IT trends set new income stream for Pinoy techies

CEBU, Philippines - Filipinos, especially those who are into the information technology (IT), should explore the income potential that “augmented reality, the next big thing” can offer.

Salvador Latrilla, vice president of the Computer Manufacturers, Distributors and Dealers Association of the Philippines (Comddap), said that the manipulation of programs or software to make them useful to any business processes, among others is now the trend in the IT industry in other countries.

“Augmented reality such as 3D could be a new business process outsource offering for many people, (especially the techies.) In the US, many people are already doing this such as creating a 3D or virtual model of buildings. These are uploaded on the net and people could just surf the net to have information of the building such as location, what are inside the building and so on..,” he said.

Latrilla said there are a lot of software applications available on the Internet that people can use and manipulate to assist them. However, their uses have not been fully maximized. This is called technology the gap.

“The age of computerization is already over. Now is the age of automation. Making use of applications to automate (whatever that can be automated). IT is not just about buying computers and hardware and applications. It is also about what these applications can do for use. Where (else) and how (else) can we use them,” he said.

Comddap will stage the 12th Comddap Cebu Expo 2010, dubbed “This is IT,” at the SM City Cebu trade hall on July 16 to 18. IT products will be sold at discounted prices of up to 70 percent.

Major activities are the 3D Philippines Initiative, which aims to create a 3D virtual world of the Philippines. Comddap has initiated a competition open to anyone. 3D virtual model-entries may be uploaded to the 3DPi’s account in facebook. An LCD gallery, which brings together LCD monitor brands side-by-side in a classic showdown, will also be featured aside from the projector gallery, where in top projector brands line up showing selected graphics and videos to reveal which has the best image quality, user-friendly features and the best value for money product.