Gov’t plans to set up cyber education centers nationwide

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Science and Technology-Information and Communications Technology Office (DOST-ICTO) said the government was now planning cyber-education hubs all over the country that will make technical-vocational education and training to be accessible all over the country.

DOST Undersecretary Louis Napoleon Casambre, ICTO executive director, said that the government was envisioning the set up of Tech4Ed centers, made possible by Internet connectivity to be provided by their ambitious Television White Space (TVWS) Internet technology set to be rolled out nationwide by next year.

“Offering more than just basic ICT training, internet-based research, and email services, the Tech4Ed centers are now geared towards offering expansive help and solutions for the marginalized sectors of our country — out-of-school youth, persons with disabilities, senior citizens, indigenous peoples, and women — to enhance their skills and increase their worth in the employment sector,” Casambre said in a speech Tuesday as he opened the three-day 9th Knowledge Exchange Conference of eCenters at the Century Park Hotel in Manila.

The 9th KEC’s theme carried the theme “Creation of the eFilipino: Smarter Communities for Inclusive Growth and Development.”

WhKEC placed importance on how content and its applications are used to improve the lives of Filipinos, Casambre admitted that the problem of lack of Internet connectivity in the country’s far-flung areas in the mountains and island communities still remained.

“Too many communities are still without Internet connection, the first tool to cultivate the eFilipino,” Casambre said. “And far too many Filipinos are ill-equipped and digitally illiterate, unable to take full advantage of the benefits of the Information Age.”

“We do this by using TV White Space, a cost-effective green technology that allows us to overcome infrastructure limitations and to reach the farthest corners of our country,” Casambre said.

TV White Space, the ICTO chief explained, uses the vacant frequencies found between broadcast TV channels to be the highway on which Internet connectivity can be beamed to the most isolated areas.

“It can travel through forests, mountains, buildings, water, and other obstacles,” Casambre said.

“TV White Space was used in Yolanda-hit Leyte, proving it to be ideal for quick deployment in disaster areas. We have found that it is the most viable strategy to meet our challenge of increasing connectivity, especially in the countryside,” he added.

Casambre earlier said that they were looking at a 99 percent rollout of the TV White Space Internet connectivity by 2015.