By Minerva BC Newman
CEBU CITY – The City of Bogo is about to become the first “Smart City” in the Visayas as it begins to lay the infrastructure foundation for a 50-kilometer fiber optic network
Bogo IT-Department head and president of Bogo ICT Council Roger Tonacao told a news forum here Wednesday that phase I of the ICT connectivity project has started.
The network will connect all barangays, schools, government facilities and private service utilities in the city.
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“This is purely LGU initiative and we started with phase I with the 10-km line and we hope to complete this connectivity network within the year,” Tonacao said.
To reinforce its “Smart City” dream, Bogo will host the first Visayas ICT Conference (VICTOR) on Feb. 21 and BPO Jobs Fair on Feb. 22.
VICTOR is a gathering of all ICT councils in the Visayas and other stakeholders including local government units, ICT-BPO industry players to discuss trends, current issues, programs and developments related to ICT, Tonacao bared.
At least 200 delegates are expected, with 80 percent of them are from the Visayas, Tonacao said.
The conference will also tackle topics like “Building a Smarter City” with a resource speaker from Singapore.
According to Wilfredo Saa Jr., the managing director of Cebu IT-BPM.Org (CIB.O), the ICT infrastructure is designed to lure BPO firms to Bogo.
“Bogo in 2008 initiated the computerization of doing business there and in 2012 it had planned to put in place what needs to be done so that BPOs locate in Bogo,” Saa said.
There are more and more LGUs using ICT to be competitive in doing business and governance. According to Frederick Amores, ARD of the Department of Information, Communication and Technology (DICT) in Central Visayas, connectivity comes with a hefty price tag.
“The challenge is to reduce the cost for the net for the citizenry, faster Internet at a lower cost and its availability. Because as of now our WiFi/Internet is serving bigger companies, the BPO industry that can afford to pay the price of bigger, faster connection,” Amnores said.
With revenue from the ICT/BPO industry hitting $28-$29 million annually, it can overtake the remittances of overseas Filipino workers as a big-ticket earner for the government, Amnores said.
(MANILA BULLETIN)
“This is purely LGU initiative and we started with phase I with the 10-km line and we hope to complete this connectivity network within the year,” Tonacao said.
To reinforce its “Smart City” dream, Bogo will host the first Visayas ICT Conference (VICTOR) on Feb. 21 and BPO Jobs Fair on Feb. 22.
VICTOR is a gathering of all ICT councils in the Visayas and other stakeholders including local government units, ICT-BPO industry players to discuss trends, current issues, programs and developments related to ICT, Tonacao bared.
At least 200 delegates are expected, with 80 percent of them are from the Visayas, Tonacao said.
The conference will also tackle topics like “Building a Smarter City” with a resource speaker from Singapore.
According to Wilfredo Saa Jr., the managing director of Cebu IT-BPM.Org (CIB.O), the ICT infrastructure is designed to lure BPO firms to Bogo.
“Bogo in 2008 initiated the computerization of doing business there and in 2012 it had planned to put in place what needs to be done so that BPOs locate in Bogo,” Saa said.
There are more and more LGUs using ICT to be competitive in doing business and governance. According to Frederick Amores, ARD of the Department of Information, Communication and Technology (DICT) in Central Visayas, connectivity comes with a hefty price tag.
“The challenge is to reduce the cost for the net for the citizenry, faster Internet at a lower cost and its availability. Because as of now our WiFi/Internet is serving bigger companies, the BPO industry that can afford to pay the price of bigger, faster connection,” Amnores said.
With revenue from the ICT/BPO industry hitting $28-$29 million annually, it can overtake the remittances of overseas Filipino workers as a big-ticket earner for the government, Amnores said.