Develop ecosystem for IT startups – experts

CREATE an environment or an ecosystem that will encourage startup entrepreneurship in Information Technology in the country.

IT startup experts made this call amid the start of Geeks on the Beach yesterday in Boracay Island, Aklan.

Organizers of the activity said they aim to help set up that startup ecosystem needed for the industry to grow.

The Filipinos are known for their good talents and skills in IT, creativity and are natural entrepreneurs however there’s not much startups yet in the country, said GOAB speakers and organizers.

“We have been underappreciated. We are good, we have a lot of skills and we want the world to know,” GOAB organizer Tina Amper said.

potential

Jojo Flores, Plug & Play Tech Center co-founder, said there is a large potential to cultivate a startup industry.

Flores cited the Kauffman Foundation on Massachusetts Institute of Technology study on startup companies, which showed that there are at least 26,000 startup companies in the world employing three million people and earning $2 trillion in revenues.

He said that the Philippines can create the startup industry to complement its outsourcing industry and contribute to the country’s economic development.

Successful startup company founders Khailee Ng, Casey Lau and Paul Santos said Southeast Asia, which the Philippines is part of, has a large growth potential for startups.

“In the Philippines, you still have a lot of things you can address like basic ecommerce. There are a lot of products you can still develop for this service,” Lau said. /Reporter Aileen Garcia-Yap