A Bright Future in IT

Election 2010... a Bright Future for IT in the Philippines

2010-05-11T15:47:00.010+08:00

Looking at it from a 'project management' point of view, the preparations leading to the Philippines' first automated election system was almost at a 'nightmare' level. Just like a lot of fellow Filipinos, I shared the view and sentiments of the so called "IT Experts" I often see and hear in the news. As a project manager, you never deploy a system this big, a system this critical, without a thorough simulation and comprehensive "operational testing." I wanted to remain optimistic about the new system, but checking each item in my imaginary project management 'checklist', I cannot help but feel nervous about the situation. So with that feeling of nervousness, plus ongoing talks about possible failure of election scenarios, I went out on May 10, 2010, to cast my vote.

But as always, Filipinos never seize to surprise and amaze, specially concerning our democratic exercises. For starters, I was happy to see a lot of people joining the long lines of voters, and the mood was generally relaxed, if not festive, in the voting precincts. Secondly, in spite of the many 'glitches' in the technical preparation, and the supposed over-sensitivity of the system even for small mistakes in ballot shading, the voters (young and old alike) looked genuinely excited to try out the new system. Thirdly, unfamiliarity with the new system made the voting process quite time consuming compared with the previous, but voters were very patient about it, with some even extending until late in the night to cast their votes.

While waiting for about 4 hours before I finally had the chance to vote, mostly I was smiling with the thought that the Filipinos had again shown the world their love for democracy, their openness to adopt new technology, and their undying faith that things can, and will become better than it is now.

Oh. I almost forgot why I wanted to write this entry in the first place :)

Being an IT professional, I wanted to say how happy I am of the openness and enthusiasm of Filipinos in quickly adapting to the automated election system. In my own experience in the IT industry, a computerized system, however reliable and efficient it may be, is only as effective as the willingness of the "users" to use it in place of their current (manual) system.

In our recent election, I saw not only the willingness of voters to use the new system, but their excitement to be a part of it, in spite of the many negative news about it. If it is any indication of our general willingness to adopt a more organized, a more efficient, yet more structured (inflexible and sometimes rigid, specially regarding mistakes and errors) system than the one we are used to already, then I can say that we Filipinos really have a bright future in IT (and technology) ahead of us. I can see this trickling down to our local companies and organizations. IT solution providers and software developers can now propose computerized/automated processes and systems, and we do not have to worry so much about acceptability and adaptation by the users, especially Filipinos. Once they are convinced of the benefits, they will be more than glad to be part of the new system.

Remarkable PhilNITS Pass Rate of 31.25% from Davao

2010-05-07T23:33:00.012+08:00

Congratulations to all who passed the recent PhilNITS exams!

(check out the results here at www.philnits.org ... passers from Davao begins with FE04...)

I am so happy!!!

I am so happy right now for so many reasons...

... results were updated to show 15 passed from Davao in the recent (March, 2010) PhilNITS exam, from the initially heartbreaking thought (see my previous entry) of only 5 passers

... we have met our target of 10 passers for Davao, however improbable a target it was when we set it knowing that Davao averages only about 6% pass rate and maximum of 5 passers in past exams

... we have met the challenge of our major sponsor company, Data Horizon, who hopefully will decide to continue their support and confidence for Davao IT students/professionals

... we have achieved a remarkable 31.25% pass rate (15 passers out of 48 examinees), which is quite good even compared to average national pass rate of around 15% and even Japan's average pass rate of around 20%

... we have achieved this result in spite of the surprise major change in structure and format of the examination

... it is a well deserved pass result, as I know most of the passers and I know how much heart and effort they have put into preparing for the exam

... our review program has finally reached this milestone, learning from several unsuccessful attempt to produce a good enough number of passers from Davao

... we provided very promising career opportunities waiting for our passers, considering how difficult it is to find a good job that compensates well and one that helps us to grow in our chosen field of Information Technology

... we have a good participation from our local SW development companies, contributing also to our list of passers

And finally, I am happy and excited that this inspiring result would encourage and motivate more from Davao to challenge the PhilNITS certification exam.

Lessons Learned from PhilNITS... again... and again...

2010-04-30T00:35:00.013+08:00

It's about a year ago when I wrote about how PhilNITS reminded me how hard an exam it is to pass, and how unexpected the results can be. It seems I never learn.

Much of what I am feeling, and what I want to say now, you can read from that post (Lessons Learned from PhilNITS, May 8, 2009).

I am glad that 5 passed from Davao this time. I am glad that three of them I helped with their review, and of those three two were just third year college Computer Science students of UP Mindanao. But...

I know how to accept failure. Having conducted PhilNITS reviews for several years now, I have had my share of crushed expectations. But for me, believe it or not, more important than the present result is the improvement gained each time. It might take some time, but if I can show improvements every time, however small they may be, time will come when we can consistently produce good results.

The probem is, I am not seeing any improvement in the results from our review program. I would like to think we already covered all bases we can possibly can, but still the result doesn't seem to show any pattern at all, aside from it being consistently low (around 3 passers only everytime). Here are some of the possible causes that prevents us from getting a better performance, and what actions were taken to try to resolve them, or why I believe they should not be a reason for us not to pass the exam:

Not enough resource/reference materials for review ==> We have gathered around 15 years of past exams (some from translated Japanese exams); received an exam handbook containing almost two hundred past questions with solutions; received a softcopy of the preparation book for IT passport; received a hardcopy of the FE preparation book; received copies of several lecture materials about fundamental IT concepts; and we even use one or two Japanese reviewer books. I usually tell my review participants that we actually have more than enough review materials that we can feasibly comprehend during our limited review time.
Not enough focus/time is being given for the review ==> Busy with schoolworks (thesis, SP, exams, school activities, etc.) is one the usual excuses. But come to think of it, so are the other students in other schools. Teachers who passed the exams I would think are even busier with their teaching loads, not to mention their having to take care of their family and kids when they get home. As I usually advise my review participants, do not expect to secure 1 hour or longer review periods from your usual schedule, but instead, try to find those packets of time (around 5 to 20 minutes) which I fondly call "nakaw na sandali". These would include lunch breaks, snack breaks, travel time, even CR time. Added up, they amount to almost 2 hours of review per day.
Lacking of motivation and desire to pass the exam ==> In this trying times wherein even the best graduates find it hard to find a good job, what can be a better motivation than an almost certain job offer if you pass the exam. Don't you think a three-year training in Japan, then going back to Davao and establishing the company here, a good deal? All you have to do is pass the exam, and you are almost certain they will offer you the job. of course not all who take the exam would have the same motivations, but I strongly believe there are quite a few (at least 30%) are highly motivated.
Fundamental concepts learned at school is not sufficient ==> I can agree that our schools' current curriculum can use some revising/improving, but students from lesser known schools were able to pass the exam. Even older examinees whose curricullum during their generation I suppose is already obsolete by today's standard, are able to pass the exam. And in our review program, we even have a system to identify which are your weak areas, so you can give focus on improving those areas particularly.
The review program is not very effective ==> Assuming this is true. But still, some students have passed the exam even without the benefit of an organized review, without access to the materials that we have. All they have to rely on are the materials they can freely get from the Web.
The exam is really impossible to pass ==> This one I cannot accept. If Manila and Cebu can show 10 to 20% passing ratio, I cannot accept that students from Davao cannot do the same, or even better. I simply refuse to believe that students from other cities are much better than ours.
The format of the recent exam was changed (from previous) without any warning ==> True. It has caught us off-guard and by surprise, and may have even caused unnecessary nervousness during the exam. But the examinees from other cities also experienced the same, but still they managed to pass the exam.

Maybe I have written too much already. Maybe all I really wanted to say is that I do not know what to do anymore to effect an improvement for the next review program. The last few exams seems to show that the result is really unexpected always. Would it be wise to just conduct the review any which way, without much strategy and planning, and just leave the passing or failing of the exam to mere 'chance'?

A Special Note of Thanks

2010-03-29T00:56:00.005+08:00

Yesterday (March 28, 2010) we had the PhilNITS examinations here in Davao City (simultaneous nationwide, and also with several Asian countries).

I intend to write more details about the examination, particularly the one here in Davao, soon. But for now, I would like to say "Thank You"...

... to all those who took the exams!
... especially to those who exerted extra-ordinary efforts to prepare for the exams
... to those who participated in our tight-scheduled, month-long (almost), daily reviews
... to Data Horizon, for continuing to sponsor the review and the exams for our students
... to members of the Davao Software Industry, Inc. (DSII) for taking/challenging the exams
... to MCA, for sponsoring the exams for some of our Davao IT engineers
... to PhilNITS Foundation, especially the Davao team, for their support and assistance
... to Kato-san, for visiting Davao again, after almost a year
... to the teachers, for their undying support and inspiration to their students
... to those who joined our bowling game last March 21 at the Fairlanes bowling alleys
... to my lovely wife, my cute kids, and my family, for their support and understanding

I am saying my "thank you", not in anticipation of the would-be results, but I am saying my "thank you" regardless of what would be the results of the recent exam.

20 Topics to Start Your PhilNITS Review On

2009-09-18T10:20:00.000+08:00

A recent visitor (BK) to my blog wanted to know if I had a list of recommended topics to focus on in reviewing for the PhilNITS exam. So I came up with one.

Actually those who have attended my reviews were provided a list of Frequently Appearing Topics/Questions, plus subsequent discussions on them. But since that might be difficult to share here, let me give you a list of the 20 most important topics. As the actual scope of questions of PhilNITS is very wide, I hope this short list will be more manageable and can help get your review going:

Radix Conversion
Data Structures (Lists, Queues, Trees)
Basic Search, and Sort Algorithms
Flow-charts and Pseudo-codes
Memory Architecture, and Performance Calculations
Processor Performance Calculations
Auxiliary Storage Capacity and Performance Calculations
State Transitions
Data Flow Diagrams
Basic SQL Commands
System Availability (MTBF, MTTR)
Software Development Methodologies
Testing Methodologies, and Phases
OSI Basic Reference Model
TCP/IP Addressing, and Common Protocols
Database Normalization
Public Key Cryptography
Basic Accounting (Break-Even, Profit, Loss, Inventory)
Seven QC Tools
Arrow Diagrams, and Critical Path determination

As for Tips and Techniques on how to prepare for the exam, and how to improve your chances of passing, these past entries may be useful :

http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/2009/04/pointers-on-how-to-pass-philnits-fe.html

http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/2008/07/pointers-on-how-to-pass-philnits-fe.html

The best of luck to you.

