Technology plus the youth equals progress

The students milled about the conference room entrance before the scheduled talk. Most of them were restless as their teachers stifled the urge to reprimand them. The speaker entered and the chaos somewhat died down. Another lesson to be learned, another expert to listen to.

These kids certainly seemed like happy-go-lucky chaps but what they did not realize was that the nation’s future lay in their skilled hands.

The sprouting of college degree courses in information technology (IT) in various schools is proof of how important IT has become to the development of our nation. If we are to advance and catch up with our neighbors, it is critical that we provide our students with the proper training to one day meet the country’s IT needs. This need became clear and a group of people acted on it. A bit of history:

In 1989, computer giant IBM Phils. recognized the need to train the youth and offer specialized IT courses. It began its search for a partner with whom it could form a computer training institution that would produce graduates to cater to the needs of the industry. By mid-1991, IBM Phils. began discussions with Dr. Paulino Tan, computer consultant for Shoemart and former executive vice president of De La Salle University (DLSU); Prof. Leonida Africa, then vice president of the Philippine Accrediting Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities, and also from DLSU, and Bro. Andrew Gonzales, former president of DLSU.

The search for a partner ended when Henry Sy, chairman of the SM Group of Companies, came on board as IBM’s partner in building this new institution. Thus, the Asia Pacific College (APC) was born. By June 1994, the College of Information Technology began accepting students for degree programs.

Last July 30 to Aug. 4, the APC celebrated "IT Week" with the theme "Integration of Technology at the Edge of the Millennium." The week’s highlights were a Web design competition and seminars with topnotch IT experts, enthusiasts and lawmakers as speakers, among them Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo, Commission on Higher Education chairperson Ester Garcia, Sen. Francis Pangilinan, and Kevin Belmonte, president and CEO of Philippine portal philstar.com. An exhibit at the school cafeteria was also mounted.

It was Kevin Belmonte’s entrance into the conference room that made the students stop, look and listen. The talk was organized by program director Dennis Reyes and coordinator Rhea Luz Valbuena with the support of Naax Network Inc. (www.naax.net.). The Naax Network, a growing Internet-focused company, has served several clients like L’Oreal Phils., Ralph Lauren and former Bulacan governor Obet Pagdanganan by developing websites for them.

Around 80 students, all computer science and IT majors, listened to Belmonte’s discussion on the impact of the Internet on our lives and how views on the industry have evolved from "euphoria irrationality" to "carnage irrationality." People went from being overly optimistic to deathly glum when it came to investing in Internet-related businesses, he explained. The students were fed with valuable information as Belmonte related his own experiences and those of people he knew who gained and lost money in the Internet industry.

The talk was a success with the crowd quite worked up, particularly during the question-and-answer portion. It was an enlightening discussion among students, speakers and teachers.

The students certainly came out of the conference filled with new ideas to use when the time comes for them to take the reins and steer the country’s future. With that time coming sooner or later, they certainly have their work cut out for them.