Boracay meet to encourage start-ups to invest in ICT

A GROUP of businessmen, technology and start-up experts are hosting a two-day conference to encourage more local entrepreneurs to harness opportunities of the current technology explosion and to start investing in the technology sector.

Tina Amper, TechTalks.ph founder and president, said “Geeks on a Beach” will be held this September in Boracay.

“The event is the first in the Philippines and will happen in September 26-27 in Boracay Island. It will be a techfest featuring the world’s most promising tech leaders who will talk about instructive and useful topics on gaming, mobile apps and graphic design,” said Amper, who’s TechTalks.ph is organizing the event.

Amper said that they have been running small group conferences in the country called the “Start-up Weekends” in Cebu and Davao for the same purpose.

She said that it’s time that all Filipinos gather together in one place, learn and network with each other.

Last year, the Information Communication Technology industry in the Visayas raked in revenues of about P22 billion and generated a lot of employment.

potential income

The income generated through salaries of employees hired in foreign companies however is only one-third of the potential income that the industry could get if local investors also start investing in the ICT businesses, said Amper.

She said this is why they are encouraging start-up technology companies in the country especially in Cebu, where there is an abundance of talents, to step up and invest.

According to Symph.com founder David Overton, there is a need for something that will unify these technology businesses nationally and the conference will be a good start.

“They can learn, talk, see where the start-up industry can go in the Philippines. Many are now looking at the Southeast Asian region for businesses like this and I think the Philippines needs to be at the forefront of it all,” said Overton.

foundation

He added that while the foreign outsourcing companies have given much in terms of revenues and establishing a solid foundation for the ICT industry, it is time for Filipinos to build on top of that foundation and achieve more than what existing companies have achieved.

Amper said that they have invited local and international speakers for the event which includes Bowei Gai, founder and chief ambassador of World start-up Report; Jojo Flores, co-founder and vice president of Plug & Play; Ron Hose, founding partner of Innovation Endeavors and co-founder of Tokbox; and, Maria Ressa, chief executive officer and executive editor of Rappler.

topics

“Topics lined up for discussion during the conference include The World start-up Ecosystem: Distinguishing the Asian Experience, The Evolution of Philippine start-up Ecosystem, Fostering and Funding Asian Start-ups and many other relevant topics,” said Amper.

For the conference, the group is targeting to get at least 200 local and foreign participants.

According to Amper, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) has recognized the importance of the event to encouraging more local investments into ICT and has committed support for the event.