Lessons Learned from PhilNITS

2009-05-08T14:16:00.005+08:00

Today is May 8, 2009. I just finished eating an early lunch when I visited the PhilNITS website (www.philnits.org). I was surprised to see the results of the April 26 (2009) exam already posted, as I expected it to come out after a week more or so.

I immediately looked for passers from Davao (starting with FE005-...), and was surprised to find only 5 in the list of FE passers. I have set my mind not to expect too much (as I did last time), lest I might be dissapointed. But to be honest, I was hoping more from Davao would pass. Maybe because some took the "Removal" exam only. Maybe because some of the examinees already took the October 2008 exam and some of them even got very good scores. Maybe because our current batch of examinees really showed very good promise during our review program. Maybe because some of the examinees were quite confident about their performance when I asked them immediately after the exam.

Today, I was just reminded how difficult it is to pass the PhilNITS exam, and how unexpected the outcome can be. I have learned these so many times before while helping to prepare examinees to pass it. I have not really forgotten those lessons, I just thought that with all the lessons I already learned, and with all the new techniques I introduced to prepare for the exam, that "this time" would be "the time."

But alas, it was not to be.

Today I feel down... I feel I let so many people down.

But I will not give up. PhilNITS is definitely hard to pass, but it is not impossible. And I will continue to find ways to help people do well in the exam...

PhilNITS Exam (Davao City) -- April 26, 2009

2009-04-26T00:00:00.020+08:00

Today is another exciting day for Davao IT!

Today, April 26, 2009, a total of 76 IT students, professionals, teachers and enthusiasts are challenging the PhilNITS certification exams. Majority are taking the exams for the first time (most of them college students in their 3rd year of education), while some have experienced taking it before and are determined to continue the challenge. Almost all examinees are challenging the FE (Fundamental IT Engineer) exam, but there was one who challenged the SW (SW Design and Developent Engineer).

To facilitate the exam, and to provide morale support, Shinichiro Kato (PhilNITS' Vice President for Finance) and PhilNITS Davao staff members Joy Alferez and Renan Cruz were there. Arriel Nengasca also lent a hand in behalf of DTI-XI. I too visited the UIC (Bonifacio) Campus to give support to the PhilNITS people and to the examinees, especially to those who attended my reviews and orientation seminars.

My hopes are high that our examinees will do well in the exam. But with an average passing rate of only about 10% nationwide, I am realistic in my expectations. Still, knowing personally the capability of most of the examinees, I am confident that they have done well. I am just hoping their scores are good enough to reach the passing mark. Last year our review program helped to produce the first student passer from Ateneo de Davao University (Jedd Benedict Kris Mahilum), and also from University of Southeastern Philippines (Rendell Andrin). Three of our review participants from UP-Mindanao also passed (Larvi Jerrick Badoy, Raymond Bryan Brion, Ian Jay Plaza). A good number also got good scores, but ufortunately were a little short of the passing mark.

The PhilNITS review courses were made possible through the generous sponsorship of Data Horizon (a Japanese SW Development company). PhilNITS Foundation also found additional sponsors, allowing more Davaoeños to take the examination in spite of their tough financial standing. This was all made possible through the tireless efforts of PhilNITS president, Ma. Corazon Akol, and its vice president, Shinichiro Kato.

It would be about a month or so before the results of the exams will be known. For the time being, we can relax knowing we prepared well for the exam. Pass or not, we have already benefited a lot (in terms of IT knowledge and skill improvement) from preparing for the exam.

Pointers on How to Pass PhilNITS (FE) - Part II

2009-04-19T15:26:00.012+08:00

(this is a sequel to an earlier post : http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/2008/07/pointers-on-how-to-pass-philnits-fe.html)

My previous pointers on passing the PhilNITS-FE exam focuses on the "preparation" stage, this entry focuses on tips for the "actual exam day."

Reminder : General Description of the Exam (both AM and PM exams)

Tips for the AM Exam

Try to simplify first before computing/solving (especially true for large numbers, decimal points or complicated equations)
Do not leave any item blank. Actual scoring might have weighted score per choice.
Do not spend too much time on “conceptual” or definition-type questions if you do not have any idea about it. Better to guess then proceed with next item.
“Units” are very important during computations
Choose the best answer when you feel there seems to be more than one correct answer
Usually you can readily eliminate one or two of the answer choices
Sometimes you can quickly (but intelligently) guess the correct answers (you may review your answer using the conventional way if there is still time later)
Review your answers if there is still time remaining. There are no additional points for submitting your papers early
Suggested time allocation : 1.5 mins per question

Tips for the PM Exam

Decide your language of preference (C, Java) prior to the exam (but quickly scan also the other option, just in case it offers a much simpler problem to solve)
Tracing the program may be the best way to find the correct answer (so practice your tracing/debugging skills so you can do it very quickly)
All questions are designed that they can be answered, and “hints” and “clues” can be found within the program/question
The fewer the sub-questions, the more weight (in points) they carry
Exam questions are designed with the intent that any examinee with general knowledge can answer them
Do not get intimidated by technically sounding terms that you are not familiar with, as usually a brief explanation about them is mentioned, or, they are not critical to the actual program
Do not get overwhelmed by long questions, flowcharts, or codes (if you do, you will fail to properly understand the program flow)
The longer the question, the more “clues” are mentioned in the question itself
Sometimes the answers are already inside the question text, and can be found without reading the code or flowchart
Program modules are often highly independent from each other (as part of a good coding practice), so you can break them down and analyse by modules (instead of analyzing the program flow as a whole)
It might be a good idea to have a “quick glance” at the answer choices to better understand each question
It is most likely that you will have to go back and refer to the original questions when answering the sub-questions
Manage your reading time well (see suggestions for time allocation)
Suggested time allocation : 15 mins each (for the "Easy" questions #1, 2, 3, 6, 7), 30 mins each (for the "Difficult" questions #4, 5, 8, 9)

Properly Filling Up Your Answer Sheets

If you filled up your examinee number incorrectly, you get NO SCORE for the entire exam set!
If you improperly marked your answers, you get NO POINTS for that particular question
All questions for the morning exam is compulsory. Do not leave any item blank
If you failed to mark the “Selection Column” (between C and Java questions) properly, you will get NO POINTS for those particular questions
If you change your answer, completely and neatly erase your previous answer (exams will be checked by scanning machines)

As a last piece of advice, it might be wise to bring little snacks (more of the "brain food" type) and bottled water which you may eat during the long exam. Better bring also packed lunch as it might be hard to find fastfood centers during the exam day (usually falls on a Sunday).

Best Computer Science SP (Special Problem) 2009 (UP-Mindanao)

2009-04-19T13:37:00.007+08:00

I have always had a high regard for University of the Philippines' (UP) students and UP graduates, as I believe they have one of the best curriculum, professors and students amongst the universities here in the Philippines.

Here in Davao, there are a few admirable universities producing top quality IT engineers (CS, IT, IM, CoE, ECE, etc.) every year. But the fact that majority of those who are passing the PhilNITS certification exam are coming from UP-Mindanao (UP-Min) reinforces my respect for UP, particularly for their Computer Science course. But learning that only a handful of their CS students graduate on time (it takes 4 school years to complete the regular CS course) made me a bit curious why. Apparently, one of the main factors for not graduating on time is their Special Problem (SP) subject, wherein each of students are tasked to focus on a particular problem, and provide solutions (or probable solutions) by applying what they learned from their entire CS course. As per my discussion with UP-Min's CS Department Chair, Ms. Vanessa C. Ramoran, the ideal SP is one which introduces a new (may even be revolutionary) algorithm, demonstrating the field of expertise of the CS course (as a differentiated from other IT related courses).

When Mr. Riannel Tecson, a CS faculty member of UP-Min, invited me to be one of the judges for their 2009 Search for the Best SP for CS (April 17, 2009), I took it as an opportunity to personally see the kind and quality of SP UP-Min produces, and maybe even get an idea why some of their students find it hard to finish on time.

The quality and contents of the manuscript and the presentations of the finalists (please see list below, ordered according to the sequence of actual presentation) did not dissapoint me :

Sedfrey Dickson Atay : Barangay Mintal's Human Resource Management System
Kevin Bernard San Gaspar : Windows Vista Compatibility and Addition of a Compiler Function for the Examination On-Line (an exam system used by the CS department)
Precita Samonte : Office of Student Affairs (OSA) Student Organizations A.S. (SOAS) Website

They might be a bit different from what I am used to in my experience in the IT industry, but as an academic exercise they are quite impressive.

After the presentations by the finalists, and also after some discussions with Ms. Ramoran and my co-judges (Mr. Tecson, and Professor Vicente Calag), I now have a better understanding why the SP might cause a student not to graduate on time. Here are some of the possible factors that I learned :

SP is an individual exercise (and usually takes a lot of effort to complete)
SP corresponds to only 3 units (side-by-side with other major subjects and school activities, sometimes focus is lost on the SP completion)
SP usually is started from the fourth-year of the CS course (so if you miss it's completion, you cannot graduate on time)
Some UP students are already working (usually as part-time) while studying (so sometimes there is reduced motivation to finish the course on time as they are already earning)
As more and more students are needing one or more extra semester to finish their course, it might have brought the wrong notion to younger students that it is the norm rather than the exception

But these factors are well known by the students (and is common also with other universities). And although they might make the SP more challenging, there is still no excuse for not finishing the SP on time. And it still is the responsibility of the student to manage his/her time well so as not to loose focus on their SP's completion. But with the able guidance, coaching and mentoring from their teachers, I believe the situation would definitely improve. Perhaps, it's solution can even become the subject of one student's SP in the future :)

IT Olympiad Quiz Bowl

2009-02-21T16:36:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, me and my wife attended the IT Olympiad Quiz Bowl, as part of the contest's judges. The IT Olympiad is a yearly event organized by CDITE-XI and PSITE-XI, and participated by schools under their group. Aside from the Quiz Bowl, part of their event was their Research Paper Presentations, and a Programming Contest.

