Geeks on a Beach gets P300,000 boost

THE Department of Science and Technology Information Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO) pledged P300,000 to help fund the first nationwide gathering of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) experts this September.

The fund will come from the national ICTO office which only shows how DOST is putting ICT among its priority agenda, said DOST assistant regional director Edilberto Paradela last Monday.

“DOST recognizes that ICT is an enabler of our industries because technology makes everything possible,” he said.

In the region alone, DOST has been doing projects that will encourage businesses to adopt ICT in their processes like in manufacturing through projects like Setup or Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program.

“Here we have given assistance to companies like Bon-Ace Fashion Tools, where we purchased a kiln dryer for the company’s wooden bangles, which are now sold to high-end brands worldwide,” Paradela said.

Aside from that, DOST also assisted small companies to get venture capital financing as well as partnering with other private sectors for Technology Business Incubator projects.

“We are doing all these in the region because we are seeing the potential of the industry to fuel more economic growth for the country. We also think that the Geeks on a Beach activity is an effective way to encourage more professionals in the industry to look at investments in this industry,” he said.

target participants

The Geeks on a Beach event will happen from Sept. 26 to 27 in Boracay Island. The activity is organized by TechTalks.ph.

Tina Amper, TechTalks.ph founder and president, said that as of Monday, they already have 140 confirmed participants from the local ICT community and will soon be getting confirmation from the international group.

“We were targeting to have at least 300 and we are very encouraged with the confirmation that we have now. We still have two months to go. Last week we already got confirmation from foreign groups but we don’t have the exact numbers yet,” said Amper.

The event will feature at least 21 speakers from local and international community that will talk about ICT, it’s prospects, trends and more.

“The talks will be about corporate entrepreneurship, digital marketing, startup track and will feature speakers like Maria Ressa of Rappler.com and other foreign speakers that we hope will inspire our participants,” Amper said.