According to Felicitas Agoncillo-Reyes, DTI assistant secretary and executive director of CITEM, the “two-day exhibition and meeting is expected to bring together approximately 100 IT and ITES product supplier and service provider exhibitors, foreign delegates from the US, United Kingdom, Sweden and Japan, and around 2000 corporate participants.”

The IT and ITES sectors will be represented by their respective industry associations: Philippine Software Industry Association, Contact Center Association of the Philippines, Medical Transcription Association of the Philippines, Inc.,  and the Animation Council of the Philippines, Inc.

The plenary session will be a CEO Forum on ”Global Outsourcing Outlook” where experts from India, US, UK, Japan, and elsewhere will be sharing their insights on global business and technology trends in IT and BPO.  Parallel sessions for the different IT and ITES sectors will be held on the second day and will focus on best practices, business opportunities, and industry updates.

As an added treat, exhibitors get to vie for the E-Services Philippines Awards.  This year’s awards will focus on e-services innovations in packaged application, web services/products, and wireless/mobile applications.  Deadline for submission of entries is two days away so if you’re an exhibitor, start cramming and prepare your product or service write-ups.  Exhibitors are allowed to submit up to two entries for each of the Best Product/Service categories: e-Business, Wireless/Mobile, Technology, e-Learning, Health/Public Service, and Best Website.

Industry representatives present during the event’s press lunch cited millions in revenues and projected growth in double digits in the coming years.  In the animation sector alone, they will need 25,000 animators by 2010.  If their projections were correct, then it would be wise for graduating high school students and those who are in college who are still undecided on what course to major in to consider a career in IT instead of pursuing a medical-related degree.  The IT and ITES sectors just might save the country from the current brain drain and lead the country to becoming an information society.

For more details, visit the event’s website at www.e-servicesphils.com.

Simultaneous with E-Services Philippines is the Innovations Expo 2006 which will also be held on February 16-17 at the Hiyas Convention Center in Malolos City, Bulacan.  Organized by ConvergeX Asia Expositions Management, the Expo, which has been making the rounds of major cities in Luzon, presents the latest local technologies, inventions, and researches to students in the provinces.  It also provides the students, who are the future innovators, an opportunity to meet and interact with inventors, science and technology researchers, and industry practitioner. 

Exhibitors will include the Filipino Inventors Society, institutions of higher learning like PUP, AMA, Tarlac State University among others, the Department of Science and Technology and Department of Energy and their attached agencies, telcos, and IT companies.

Melvin Ferrer, chief executive of ConvergeX Asia, expects to reach 40,000 students from Malolos to Laoag.  The second leg of the Expo will be held in at the Tarlac State University in Tarlac City on February 23-24.

There’s nothing better than starting the year right with these kinds of activities.  They surely make the future of IT in the country bright. 

Wish you all the best guys!

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The groundbreaking ceremonies for the first environment-friendly and digital church in the world, which will be located at the Parish of Risen Christ at Smokey Mountain in Tondo, were held yesterday with Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales presiding in the Eucharistic celebration.

Six months after I’ve written about the church, the dream will finally become a reality.  I hope the parishioners get to celebrate their parish fiesta on Easter Sunday in their new church.

(For feedback, comments, suggestions email me at openingpagemb@yahoo.com)