This time, it was a partnership with PhilNITS to formulate the Quiz Bowl's questions. Being located here in Davao and a known advocate of PhilNITS, and being neutral (no official affiliation with any particular school), I was requested to develop the questions. It helped also that both me and my wife (who helped by reviewing the questions I made) are passers of the exam.

I had to skip sleep the night before as it was the only time I had to finish developing the questions. It was all worth it after seeing that the participants, organizers and even the audience appreciate the questions. All my tiredness and sleepiness went away when I observed several organizers and audience trying to answer the questions too :) That was part of my objective as I wanted the competition to be "engaging and educational" too.

The questions were said to be more challenging as compared to previous ones. But basing on the result of the competition, if you have fundamental knowledge on IT concepts, you can answer the PhilNITS-based questions. That's pretty much the same with the actual PhilNITS exam. At first glance they seem impossible to pass, but once you get to know how it is organized, from which topics (they call it IT Body of Knowledge) they base the questions, and what are the most important areas to focus on, you will gain that confidence and pass the exam. It was one of the messages I was hoping to deliver during the event. And I am hoping it will inspire more students to join the Quiz Bowl next time, and also take the PhilNITS exams.

Congratulations by the way to the organizers for such a meaningful, and successful, activity. Congratulaions also to all participants and their coaches, and also the audience who came in support of their respective school mates. Of course, a congratulation is in order to the winners :
1st place = Jose Maria College
2nd place = UP Mindanao
3rd place = Davao Del Norte State College

My Guiding Principles for Year 2009

2009-01-31T00:04:00.015+08:00

Year 2008 marked my return to the IT industry (click here to read a previous post on this) since relocating here to Davao city.

For year 2009, I plan to be more focused and involved with IT.

Based on my actual IT work experience in the past, there are several areas of IT I can participate in, e.g SW development, Quality assurance, Human resource development, etc. I can opt to work for an existing IT company here in Davao, work as a consultant, or maybe even put up my own company. But I believe in starting small, and doing all you can to succeed in every step.

I have decided that the most fulfilling for me would be to get involved in the Human Resource Development (knowledge, skill, competency) side of IT. Naturally the main core of my activities would be trainings and seminars, but they would also be supplemented by the following :
* PhilNITS ==> to serve as the base standard of our knowledge and skill level in IT, and also as a tool (PhilNITS exam) to objectively measure our competency
* SW Development ==> to serve as a venue for practical application of the skills learned during the trainings, and to gain actual experience needed to become a competitive IT engineer
* HR Deployment ==> to serve as an end goal of our skill improvement activities. for most at least, the goal is to get employed in a reputable and highly competitive IT company

To make sure I do not go off target, I have the set the following as my guiding principles :
1. Earn a living for my family, and find fulfillment in what I do
2. Promote PhilNITS and contribute to it's sustainability
3. Improve and promote IT capability of Davao

Financial earning is very important, specially so because I have a family to raise. Currently, much of my efforts now are done without much regard to the immediate gain I might be getting in return. But it is my hope that the foundation I am laying down today will reap rewards for PhilNITS, for me, and for Davao in the near (hopefully very soon) future :)

Consistent with my guiding principles, I try to represent PhilNITS any possible way I can (specially here in Davao). I strongly believe that by utilizing PhilNITS (the standards it sets and the actual certification exam), we can even surpass our Asian neighbors (Japan, Korea, Singapore, etc.) in terms of IT knowledge and skill. Capability wise, we definitely have the potential. And now we have the tool (PhilNITS).

In my previous work in the IT field, I have worked with IT engineers who hailed from different cities and provinces of the Philippines. It is my observation that those coming from Davao generally have the traits that makes for a good IT engineer : technically adept, easily trainable, very sociable, and has the potential to be good leaders. I has since made it a personal mission to help develop the IT skills and promote Davao as a good IT destination.

As my initial activities, I have conducted PhilNITS reviews (contributing to the passers from Davao), shared my learnings and experiences with IT students (preparing them to be more competitive when they become IT professionals), and personally promoted Davao (to my Japanese friends and aquaintances, in my trainings in Japan, and other activities done outside of Davao). I am also actively encouraging our graduating students to excel as IT engineers, and let the world know that they hail from Davao, as they are Davao's most effective promoters.

The number one challenge I am facing now is finding similar-minded people to help me turn my plans and ideas into reality. Activating the PhilNITS-society (passers of PhilNITS) members living here in Davao would be best. As working together we can work towards having more PhilNITS passers from Davao, get more sponsors for IT skill development programs, and conduct IT-related trainings and seminars. Another option is to collaborate with teachers and students who are involved in IT, as this could have the widest reach and coverage for our advocacy of IT skill improvement in Davao. I know that alone my activities may not bring much of an impact, but I strongly believe that the day will come (soon) when we can form a group that would embrace and promote that advocacy of having a brighter future in IT, starting here in the Davao region.

2008 : The Year I Returned to IT

2009-01-01T14:41:00.010+08:00

When my family transferred to Davao year 2006, I temporarily hibernated from the IT industry, where I worked for more than 12 years. In that span of time I got to experience and manage different aspects on an IT company, e.g. Software Development, Project Management, Offshore Assignment (IBM Japan), Quality Assurance, Recruitment and Training.

Year 2008 marked my return to IT. It was kicked-off by a 5-week training in Japan for "Bridge Systems Engineer," (click here to read a previous post on this) wherein I confirmed I still had what it takes to lead and manage SW development projects, particularly focused on offshore contracts from Japanese companies. It was good to be able to visit Japan again after some time. Aside from the very good technical learnings I got, it also provided me with a good opportunity to plan my return to IT.

Upon my return I discussed with PhilNITS for a possible tie-up to conduct some IT trainings here in Davao. PhilNITS Foundation president, Ma. Corazon M. Akol, was very kind to accomodate my ideas. Our first collaborative activity was a PhilNIS-FE review program. We found it hard to gather interested participants (our target were Davao IT professionals) for the review. But I guess the timing and situation was just right, as PhilNITS was able to secure a sponsor which allowed us to accomodate several participants for free. We even got more sponsors to be able to to offer the same review programs to selected Davao students. I think the outcome of the review was decent enough, producing all 5 student passers from Davao for the October 2008 exam. (click here to view October 2008 results for Davao)

November of the same year I got another chance to visit Japan, this time for a 3-week training on "Software Design and Development Engineer." (click here to read previous post on this) I learned many valuable information about the PhilNITS exam on this training, which I would later use to improve my PhilNITS review program. The time spent in Japan also gave me the chance to reflect on how successful my return to IT is for the year 2008. Although actual activities done were not many and only occasional, I think I was still able to lay down a good foundation for my plans for 2009.

Hopefully year 2009 would be a much busier and much fruitful year for me, for PhilNITS and for the IT engineers of Davao...

Davao PhilNITS-FE Passers = 12+1 (as of 11/07/2008)

2008-12-01T20:24:00.004+08:00

To keep track of the PhilNITS passers of Davao, my wife and I donated to PhilNITS Davao office a wallclock wherein the names of all those who have so far passed the exams are printed. As of the latest results of PhilNITS (November 7, 2008) posted at their website (http://www.philnits.org/), the number of examinees who have passed the PhilNITS FE exam in Davao so far is 12. There are also some examinees who passed only either the AM or the PM part. And I am positively hopeful they will complete the remaining part next time they take the exam.

Here is a glimpse of the clock face :

You might have notice 13 names in the clock face. The other one is my wife's. She passed the exam in Manila, but is now back in her beloved hometown of Davao, and is here for good.

The next level exam, PhilNITS SW, has not yet been conducted in Davao (maybe because nobody have registered to challenge it). But this coming April 2009 exam, there are some of us who are seriously considering to take it, and of course with the intention (or at least hope) to pass it. So until now all the passers are for the FE exam.

So far the clock can still accomodate the names of all passers. But I am hoping soon we will need a bigger one... meaning, there will be a lot more who will pass the exam and we cannot place them all in the current clockface. Now that is something I am excited about, and really looking forward to...

Eat-All-You-Can Barbecue in Tokyo

2008-11-09T15:31:00.005+08:00

(November 8, 2008. Tokyo, Japan) Together with some friends from my previous company, we went to eat at an “all-you-can-eat barbecue” restaurant at Shimbashi. With all the excitement, I forgot to check the name of the place. For 1,200 yen, you choose from a buffet of meats (beef, pork, chicken), vegetables, etc., and barbecue them right at your dining table. There are ready-to-eat complements too, like rice, dumplings, noodles, etc., a selection of fruits and desserts, and an unlimited refill of juice and colas. The patrons were a mix of different nationalities (Japanese, Filipinos, Asians, Europeans, etc.), and two buses full of Chinese occupied only a fifth of the packed place. My stomach was so full when our 1-hour time limit expired, I felt like needing a wheelchair to leave the place.

To burn some of the fats away, we went for a walk at Ueno Park. After taking some interesting pictures and visiting some of the nice places there, we decided to call it a day and go our different ways (I was living at a different area than them, and had to take a different train line). But we felt like there were still much to talk about, and lost time to catch up. We decided to chat for a little bit more at Starbucks, or any other cafe house, but we ended up at Mc Donalds. some had coffee, others had nice cold drinks. We were still too full to eat. Before we knew it, we already spent more than two hours just chatting about anything.

But most of our discussions revolved around some news and happenings about their company, AWS Systems. Somehow I felt like I still belonged to the company, as it was my first (and only). I had to leave it (after more than 12 years) when I started raising my family and transferred to Davao. Somehow our discussions gave me renewed energy to pursue the current challenges I am facing, and helped clear my mind to set the direction of my return to IT, this time focusing on skill development of the next generation of Filipino IT engineers.

