Philippines to develop more cybersecurity experts, software engineers – DICT

MANILA, Philippines — The government is looking at offering short-course training programs for cybersecurity and software engineers to take advantage of the high demand for Filipino technology experts globally, Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy said yesterday.

Currently, there are three million job vacancies for cybersecurity experts around the globe, Uy said. However, the Philippines has around 200 certified cybersecurity experts compared to Singapore’s 3,000.

“We need to build up that competency… What is happening is we have many talented technical people but they do not qualify for the job because they do not have the credentials, the certification. So, these are like self-learned,” Uy said at a Malacañang briefing.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) head recalled an instance during one of his recent travels when he was asked by one country if the Philippines could supply 100,000 software engineers.

“The world, all the technology companies, look at the Philippines as a country that is composed of young people who are early technology adopters and so they expect that we would produce a lot of these talents and that will be the new answer. These are very high paying jobs and the demand is very, very high,” he added.

He said the DICT is working with educational partners from the private sector as well as government institutions like the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education to provide more course materials and certification programs.

Satellite data

Meanwhile, President Marcos wants different agencies to have access to satellite data generated by the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) that could have multiple uses such as in agriculture, business and environmental protection.

“The reason we are signing an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the Space Council is so that we can do mapping because… as I was explaining to you earlier, in terms of green, in terms of bio assets, there is now a way to quantify your fisheries, your agricultural activity,” Marcos said during the inaugural meeting of the Philippine Space Council (PSC) in Quezon City on Monday.

For instance, the Chief Executive said, potential investors, who are carbon producers, need to balance their activity through the use of mapping data for them to develop a particular bio-diverse area in a certain location.

“So that’s why I was asking you that we have to make sure that the data we give each different department is in a form that they can use,” Marcos said.

He also urged the PSC to maximize the Philippines’ tie-ups with the different agencies around the world involved in imaging that may be useful for the country.

Also during the meeting, PhilSA proposed a resolution declaring the annual celebration of the National Space Week or Pambansang Linggo ng Kalawakan from Aug. 8 to 14 beginning next year.

The National Space Week, which coincides with the enactment of the Philippine Space Act on Aug. 9, 2019, aims to promote space awareness, espouse the benefits of space and its impact on the lives of the people, celebrate the contribution of Filipinos in the field of space and inspire the future generation.