June 1, 2007

We made it back to Manila in time for the party for IT geeks at the
Museum Cafe in Greenbelt. The event was hosted by Exist and had an
open bar. The upper floor of the cafe was packed with people from
Exist, Narra VC, Orange and Bronze, and other companies. It was
awesome reconnecting with people I hadn’t seen in a while, and I also
enjoyed meeting new people. Two years (maybe even three) away from the
Philippine tech scene, and I still fit right in… I had fun. =)

I owe lots of people e-mail, which is a good success indicator for
networking events.

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I attended Winston Damarillo’s lecture on global opportunities in
software development today. The audience included faculty from UP,
Ateneo, and DLSU, three of the top universities in the country.

I’ll write more about it soon, but Winston’s key points was that IT is
something in which we can be globally competitive, and we should
export products and services instead of people. He shared his
experiences starting several companies, and a repeatable model for
microenterprises that takes advantage of an architecture of
participation, instant distribution capability, and promotion through
the Web.

Winston is optimistic about this field because of the disruptiveness
of technology: as incumbent solutions become overbuilt, space opens up
for a small competitor that can focus on satisfying a target market
with a simpler solution. That company can easily be based in the
Philippines, creating wealth for Filipinos.

There’s a lot of work to be done before our graduates can make the
most of these opportunities. Here are some of the things we need to do:

• Inspire prospective and current students through seminars and talks
  by role models and success stories in person and through mass media
• Train teachers and students through code camps
• Take advantage of courseware and resources offered by the industry
• Incorporate open source technologies and principles in computer science courses
• Supplement teacher salaries so that there’s a stronger incentive to stay and teach
• Help teachers gain industry experience
• Address real-world needs in computer science projects
• Grow a codebase for the university through sponsored, coordinated projects
• Incorporate business into computer science courses so that students are prepared to identify and fulfill needs
• Incubate startups through university incubators

Interesting things coming up. Stay tuned.

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