We also talked about how we can motivate young Filipino IT students and enthusiasts to pursue a future in IT. Informally, I asked for their support in sharing their stories and experiences, both good and not-so-good, about their IT career and life. We agreed with the observation that one of the problems facing future IT engineers is the lack of a clear image or idea of what is in store for them in the field of IT, and how they can grab those opportunities. We also talked about the values, knowledge, skills and attitude that should be taught and introduced to them based on the actual needs and requirement of the current IT industry. I hope one day we can make concrete steps towards sharing these stories with others.

Then finally it was time to go home. Aside from being re-energized with meeting my friends again, I was so happy because our Nihongo teacher (sensei), who is also a good friend of mine and a baptismal godmother of my son, gave some gifts for her godson, and a lot of Japanese food stuff to bring home to Davao. Unfortunately for those in Davao (but fortunately for me), some of those stuffs may never reach them, as they are too tempting to ignore, specially when I am by my lonesome in my hotel room studying and preparing for my lessons the next day.

Seven Passers from Davao for the October 2008 PhilNITS-FE Exam

2008-11-07T17:30:00.006+08:00

In an earlier entry (see Davao Aims to Make a Mark in PhilNITS), I wrote that I finally had a chance to conduct review classes in Davao for the PhilNITS-FE exam, which I hoped will help bring notice to the IT competency of Davaoeños.

A total of seven (7) passed in Davao. Five (5) of them were fortunate enough to have passed the exam in their first try. All five attended my review program. The other two passers passed one part of the exam (either the morning or the afternoon part) in their previous take, and the other part in the recent (Oct 2008) exam.

I would like to extend my congratulations to the seven recent Davao passers of the PhilNITS-FE certification exam!
(FE03-0081) Andrin, Rendell Caldona *(USEP)
(FE03-0088) Atiagan, Rosfield Cabanes
(FE03-0041) Badoy, Larvi Jerrick Ocsio *(UP-Min)
(FE03-0070) Brion, Raymond Bryan Solomero *(UP-Min)
(FE03-0064) Mahilum, Jedd Benedict Kris Tahil *(AdDU)
(FE03-0027) Plaza, Ian Jay Cañares *(UP-Min)
(FE03-0077) Sereño, Mylene Estandarte
* attended the review program I conducted in cooperation with PhilNITS Davao

(you may visit PhilNITS website for the complete list of passers)

This brings to 12 the PhilNITS-FE passers of Davao. If we include my wife, who passed the exam in Manila but is now residing here in Davao, then we have 13 PhilNITS-FE certified passers here in Davao. I know we have more Davaoeños who already passed the exam but have taken it in other exam sites throughout the Philippines. I hope one day we can gather together, physically or virtually, and help promote Davao's IT capability.

SW Design and Development Engineer Training in Japan

2008-11-06T16:03:00.002+08:00

I am fortunate to have another chance to visit Japan this year (2008), from November 2 to 23, for an IT training sponsored by AOTS, in cooperation with PilNITS. The training is about the Software Design and Development Engineer Exam, or SW for short, which is also being conducted by PhilNITS in the Philippines. The exam is one level higher to the Fundamental Engineer (FE) exam of PhilNITS also. Both SW and FE are recognized by Japan as a valid measure of one's IT competence, and can be used to facilitate getting work in Japan as an IT engineer. For my case, passing the FE exam has allowed me to participate in two advance IT trainings in Japan this year alone.

My current training, SWIT as we officially call it, comes in a good timing for me, as I am also planning to conduct more IT trainings and reviews in Davao. I recently conducted reviews for the October 2008 FE exam in Davao. And hopefully next year reviews for SW can follow.

I plan to write about the technical details of the training in a future entry, but for now let me share the other aspect of our visit here. For the SWIT training, there are a total of 23 participants, from Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. We are lucky to have the most number of participants, a total of 8 came from the Philippines. Most of the participants are working in the academe or educational institutions, and are quite experienced and knowledgable in their respective fields or specialization. Aside from my learnings in the formal lectures, I am sure to learn a lot from my colleagues too.

We are staying here in Tokyo, and our training is conducted at AOTS Tokyo Kenshu Center (TKC). The weather is quite nice, compared to the Philippines it's like being in an airconditioned room anywhere you go, but not yet too cold that you will need gloves already. Our formal lectures are being conducted by NEC Learning Ltd., and they provided us each with individual notebook computers for our use during the training period. The training room is also very nice, with all the necessary facilities you will need for a seminar/training, and more (like a big TV set for film showings, and wireless access points, etc.) How I wish trainings in the Philippines can be as nice as they do it here. In general the lecturers are good, but not all. Some also just looks at their powerpoint and reads everything that is written there. But all lecturers are well experienced in their respective expertise in the IT field, every lecture time is a treasure cove of experience and learning.

More about the training and my acitivities here in the coming days...

Bridge Systems Engineer Training in Japan

2008-10-20T22:57:00.004+08:00

Being a passer of the PhilNITS-FE exam, I was privileged to be able to join the Bridge Systems Engineer (Bridge SE) training held in Japan last February 18 to March 21, 2008. It was a very timely training for me, first because it kicked-off my return to the IT field (after a year or so of hibernation), and second because I was planning to provide formal IT trainings in Davao from this year.

The training was great! Not only were the trainers, co-participants and venue wonderful, undergoing the training seemed to have awaken in me the experiences I acquired in my more than 12 years of being in the IT industry. It refreshed me with knowledge and skills required of a bridge SE, and povided practical exercises in IT project management.

The training was of course for free, sponsored by the Association for Overseas Technical Scholarships (AOTS), and offered to Filipinos through the cooperation of the PhilNITS Foundation, Inc.

Interestingly, I was the only participant coming from Davao. Majority where from Manila and Cebu. Also, I was not the most mature in the group, but somehow my capability to speak Japanese (at least on a casual conversational level) and my previous exposure working for a Japanese software development company helped me to cope well with the environment, and to understand the technical and Japanese Language (Nihongo) lectures resonably well. Sometimes I even have the chance to help out some co-participants from the Philippines and Vietnam.

The training also gave me the chance to visit Japan again after six (or seven) years. The last time I went there was for a one-and-half year long assignment at IBM Japan. It was also a good chance to experience more closely the Osaka culture, as my previous visit there was only for a day-trip sight seeing tour. It was good to know also that I remembered still some of my Nihongo, making me confident in exploring around Osaka and not getting lost.

I plan to write more about the technical contents of the Bridge SE training in a future entry, so that I can share to others at least the practical learnings I was fortunate enough to receive.

Davao aims to make a mark in PhilNITS

2008-08-30T23:46:00.007+08:00

August suddenly became a very busy month for me, as I was just informed that I will conduct two more batch of review courses for around 50 graduating students to help prepare them for the upcoming PhilNITS-FE exam. The additional courses will start early September, but I need to prepare early as the schedule will become "frantic" come September and first half of October.

I am very happy for the additional review courses, but at the same time very worried as conducting simultaneous reviews, with a compressed schedule, and with a large number of participants for each batch, will surely be a challenge. It turned out that from September, all my weekday evenings are fully booked, with only Tuesday as a day-off. Even the whole days of Saturdays and Sundays were booked. This is one time I cannot afford to get sick, or else we cannot anymore meet our target before October 19 (the day of the PhilNITS exam).

The first batch of reviewees are mostly professionals. Some already working in the IT field, others have just decided to transfer/go back to IT. There are also a good number of faculties from the academe. This is a good opportunity for me, as whatever I can share with these batch, they are at a position to carry on the sharing with their colleagues and students.

The second batch are all students, mostly coming from UP Mindanao, and some from the University of the Immaculate Conception (UIC) engineering department. I am both excited, and in a way intimidated, to teach this batch as so far UP has produced the most number of PhilNITS passers in Davao. I am sure to learn a thing or two from the participants as well.

The third batch are mosty from Ateneo de Davao University (AdDU), plus some from the University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP), UIC, and UP Mindanao. I am also very excited to teach this batch as I know their students have good capability, and that I might be of help to produce the first (except UP) passers from these schools.

It will also be a good opportunity for me to compare the performance of these different batches, as the program I will be using is common for all three. You may visit this previous entry for an overview of the review program I plan to conduct (http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/2008/07/philnits-review-course-in-davao.html). This will provide me with a unique insight as to the readiness and competency in the fundametals of IT of these different organizations. I believe they are also a good representation of Davao, so this would be my first snapshop of Davao's capability to pass the PhilNITS-FE exam.

We have yet to see effectiveness of our review program, but I am hopeful that we can produce a decent number of passers this time from Davao. And in our own little way help Davao to be noticed more when it comes to IT (particularly in the software development field) in the Philippines.

Pointers on How to Pass PhilNITS (FE)

2008-07-31T20:51:00.016+08:00

For those who would like to challenge the PhilNITS Fundamental Engineer (FE) certification exam, but do not know how to start or how to proceed, I am compiling here some pointers I have gathered through my own experiences, discussions with others who have tried out the exam, and also from my own analysis and researches. I hope some of the information here will be of help in your preparing for the exam...

1. Have the Right Motivation

Everything changes depending on your motivation. If for example it has been your childhood dream to work in Japan as an IT engineer, then having the PhilNITS certification may be your passport in achieving that dream, and you will do everything to be able to improve your chances of passing the exam. Here are but a few more possible motivations for challenging the exam :

Skill Development and Improvement
Appreciation and Recognition
Standardized and Objective Skill Assessment
Rewarding and Challenging Job or Employment
Career Advancement
Advanced Technical Trainings

2. Get to Know PhilNITS Better

I believe in the saying that you need to know more your enemies before you can defeat them. Although PhilNITS is not an enemy, having a better understanding of the background, history, vision and composition of the PhilNITS exam will improve your chance greatly of formulating an effective strategy and eventually passing the exam.

