I-Café Pilipinas commenced recently its centerpiece program, “Ang Ligtas na Digital Batang Pinoy,” an initiative of the different Internet café associations to promote online child safety in Internet cafes.

The convenor of the Second Mindanao Internet Cafe Associations Summit (MICAS) said the program stemmed from outpours of concern regarding reports that Internet cafes are allegedly “being the source of social skills, like school truancy and being access points for pornography.”

The “Ang Ligtas na Digital Batang Pinoy” program is a national initiative by Internet cafe owners that aims to provide information in the vernacular to the community on the proper and effective use of technology in their daily activities, a joint news report from The Internet Café Association of Davao and I-Café Pilipinas explained.

The Internet Cafe Association of Davao and I-Café Pilipinas, organizers of the Second MICAS held at the SM City Davao Ecoland, Davao City, said more than 300 Internet cafe owners operating in Mindanao like in Davao City, Tagum, Digos and as far as General Santos City participated in its various activities.

Unlike existing programs, they said the primary goal of the “Ang Ligtas na Batang Digital Pinoy” is “to create materials that is suited to the Filipino frame of mind and could easily be understood by everyone.”

I-Cafe Pilipinas said it believes proper education in the use of modern technology is much better than regulation.

A joint statement by the I-Cafe Pilipinas led its chairman Ed Zafra and Internet Cafe Association of Davao president reported, “We are proud and honored with the success of the Second Mindanao Internet Cafe Associations Summit for it has uplifted the image of the Internet cafe industry in the region of Mindanao. It has provided an insight on the various initiatives that we are jointly undertaking in order to improve the conditions through convergence and closer ties among the different players in the Internet cafe industry in the country.”

Said Zafra, “We are hoping that the same initiative would be replicated all over the country as we bring together the different internet cafe operators and allied Information and Communications Technology companies in providing better ICT services closer to the people and the community.”