process. It also gave them pointers on how to be more creative while driving home the idea that “the purpose of technology or innovation is to solve a problem.”

“The natural process of thinking can be influenced to see what the problem is, and what the solution to that problem is,” Dr. Colorado revealed to the audience inside the full-packed Seminar Room of TIP’s Building 1.

Reminding the audience that a mere change of material is not inventive, the speaker, who pleased the crowd with his humorous, witty remarks and examples, explained that as far as inventing new technology is concerned, there is a natural evolution of development which takes place during actual usage of the technology.

Citing the chair as an example, Dr. Colorado narrated how it started as a mere bench and then improved into a soft chair. Later, it was built with armrests because people realized they needed something on which to place their arms. It further evolved into one with a backrest because people realized it had to have something for their backs to lean on.

If the inventor is able to create technology that skips through these evolutionary stages or jumps through several of these phases, said Dr. Colorado, that would be an inventive invention. “But you will be able to do this if you think in a creative manner,” he declared.

Citing perceptive thinking as one of the many qualities of creativity, he said that the inventor should constantly ask himself what will happen next if he develops something in particular. “Consequences and sequels should be considered,” he stressed.

The TAPI official also reminded the budding inventors to get other people’s opinions. “Ask your target clients what they want. And then you have a set of priorities that you can now integrate into the product,” he said.

The other qualities of creativity mentioned in the lecture were sensitivity, originality, flexibility or the capability to adjust to a new development, ability to combine ideas, analytical thinking, ability to simplify, being energetic, having broad knowledge and interests, and being open to new experiences, among others.

Dr. Colorado however emphasized that the human mind must be trained to assimilate these qualities, since some of these factors may actually be influenced. “There are environments which are not friendly to creativity,” he explained.

Lastly, Dr. Colorado advised the newbie and professional inventors to continue gaining knowledge. “The fastest way to learn is to go to an expert and learn from him,” he remarked to the crowd which was mostly made up of students whose attention was glued to the very engaging talk.

During the Technical Forum on “Creativity in Invention Development,” Dr. George M. Colorado, division manager for invention development of the Department of Science and Technology’s Technology Application and Promotion Institute, urged neophyte and professional inventors to create solutions to problems by improving on existing technologies. The forum was one of the activities during the 2013 Regional Invention Contest and Exhibits for the National Capital Region held at the Technological Institute of the Philippines in Quezon City. Photos above show some of the entries in the competition. Bottom photo shows the winning entry for the SIBOL Creative Research-High School Category by students from Batasan Hills National High School. Titled “Difunctional Shoe,” the invention aims to solve children’s health problems caused by flooding via a protective jacket inserted into the shoe. Made of polyphenol, the jacket is durable, water-resistant, and can cover almost the entire leg of a child. (Text by Angelica A. de Leon/ Photos by Gerry Palad and Henry A. de Leon, S & T Media Service, DOST-STII)