One of the most important matters you need to know about PhilNITS is the basis and the scope of the questions in the exams. PhilNITS utilizes two Bodies of Knowledge (BOK), one is the IT Common BOK (for the morning part of the exam), the second one is the Practical or Core BOK (for the afternoon part of the exam)

You may visit also the following sites for more information :
http://www.philnits.org/
http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/

3. Improve Your Confidence

Even if you have the capabality to pass the exam, but you do not have the confidence, it would be very difficult for you to pass. On the other hand, if you currently do not have the knowledge or capability of to pass the exam, but have confidence about your potentials, then there should be no problem for you in passing the exam, given enough time and support during your preparation.

The tricky part about confidence improvement is on how to measure it. One simple way I can advise is to download a past exam set. Let us take for example the morning exam part, which is composed of 80 questions. Create a checklist for all 80 items, and start placing a check mark for all questions/items for which you are already knowledgable and confident in solving and getting the right answer. Your goal is to have as many questions with check marks. You can measure your confidence level in percentage, or the ratio of the total items with check marks over 80.

In improving your confidence, you should aim for a level higher than the actual exam requirements, as normally the underlying condition during the actual exams makes it more challenging for concentration and focus. So I recommend to set at least a target of 85%, as the actual passing mark for PhilNITS is 75%.

4. Don't Work Hard. Work Smart

The scope of the PhilNITS exam is very wide, and it covers topics usually taken during a regular 4-year BS in Computer Science course. Do not just review or study blindly, as it is almost impossible to cover all the topics in the Body of Knowledge if given only a couple of months to do it. Instead, if you can organize the information about the exam, and about the questions that are coming out, you may be able to formulate an effective strategy that will help guide you where to put focus on. Also, if you are able to objectively measure your understanding of each items, you will be able to determine which items you are weak at, and then start working to improve on them.

5. Attend Organized Reviews

Some people can review or study better alone and by themselves. But if you are already busy with other activities (like school, work, family, etc.), sometimes you need to force yourself to be able to focus on reviewing or preparing for an exam like PhilNITS. In this regard, attending an organized group review might be beneficial for you. An organized group may either be a professionally conducted review, or even just your regular group of friends who decided that you are all in this together in preparing for the exam.
Here are some of the foreseen benefits of attending organized reviews :

Will Usually Force You to Allocate Time
Sense of Commitment Other Than to Yourself Only
Sharing and Discussions
Expert Tips and Advices
Coaching and Guidance
Professional Assessment

And finally, here is a list of References and Materials that might be helpful for your preparation :

Past PhilNITS Exams (www.philnits.org/downloads.html)
Solutions to Past Exams (available at PhilNITS office, ask for the “Preparation Books”)
Textbooks on “Fundamental IT” (available at PhilNITS office)
Online Review System (available at PhilNITS office)
IT Common Body of Knowledge (www.philnits.org/downloads.html)
Practical Body of Knowledge (www.philnits.org/downloads.html)
Handbook on PhilNITS (www.philnits.org/downloads.html)
Additional Backgrounder on PhilNITS (http://abrightfit.blogspot.com/)

PhilNITS Review Course in Davao

2008-07-17T20:46:00.017+08:00

In cooperation with PhilNITS, I can finally offer formal review courses for Davaoeños in preparation for the October 2008 PhilNITS exam.

The plan is actually quite simple, gather enough participants interested in taking the exam, improve their confidence to pass the exam, and then have them take the exam. But of course it is easier said than done.

For starters, it will be challenging to gather enough participants from Davao who are willing to invest both time and money and undergo a rigorous review course for an exam whose benefits they are not yet very familiar with. Second, who will want to invest in a review course that has no track record yet to boast of its effectiveness. Third, how will you improve the participants' confidence enough to pass an exam whose national passing ratio so far is only about 15%.

Fortunately, somehow, once the decision has been made to push through with the review course, solutions started appearing for the challenges mentioned. And any new problems or challenges that comes along the way will just have to be dealt with as they appear.

For the review course participants, PhilNITS will untilize its exisiting network to invite prospective reviewees. They will try to tap also some sponsors that would be willing to take care of some, if not all, of participants would-be expenditure for the review, including the enrollment fees and materials.

As for the review course program itself, I would just have to rely on my actual industry experience, and also on my experience of conducting similar exam preparatory courses before.

Here is a quick glance of the features of the review course...

The importance and benefits of the exam for IT engineers would be well emphasized, by showing the participants a picture of what is waiting for them in the world of IT, particularly in the software development industry.

And once we get the proper motivation for challenging the PhilNITS exam, a systematic and smart approach to studying/reviewing will be implemented. Considering the very wide scope of topics of the PhilNITS exam, the only way to effectively prepare for it is if we can somehow provide an organization and structure to the concepts and skills it requires the examinees to have. The next step would be to assess where the weak area is, and to improve on those weak areas.

And finally, we will work on the confidence of the participants, and bring it to a level that will hopefully be enough for them to pass the exam. Confidence is equally as important as actual knowledge and skill, because the absence of which may cause a relatively knowledgable and talented examinee to fail. Incidentally, to build/improve confidence, it is definitely necessary to improve ones skill and knowledge as well.

With all these systems in place and running as planned, and with the dedication of the participants, I am hoping that Davao can produce several passers this coming October exam.

Present IT Situation in Davao

2008-07-11T23:09:00.004+08:00

The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), an independent administrative agency tasked to promote trade and investment between Japan and other countries, commissioned a research about the IT situation in Davao, and published a report in the January 2008 issue of their monthly Philippine IT Industry Report.

In this entry, I will discuss about and quote some portion of the report. The research was conducted at the later part of 2007, so it is possible more up-to-date data and information may be available today. To access the whole report, kindly visit the JETRO website at http://www.jetro.go.jp/

For me, the focus on Davao is a welcome development as it is my aspiration that Davao has the same level of exposure, attention and investment opportunities in IT as Manila and Cebu. I have always believed that Davao has a rich pool of technically capable and well-rounded (in terms of attitude and personality) potential IT engineers. But unless we have more investors, both local and multinational, Davao would be relegated to sending their best IT graduates to Manila, Cebu or to other countries like Japan. This seems to be confirmed by the report as it says “IT Services/IT Enabled Services (ITS/ITES) industry-related activities among Japanese firms in Davao are currently very limited beyond the hiring of graduates from Davao universities by Cebu- and Manila-based Japanese companies.”
ITS/ITES Companies in Davao
The biggest contributors in terms of IT-related job creation are coming from call center companies. There are 15 companies engaged in Software Development, but most are operating in very small scale, with the largest one not even having 100 employees. “Some of the well-known software development houses based in Davao are Lane Systems (http://www.lanesystems.com/) and Hubport Interactive (http://www.hubportinteractive.com/) – both are home-grown companies. At the end of 2007, there are as yet no foreign-funded software firms in Davao.”, the report says.

Industry Data
As the ITS/ITES industry in Davao is still very young, there is not much statistical data available. Such data would be very useful for potential investors, planners, and other IT stakeholders. The Department of Trade and Industry Region 11 (DTI-XI) data shows the number of Davao-based companies for the following : Call Centers = 6; Animation, Web Development = 5; Software Development = 15; Medical Transcription=5; Engineering Design=1. In terms of salary, the minimum wage in Davao is 250/day, while Call Center agents may get between P11,000 to P13,000 per month. Software developers on the other hand may receive from P7,500 to P12,000 monthly salary.

Infrastructure
“In terms of Davao’s communications infrastructure, it is safe to assume that it will further improve over time as major telecommunication operators are already present in Davao. And, increased supply of office spaces are to be expected as real estate developments in addition to the Damosa IT Park are being planned by SM and Ayala, among others. With regards to power supply, an executive of Nakayama Technology Corp. told JETRO there is a 5 to 10-minute outage per week, or none at all. Power supply does not seem to pose a serious problem here.”

Major Challenges
Based on the report, there are two major challenges in the promotion of the IT industry in Davao. The first is the concern about Davao’s seeming poor public safety, mainly because it is part of Mindanao. “Davao’s crime rate is low, the widespread image about the poor public safety in Mindanao in general is unfortunately also applied to Davao,…”, the report says.
The second challenge is how to meet the increasing demand for more IT professionals. According to the report, “Region 11, which includes Davao City, sees an average of 16,600 college graduates each year, but the number of graduates from IT-related courses does not reach 1,000 per year.”

Conclusion
The report concludes that “The reporter’s honest impression of the state of Davao’s ICT industry is that, the maturity level of the private sector industry, and the public sector that supports it, is still low.”

Fundamental IT Engineer Exam (PhilNITS-FE)

2008-07-06T15:26:00.009+08:00

Overview
PhilNITS-FE is the Entry Level examination amongst the IT Engineer certification exams being implemented by PhilNITS. It is based on one of the 14 exams given by the Japan IT Engineers Examination Center (JITEC) of the Information Technology Promotions Agency (IPA) of the Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI) of Japan. (you may refer to this earlier post, Overview of the PhilNITS Certification, for additional information)

IT Engineers’ Certification Exams

The PhilNITS-FE Exam is used to evaluate the knowledge and skills of an IT engineer on the fundamentals of IT. It requires the person to have the ability to develop a good program by making full use of techniques related to basic-level algorithm and data structure. The FE Exams also requires the person to be able to successfully carry out jobs such as program development, unit tests, and system integration tests.

Target Examinees, and their Career Path

Exam Description
The entire exam is paper-based, and composed of multiple-choice type of questions. Being a “whole-day” exam, it is divided into the morning and afternoon parts. In general, the morning part deals more with concepts, while the afternoon part deals with programming.

Exam Fee
P 1,800

Schedule
Twice Annually (April and October)
(please refer to PhilNITS website for exact dates of exam)

Answer Sheet

Both answer sheets for the morning and afternoon part of the exam will be provided to all examinees. See below for a view of a sample answer sheet :

Exam Venue
PhilNITS is currently being conducted in several key cities and provinces nationwide.

