IDC Government Insights Asia/Pacific announced that Department of Information and Communications Technology’s (DICT) Tech4ED Program has been chosen as one of the finalists in the annual IDC Smart City Asia/Pacific Awards (SCAPA) 2019 under the category of Education.
The Technology for Education, Employment, Entrepreneurs and Economic Development (Tech4ED) Project is a national digital inclusion initiative establishing eCenters that provide critical e-government and ICT-enabled services in communities with minimal or no access to information and government services. The program aims to establish sustainable Tech4ED Centers nationwide as a delivery channel for relevant ICT-enabled services and content for socio-economic development of unserved and underserved communities towards improving quality of life. The project shall continue to ensure equal access of both men and women to information, communication, technology, government services, non-formal education/alternative learning, skills training, job markets, and business portals through the Tech4ED Centers and its platform.
“The Philippines is clearly on the digital transformation journey. Within the next two to three years, we expect to see at least 30% of organizations across the country will transform their respective markets and reimagine the future through innovative business models and digitally enabled products and services. As a result, the changes that technology brings will impact not only our economy but also society in general. However, the Philippines is currently experiencing a challenge with talent in sharpening their digital skills,” says Randy Roberts, Head of Operations IDC Philippines.
Roberts adds, “According to IDC Survey, the top future skills required by business leaders in the Philippines include digital skills, IT and programming skills, adaptability and continuous learning, as well as analytical skills. The demand for these skills here is higher than the existing supply. We see that DICT’s Tech4ED is an impressive platform as it continues efforts to narrow the digital talent gap in the country. The development of more digital skills will benefit the country’s economy massively as the nation’s human resources will be improved and they can develop the required competitive edge.”
The IDC Smart City Asia Pacific Awards (SCAPA) was created to identify, benchmark and gather citizen opinion through public voting on the best projects each year across 12 functional smart city strategic domains. It is an intensive six-month process that tracks and evaluates hundreds of smart city initiatives in Asia/Pacific.
The award categories are:
Administration, Civic Engagement, Digital Equity and Accessibility, Economic Development, Tourism, Arts, Libraries, Culture, Open Spaces, Education. Public Health and Social Services, Public Safety (Disaster Response / Emergency Management and Smart Policing), Smart Buildings, Smart Water, Sustainable Infrastructure, Transportation (Connected & Autonomous Vehicles, Public Transit, Ride-Hailing/Ride-Sharing and Transportation Infrastructure), Urban Planning and Land Use
Out of over 170 smart city project submissions from public and private enterprises in the Asia Pacific, only the top 57 projects were named as finalists and qualify for public voting as the second phase in the selection of the annual IDC Smart City Asia Pacific Awards (SCAPA).
IDC invites the public to vote on these finalists at www.idc.com/ap/smartcities through the 28th of May 2019. Citizens who participate in public voting will stand a chance to win a Samsung Galaxy S10+ through an electronic raffle draw to be held after the Asia/Pacific winners have been announced.
