DigiBayanihan opens center of excellence

To improve the quality of life in Central Visayas through technology and innovation, DigiBayanihan inaugurated yesterday its first ever Center of Excellence at the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) compound in Barangay Banilad, Cebu City.

DigiBayanihan is an initiative of the international non-government organization, Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST), aimed at providing digital literacy and digital citizenship to the community. The program is also supported by Google.ph.

ASSIST has been in the Philippines for 15 years and has a goal of improving social dimensions of the Filipinos by respecting environment thru doing sustainable transformation in communities.

The organization also has offices in Vietnam, India, Cambodia and projects in Nepal, Myanmar and Indonesia.

Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella and DOST7 director Edilberto Paradela led the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Labella said the city government is also supporting the initiative.

"There is no reason for the city of Cebu not to support the system," he said.

He said the DigiBayanihan will help the Cebuanos, most especially the young people, to be involved in entrepreneurship.

Paradela said the DOST is thankful for DigiBayanihan because this will help them in addressing the need of advancement of technology in all aspects of life in the region.

"In partnership and completion of this program, we can further enhance our mission of bringing science and technology for better lives of the Cebuanos and the rest of Central Visayas," he said.

He said that this kind of partnership will help them motivate the Filipinos to stay in the country instead of going abroad.

"We want to involve the marginalized or poor in doing business so that they have opportunity to stay and remain in their place," he said.

"This is one way of improving the quality of education in the region, making them excel among fellow youth in the country," he added.

ASSIST managing director Sreenivas Narayanan; DigiBayanihan partnership consultant Nimfa Alo; and program manager Mary Ann Mendoza were also present during the ceremony. Narayanan said that currently, DigiBayanihan has two contents that would help young people.

First is Career Engine, a social platform designed to prepare graduating college students to be ready in the industry through training videos and downloadable supplementary materials for them to develop the appropriate mindset in looking for the right career.

Second is Test Hero, it is an online test reviewing portal which enables the high school students to practice their ability in answering critical questions. It is aimed at democratizing education by making its content free, comprehensive, and accessible to all.

He said the direct impact of the program in the Visayas region includes the improvement of quality of education, providing trainings to communities and schools, and helping young individuals get easily employed.

According to Narayanan, they are aiming to build six Centers of Excellence in Visayas and Mindanao to reach to the grassroots community.

They are also planning to conduct capacity building certification trainings to its content users, public library staff, teachers and other community members that advocate the same goal in order to have a domino effect in the region.