(For the complete list of examination centers, please refer to another blog entry entitled “PhilNITS Examination Centers”)

* please visit the PhilNITS official website (http://www.philnits.org/) for up-to-date information about the certification exam

PhilNITS Examination Centers

2008-06-15T23:48:00.004+08:00

To make the PhilNITS exams accessible to as many Filipinos as possible, it is currently being conducted on several examination centers nationwide. As the certification exam becomes more widely recognized, the number of examinees is expected to increase, with it the number of examination centers also. As of the moment, please refer to the list below for the examination centers where you can choose to take the exam. Please note that registration for the exam itself can be done only through the three offices of PhilNITS at Manila, Cebu and Davao (you may refer to this earlier post, PhilNITS the Organization, for the complete address and contract information) or via the PhilNITS website at http://www.philnits.org/.

Manila:
Philippine Christian University
Taft Ave., Manila
Contact Person: c/o PhilNITS
Tel: (02) 898-2691 to 92, 0910-219-8335
URL: www.philnits.org, www.jitse.org

Baguio:
University of Baguio
Gen. Luna Road, Baguio City
Contact Person: Ms. Ellen Halover
Dean, IT Department
Tel: (074) 442-4915 loc. 175 , (074) 442-3071

Bohol-Tagbilaran:
Holy Name University
Tagbilaran City
Contact Person: Ms. Rosarie Caballo
(038)411-3764 loc 401
0917-8932643

Cagayan de Oro:
Capitol University
College of Computer Studies
Corrales Ave., Cagayan de Oro City
Contact Person: Ms. Christine Sevilla
Officer in charge
Tel: (08822) 726136 loc 226/270
Fax: (0882) 714341

Cebu:
University of San Carlos
Talamban Campus, Cebu City
Contact Person: Ms. Marian Sionzon
Tel: (032) 253-1000 loc. 155, 0917-914-4439

Davao:
University of Immaculate Conception
Davao Central, Davao City
c/o PhilNITS Davao Office
Contact Person ms. Joy Alferez (PhilNITS Davao)
DTI Region XI, 5th Floor, Minitrade Bldg.
Sales Cor Monteverde St. Davao City
Tel 082-2221625 / 0922-8148985

Naga:
Ateneo de Naga University
Ateneo Avenue, 4400 Naga city
Contact Person: Dr Allan Sioson, Dean College of Comp Studies
Tel: 054-4722369

Zamboanga:
Ateneo de Zamboanga University
La Purisima St., Zamboanga City
Contact Person: Ms. Catherine Macrohon
Computer Science Department
Tel: (062) 9910871 loc 2280

PhilNITS the Organization

2008-06-14T23:45:00.009+08:00

(This is just a summary I made. The complete information and details can be found at the PhilNITS website : http://www.philnits.org/)

Vision
* To attain excellence in IT through the development of Certified IT Professionals adhering to recognized world standards
* To accelerate economic development through the massive deployment here and abroad of our highly trained knowledge workers

Goals
* To establish an internationally recognized and accepted standard with which to measure the competency level of IT Engineers/Professionals in the country
* To develop a workforce of Certified IT Professionals that are qualified and eligible for work not only in Japanese companies here and abroad but also in multinational/national companies anywhere in the world

Overview
The Philippine National IT Standards (PhilNITS) Foundation is a non-stock, non-profit, non-government organization that is implementing a certification program for Philippine IT Engineers. The certification program was adapted from the Japan Information Technology Engineers Examination Center (JITEC) of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) of Japan. (please check out my previous post “Overview of the PhilNITS Certification” for more information about the certification programs)

It changed its name from JITSE Phil Foundation to avoid the misconception that it is implemented only for the Japanese market. Upon close examination and evaluation by the Bureau of Product Standards of the Dept. of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the National Computer Center (NCC), it was found that the JITSE (now PhilNITS) standard is equivalent to the European and American standard on the Fundamentals of IT. Now it is already recognized as a Philippine national standard (PNS 2030:2003) for skills of IT engineers, and also for Civil Service Eligibility. It is also recognized amongst several Asian countries (China, India, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Mongolia) as part of the Information Technology Professional Examination Council (ITPEC) (click here to read more about ITPEC). A PhilNITS certification is also your passport to working in the prestigious Japanese IT industry.

People
PhilNITS Foundation is led by the passionate and able leadership of :
(President) Ma. Corazon M. Akol
(Vice President – Finance) Shinichiro Kato
(Vice President – Operations) Peter D. Que Jr.

Offices
Currently, it has three offices strategically located at Manila, Cebu and Davao. These offices serve as both logistical centers and training centers of PhilNITS :

Manila Office
3rd Floor, OPPEN Building, 349 Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., Makati City
Tel: (632) 898-2691 to 92 Fax: (632) 898-2694

Cebu Office
DTI Region 7, WDC Building, Osmena Blvd., Cebu City
Tel/Fax: (6332) 254-0577

Davao Office
DTI Region XI, 5th Floor Mintrade Building, Sales cor. Monteverde St., Davao City
Tel/Fax: (6382) 227-9448

Related Organizations
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Philippines
DTI has been supportive of PhilNITS from the start. It currently provides all three offices at Makati, Cebu and Davao. It continuously helps promote the adoption of the PhilNITS standard nationwide. DTI has also been conducting training programs for SMEs in the offices of PhilNITS.

Information-Technology Promotion Agency, Japan (IPA)
The IT Engineer Examination (ITEE) is the basis of the PhilNITS examinations. It has been implemented in Japan since 1969, and is currently being administered by the Japan IT Engineers Examination Council (JITEC) of IPA.
JITEC continuously supports PhilNITS by providing technical assistance by way of providing textbooks and other training materials, training on examination formulation, guidance on the foundation’s operation, and sponsorship of meetings with other Asian exam counterparts in Japan.

Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)
JETRO has been giving technical assistance to PhilNITS under METI’s (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan) Asia IT Initiative Program. JETRO has deployed some of its IT industry experts to personally support the operation of PhilNITS, and supplied the equipment in all three offices (and training center) of PhilNITS. It has been promoting PhilNITS thru participation in various exhibits nationwide. It also helps promote human resource development with its sponsorships of several training programs all throughout the Philippines. JETRO is also responsible for providing the English versions of the exam handbooks currently being used in several training seminars of PhilNITS.

The Association for Overseas Technical Scholarship (AOTS)
AOTS has provided scholars from PhilNITS several advanced IT training courses like the Bridge Systems Engineering Course (PHBR) and Software Design and Development Course (SWIT) which were conducted in Japan, and the Trainor’s Training on the Fundamentals of IT (FEIT) conducted in the Philippines. AOTS has also provided free Japanese Language courses both locally and in Japan.

Center of the International Cooperation for Computerization (CICC)
CICC, with a grant from the Japan Keirin Association, provided the e-Learning System of PhilNITS, consisting of two servers and four terminals, together with the appropriate and necessary software. It can be accessed 24/7 by subscribers to help prepare them in passing the PhilNITS exams.

IT Professional Examination Council (ITPEC)
The ITPEC is composed of organizations in several Asian countries, which are implementing the JITEC-IPA’s Examination Skill Standard. Member countries as of now include Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines (through the PhilNITS Foundation). The council facilitates consistency in the implementation of the exams, especially in schedule and the formulation of exam questions. ITPEC also helps promote public recognition and promotion of the examination especially throughout Asia.
The PhilNITS Society is composed of IT professionals and students who have successfully passed any of the PhilNITS certification exams. It also provides the member of the Board of Examiners, who is responsible for formulating and submitting candidate exam questions to ITPEC. The society also provides lecturers for courses/seminars related to PhilNITS.

Overview of the PhilNITS Certification

2008-06-12T18:56:00.009+08:00

Philippine National IT Standards (PhilNITS) is an organization that implements a nationwide certification program on IT. Currently it is already implementing two levels of certifications (see illustrated exam categories below), the Fundamental Engineer (FE) and the Software Design and Development Engineer (SW), which represents the entry-level qualifications should you wish to become an IT Engineer (you may refer to this earlier post, IT Engineer Career Path, for additional information)

IT Engineer's Examination Categories

The Philippine school system offers several IT related courses (e.g Computer Engineering, Computer Science, IT, etc.), but no consolidated and standard examination that measures if their graduates has reached a required level of knowledge on basic IT principles, skills and technology. But other professionals, e.g. lawyers, nurses, engineers, teachers, doctors, etc., are required to first pass such kind of standardized examination. Having such an exam can be challenging (sometimes even scary) to some, but I believe it would be both advantageous and progressive for most.

If we have such a standard, recognized leaders in the IT industry and the academe can sit together and define, review and continuously improve what would become the benchmark for anyone who wishes to work as an IT engineer. Such standard would also provide schools with an objective basis of the effectiveness of their curriculum. As a step further, if such standard is globally recognized, it will boost the overall competitiveness and attractiveness of our IT Engineers.

PhilNITS is not yet a “bar exam”, so to speak, for IT graduates. But it is already recognized as a Philippine national standard (PNS 2030:2003) for skills of IT engineers, and also for Civil Service Eligibility. It is already recognized amongst several Asian countries (China, India, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, Mongolia) as part of the of the Information Technology Professional Examination Council (ITPEC) (click here to read more about ITPEC). A PhilNITS certification is also your passport to working in the prestigious Japanese IT industry.

Even for an experienced IT professional, the broad coverage of the PhilNITS exam can be overwhelming, making the exam very challenging to pass. Aside from requiring knowledge on the wide-ranging fundamental concepts of IT, it also requires practical knowledge and skills on designing, programming and testing. A more detailed and technical discussion will be done in a future blog entry, but suffice to say for now that the concepts, skills and technology covered in the exam is comparable to a regular four year Bachelor of Science in Computer Science course.

There is no age limit and no particular level of educational attainment required to take the PhilNITS exam. Anybody who has interest in IT can challenge the PhilNITS certification. And as a vendor-neutral (not proprietary to any vendor such as Microsoft, CISCO, etc.) certification, PhilNITS is an advantage regardless of whether you plan to work for popular companies like Microsoft, IBM, CISCO, etc., or to work on an open source or non-proprietary systems.

People are taking the PhilNITS exam for a variety of reasons. Listed here are just some of the more popular ones :
1. To prove one’s competency in the field of IT
2. To secure a good paying job
3. For IT knowledge and skill measurement and improvement
4. For career advancement or promotion
5. To facilitate application for a working visa to Japan
6. Preferential treatment in job applications to local Japanese companies
7. Priority in availing of training scholarships like AOTS, CICC, etc.

It Pays to Get Certified

2008-06-11T23:49:00.005+08:00

In the highly competitive world of IT, it pays to get certified. Certifications are used to confirm that a particular individual has reached an essential level of knowledge or competency. Having the right certification opens up opportunities towards better employment and career opportunities.

A college diploma is one example of a certification (academic). Getting a diploma certifies that the holder has met all requirements for his/her chosen field of specialization. Let’s say for example, in the field of IT, having a diploma in Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering (BS-CoE) indicates that the holder has undergone a (typically) five-year college education program that utilizes a curriculum that was deemed appropriate by our government’s department of education.

Although in general the BS-CoE curriculum is common for all schools, there are certain parts of the curriculum that some schools (those with “independent” status) have the prerogative to modify as they see best. Also, each school will have their own way of implementation, some more effective than the others. It gets more complicated when we take into consideration the global scene, wherein our BS-CoE curriculum may or may not be similar with that of other schools in other countries.

In such a scenario, there is a need to have a standard that is commonly recognized and implemented nationally, and to a certain degree internationally. That is one area where certifications are highly beneficial. Let’s say for example you passed a particular Microsoft Certification Program (MCP). Your MCP certification is valid and will be recognized as a stamp of competence wherever you choose to use it locally or even internationally. So in a way, certification provides for a commonly recognized standard of measure in the otherwise diverse field of IT education.

But having a MCP certification may not do you much good should you happen to work in an organization inclined more towards open source than Microsoft’s proprietary technologies. A Java certification will be more appropriate in such a scenario. But what if the organization does not utilize Java in their development also? But that is the reality of certifications. You have to focus on getting the certification that is most appropriate for your particular purpose, and you should get those that will most likely be recognized by your target audience.

Certifications tied up to a particular vendor or brand, such as MCP, Cisco certification, etc., are called vendor-specific (or vendor-developed) certifications. If you are utilizing the products of such vendors, having their particular certification is most advantageous. A second type of certification is the national (country-developed) certification. An example of a national certification is the “bar exam” for those who wish to become lawyers. Passing such certification legally gives you the rights and privileges to practice the law profession.

A third type of certification is the vendor-neutral certification. As the name implies, such certifications are not tied-up to a particular vendor. Usually they indicate compliance to a defined level of skill, knowledge or process. To gain recognition, such certifications are either developed or reviewed by leaders/experts of their respective fields. An example of such certification is the PhilNITS certification. Having such certification implies that the person has the essential knowledge level of the fundamental concepts of IT, and the fundamental skills to design, develop and test software programs. The PhilNITS certification was designed by Japan’s IT experts and leaders, and is well recognized in Japan and several Asian countries already.

Listed below are just a few potential benefits of certifications. They offer a wide range of benefits, not only to the holder of the certificate, but also to the community (or school, group, company, etc.) as well, wherein their benefits are multiplied several-folds :

Skill Development and Improvement
This is one of the most notable benefits of certifications. Skill related certifications are generally created or reviewed by experts and industry leaders, and attaining them means you have met the essential skill level. It is as if getting personally reviewed and audited by several experts. Even for those who have tried but did not pass the certification, the simple act of working on improving oneself to the level required for the certification consequently results in an improvement of one’s skill.

Appreciation and Recognition
Having the right certificate can give you that fitting recognition you deserve, whether you are looking for a job, seeking a promotion, building or improving a business relationship, or simply just wanting to showcase your competency and competitiveness. For example, having a PhilNITS-FE certification results brings about recognition as a competent IT engineer, with a solid foundation of IT concepts and programming skills.

Balanced Skill and Knowledge
In the process of preparing for a certification, the coverage of the certification exam is usually broken down into several categories to better manage reviewing for them. By knowing your performance on each of the categories, you can identify which areas you are strong and weak at. By focusing on your weak areas to improve them, it will result to a more balanced skill.

Standardized and Objective Measure of Skills
As mentioned earlier in this blog entry, schools differ in the effectiveness level of their education. And although most are claiming as being the best in a particular field, without a standardized measurement, it is impossible to objectively measure their respective performances. Having a common certification provides for a common measure and also a structure to which the school curriculum can base on. For companies on the other hand, it helps simplify recruiting and hiring of new engineers.

Education vs. Training

2008-06-08T23:31:00.004+08:00

The title may suggest emphasizing the difference between education and training. But the difference discussed here is not so much in their goals of leading someone towards learning, but more on their respective approaches in achieving it.

In my analogy, education (used in the context of learning in school) can be likened to “pushing”, wherein the basics and fundamentals are provided to the students in order for them to learn. Imagine teaching someone how to swim for the first time. You first provide the basic skills that need to be learned, and then guide the student while he/she is trying out what he/she learned from you.

On the other hand, training (used in the context of career related trainings) can be likened to “pulling”, wherein the goals are set and it is up to the trainee to achieve those goals. The trainee is the one to decide which of his/her skills to use, and learns by himself/herself any other skills necessary. Imagine this time training someone to compete in swimming. Usually you set a target time to achieve, and have your swimmer practice and train until he/she can beat the set time.

The main point of difference between education and training as described above pertains to the degree of responsibility by both the giver (e.g. teacher, trainer, etc.) and the recipient (e.g. student, trainee, etc.) to achieve the desired learning for the recipient. It is my observation that the more you go up the ladder of education (schooling), the responsibility of the teacher to provide you with instructions decreases, while your responsibility to learn by yourself increases. And when you graduate and enter the professional world, it becomes mainly your responsibility to continue learning.

Some companies are generous enough to provide trainings, specially the advanced and higher level ones, to their employees. Also, trainings may be provided for “specialized” skills, especially those that are required by a particular project or customer, but may or may not be so valuable for other projects and customers. But as an advice, when working in this highly competitive world of IT, always keep in mind that the responsibility to learn new skills generally lies with you. And if ever trainings are provided to you (specially the free ones), be thankful and be appreciative of them.

Trainability and Adaptability

2008-06-07T23:20:00.004+08:00

In the ultra-fast evolving world of IT, being adaptable and trainable is essential for survival. How fast you can learn and adapt to new technologies is oftentimes more important than your current set of skills. You may excel in what you do now, but if you cannot adjust to the changes, you will be left behind.

This is also what the IT companies are looking for in their search for prospective IT engineers. It is a common observation in the IT industry that there is a big mismatch with regards to the skills required by the IT companies and the skills learned/developed in school. Your academic and scholastic performance is valuable and will help you get their attention, but in the early days of employment, people who show trainability and commitment to learning new skills are the ones who will stand out.

As illustrated below, employee X initially entered the company with a more impressive skill set than employee Y. But after only 3 months, employee Y has surpassed the skills of employee X. There might be a lot of factors why this happened, but assuming all factors (training, projects, location, etc.) are the same for both employees, employee Y seems to be more adaptive and trainable and is showing the greater potential.

Using conventional recruitment methods (resume, entrance exams, interviews, etc.) it is very hard to measure a person’s trainability. Experienced managers and HR personnel might be able to identify these during their recruitment process, but it would be advantageous for the applicant if he/she can narrate past instances wherein he/she showed an ability to quickly learn and adapt, specially in relation to technical skills.

During your career as an IT professional, trainings will play a big part of your growth. But as valuable as the company initiated and company provided trainings, self-study and personally initiated trainings and research will be a big factor to how fast your growth and promotion will be.

IT Engineer Career Path

2008-06-06T23:31:00.010+08:00

Should you wish to become an IT Engineer, the career you will choose will most likely fall in any of these three major areas : 1) Auditor side; 2) User side; 3) Development and Operation side. On this article, I will focus mainly on the latter, the “Development and Operation side”, wherein I have personal experience working on.

* based on the Japan Information-Technology Engineers Examination Center (JITEC) examination categories (http://www.jitec.jp/2_01english/02examcategories.html)

As illustrated above, the Development and Operation side is composed of different fields of specializations. The entry level would be the Fundamental IT Engineer (Programmer). As an IT Engineer, typically you will have to start as a programmer, then work your way up to become a Software Design & Development Engineer (SE), then choose amongst the higher-level fields of specialization (e.g. Project Manager, Embedded Systems Engineer, etc.).

It is a common misconception that a programmer is somebody who only does coding of programs, but in reality, a programmer is expected to have skills in designing, coding and testing, plus a some fundamental business skills (communication, leadership, teamwork, etc.). On the average, it takes around two to five years of experience as a programmer before you can become an SE, and around five to ten years before you become a Project Manager (or the other higher-level fields of specialization).

Here is a short description of each of the fields of specialization for the Development and Operation side (as taken from http://www.jitec.jp/2_01english/02examcategories.html) :

Fundamental IT Engineer (Programmer)
Individuals who have basic knowledge and skills related to general aspects of information technology, including those who compose program design sheets, construct programs, and conduct a series of operations to the extent of unit tests in information systems development projects.

Software Design & Development Engineer (SE)
Individuals who compose internal design and program design sheets, construct effective programs for information systems development projects, and perform a series of processes ranging from unit tests to integrated tests.

Systems Analyst
Individuals who plan information strategies based on management strategies. Develop overall system plans and individual systems, support information system development projects from the planners’ standpoint, and evaluate the results of such activities.

Project Manager
Individuals who are responsible information systems development projects. Ensure smooth operation of projects by developing project plans, procuring necessary resources for project implmentation such as personnel and materials, and managing budget, delivery schedules, and quality.

Application Systems Engineer
Individuals who perform a series of processes in information system development projects raging from work requirements analysis to system design, program development and test operations in accordance with project plans.

Technical Engineers
Individuals who perform core functions in the construction and operation of information systems infrastructures and support development and installation operations as specialized engineers in individual information systems development projects.
Specific knowledge includes that related to networks, databases, systemsmanagement, embedded systems (including knowledge on microprocessors and system LSIs) and information security technology.

Careers in IT

2008-06-05T23:34:00.003+08:00

Upon graduation from high school, and prior to choosing what course to take up in college, it is best to consider which career you plan to go into after college. In the field of IT, you can choose from a variety of careers that will suit your skills, interests and needs.

I listed below a few of your possible career opportunities in IT. Please note that the description that follows each are based on my personal understanding and observations only, and might contain a few subjective comments here and there. Should you want, the Internet may provide a more detailed and more descriptive information for each.

Software Developer / Programmer
Mainly you will be responsible for designing, coding and testing software applications and programs. Here are some examples of application and programs that you might find yourself developing :
a) online banking and purchasing system (e.g. e-Bay, Citibank online, etc.)
b) email and chat programs (e.g. Yahoo Messenger, Gmail, etc.)
c) social networking applications (e.g. Friendster, etc.)
d) point of sales or POS (the most visible part is the one you see at the cashier’s monitor when you pay for your groceries, at fast foods, etc.)
e) embedded systems (programs that control your printer, mobile phone, digital camera, etc.)
There is a lot of room for growth and advancement in this type of career. Aside from the ever-improving technologies you will be encountering, you can also advance to become a systems’ engineer (SE) or a project manager (PM) later in your career.
This blog, although speaking about IT careers in general, will mainly focus on this type of career.

Animation and Game Developer
This is one of the most exciting fields in IT, thanks in part to animated movies (e.g. Nemo, Matrix, etc.) and popular internet and computer games (e.g. Ragnarok, Counter Strike, etc.). If you fancy yourself designing and creating characters for animation, or developing storylines and strategies for games, this might be the career for you. It would be a big advantage if you have a high level of creativity and imagination, and have good skills in sketching and drawing (although there are lots of tools available to help with this).

CAD Engineering
Some architects still use primarily paper-based designs, but the most demanding and modern of buildings and infrastructures would not have been possible without the aid of Computer Aided Design (CAD) and Engineering softwares. Imagine yourself designing the newest car models, buildings and skyscrapers, airports, bridges, etc., and even seeing how they would look like and testing their structural integrity way before they are built. It will be an advantage if you have skills and interests towards architecture and designing.

Network Engineers
The Internet will not be possible without the worldwide inter-connection of computers and servers. And basically most companies, organizations, Internet cafes, and even homes have their computers connected in a network. Network engineers are the ones who know best how to configure, setup and make those networks work. Network engineers are responsible not only for the physical connections of the computers, but also the OS and software configurations to make the interconnection work as intended.

Technical Support Engineers
With computers as commonplace as a TV sets now, there are lots of opportunities for people who have skills in troubleshooting, upgrading and servicing them. With the millions of computers in organizations, schools, and homes it is bound to happen that those will need servicing just like any other consumer appliance. Do you see yourself taking apart laptops, desktop computers and other computer related gadgets to see how they work, how to improve them, or how to fix them if broken? If so, then this can be a fulfilling job for you.

I am listing here a few more :
Call Center Agents
Medical Transcriptionist
Database Administrator
Systems Administrator
Systems Analyst
Quality Assurance (QA) / Test Engineer

I plan to write about these in my future blogs, so please do watch out for them…

Realizing a Dream…

2008-06-04T23:17:00.003+08:00

With the help of IT, I can now start realizing one of my dreams… that is to teach and share what I have learned and experienced thus far. I have always had the passion for teaching. I actually look at it as “sharing”. Isn’t it wonderful how sharing takes away nothing from you, and yet gives so much benefit to others whom you share with?

I often say that I may not be the best or the brightest in the areas I am sharing my skills or knowledge about, but with the insights and experiences I have gained thus far there just might be something useful others can learn from me. Some of the most important experiences I will be sharing may not not even be mine. Experience is a wonderful thing, as even if we can only “physically” experience so much in our relatively short life, we can nevertheless accumulate an unlimited number of “virtual” experiences as we listen to the experiences (stories) of others.

I also love trying to imagine and placing myself in other’s shoes, to see things as they do, and to understand as they would. This helps me understand better when listening to other people. But it also helps me when I am the one doing the talking/explaining. Seeing it from my audience’ point of view makes it easier to explain in ways they would best and most easily understand. I guess that is why there are times I can help people more easily understand things that I myself have just recently learned. And it is such a rewarding experience. It is what made me think that teaching might just be for me.

And even though financially, geographically and time-wise it is hard to reach and to teach others, blogging has provided me with a venue to start realizing that dream. So while struggling to provide financially for my family, and spend quality time with them, somehow I will find the time to do my “sharing”.

My PhilNITS Story

2008-06-03T18:45:00.005+08:00

Back in 2002, I took up the challenge of taking the PhilNITS exam. Interestingly, my second take (Sept 2003) was while visiting Davao with my then future-wife, and it unexpectedly gave me the distinction of being the first passer of Davao. Davao has since produced four more passers, and if we include my wife (she passed the exam in Manila), we are now a happy group of six.

My purpose for challenging the exam was a combination of both personal pride and for motivational purposes. In my first take of the exam, I was still working in the Quality Assurance department of our company, and I took it upon myself to represent our team, and to prove our team’s competency in the fundamentals of IT. I was full of pride when I took it, but unfortunately I failed. But at least I can say I tried (hehehe).

On my second try, I was already leading our team’s training center, responsible for molding new-hires into competent and capable IT professionals in a relatively short span of time. We expected a lot from our trainees, including learning the Japanese language, the latest technologies, professional business skills, and passing the PhilNITS exam. I thought the least that I can do was to set an example to them, so I challenged the PhilNITS exam again. I wanted to show them that even a relatively obsolete (I graduated from college almost a decade before) guy like me still has what it takes to pass an exam that gauges your fundamental knowledge and skills on the very fast changing world of IT. This time I was fortunate to pass. Alas, my trainees have no more excuse not to pass also.

I would love to share these things with you...

2008-06-02T23:44:00.009+08:00

I am just an average Filipino IT enthusiast. I do not own my own company (not yet at least, hehehe). I am not an executive. I am not even a "somebody" in our small IT community here in Davao city. But even so, I believe that in my own small ways there are things I can share that you can benefit from. I have a heart for IT. I have a passion for teaching (more on "sharing" actually). I may not be the visionary leader type that can organize and mobilize people and communities towards a fruitful cause or a profitable venture, but I am confident that there are ideas I can contribute, and that I can make a difference.

In this blog, I would like to share with you the following :

Stories
I like stories. In our relatively short lifetime, it is impossible to experience everything. But with stories shared to us, we can imagine... and experience much more than we (in reality) can. I'll share with you stories of success, to inspire you to achieve the same or even better. I'll share with you stories of failures and difficulties, to help you learn from them. Another good thing about stories is that even though they may not be your own, you may pass them to others and share.

PhilNITS
Some of you may be familiar with it, some may not even have heard of it. But you will see a lot of the Philippine National IT Standard (PhilNITS) in this blog, simply because I believe in it, how it can help us lift our IT knowledge and skill standards, and how it can help showcase the Filipino IT capability. Maybe I might even share how you can pass the exam :)

Ideas
I have my "notebook of ideas". Actually it should be "notebooks of ideas", because I have compiled about three of them already. They still do not include the ideas I have written on countless small pieces of paper, and even saved in my mobile phone's "not sent" box. If not particularly useful for you, at least I hope some might be an interesting read.

Davao
When I first visited Davao, I came to love the place and its people (I am now married to a beautiful Dabawena). Davao is the place I will raise my kids in. I also used to give training to the best graduates of the top IT schools in the Philippines, including those from Baguio, Manila, Cebu and Davao. Amongst my trainees, I can personally attest that graduates from Davao are one of the brightest, and that they have the best personality you’d love to work with. I have since taken it as my personal mission to promote Davao in the field of IT.

Japan
I would love to share with you my experiences and observations during my visits to Japan. Some might not even be about IT (e.g. Nihongo, culture, etc.), but I will try to keep them as interesting as possible. I'd love to share with you my experiences in other countries as well, but so far other than the Philippines, I have only been to Japan :)

and many more...
articles, news, updates, events, insights, etc.

A Bright Future in IT

2008-06-01T23:12:00.006+08:00

A Bright Future in IT (FIT)

I wanted to set up this blog to personally share with you my feelings, thoughts, knowledge and experiences in the field of Information Technology, and how you, we, can have "a bright Future in IT."

I am Loy, from Davao City, Philippines. I have worked with a Japanese IT company for more than 12 years. In my experiences here and in Japan, I see fellow Filipinos determined to secure a better future for themselves and their families. And I have come to see that IT can help bring about a brighter future for us all... IT professionals with a very rewarding employment; students gaining more advanced learnings; teachers being able to reach out to more students; businesses growing and becoming more profitable; and communities living more comfortably.

IT is one field we Filipinos can excel in. Specially in IT, we Filipinos can be at par or even better than our foreign counterparts. I experienced this first hand in my workings with Americans, Japanese, Indians, Chinese and other nationals at IBM Japan. It is said that when it comes to skills, Filipinos are easily trainable and adaptable. This advantage is emphasized more in the field of IT where we can prove our "intellectual" and "creative" skills.

In the globally competitive world of IT, how can we prove our competency? The best way is simply to show it. For us working in the field of IT, excellence in our everyday work is the best showcase of our capability. Another way is to measure our competency, using a globally recognized IT skills standard/certification, such as the Philippine National IT Standard (PhilNITS) certification exam. PhilNITS coverage is very broad, covering IT fundamentals that are the same wherever country you may choose to work in. PhilNITS is the kind of tool we need to be able to objectively, and proudly, delcare that we Filipinos can indeed excel in IT.

To claim our future in IT, we all have to do our part... LEARN as much as we can; EXCEL in whatever we engage ourselves into; SHARE to others what you have learned and experience; PROVE our competency using PhilNITS as a tool; PROMOTE our country as a good destination for IT businesses; and INSPIRE others to do the same.