Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 20) – The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) on Tuesday said it will work on the certification of local technology talents to help them land jobs in the IT industry.
DICT Secretary Ivan John Uy said this will be among the agency’s programs for 2023.
“The DICT is working with all our educational partners from private sector as well as government institutions like TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority), DepEd (Department of Education), and CHED (Commission on Higher Education) to deploy course materials and certification programs, and hopefully if we have more funds, scholarship programs,” Uy said during a Palace press briefing on Tuesday.
The DICT chief underscored the need to build competency in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or the STEM field, saying this is where in-demand jobs are coming from.
He noted that there are 3 million job vacancies worldwide for cybersecurity experts.
“All of these countries are sourcing those talents. Philippines is one of the first areas that they look at dahil magagaling daw tayo na hackers [because they say we are good hackers]. Filipinos are well known as early technology adapters,” Uy said.
The Philippines, however, only has around 200 certified cybersecurity experts, 70% of them already working abroad.
Many other talents are self-taught and are not certified, according to the DICT, making it difficult for them to land jobs.
“Pumunta lang kayo sa Vira Mall (Greenhills) kung nasira mobile phones niyo, or phones na naka-lock sabi ng manufacturer hindi ma-break, pero pag dalhin mo doon ilang minuto lang pagbalik sa’yo bukas na. So, marami tayong ganoon ngunit wala silang certificate,” Uy explained.
[Translation: Just go to Vira Mall if your mobile phone is damaged or if the manufacturer said it can’t be unlocked. If you bring it there, it will be opened in a matter of minutes. So, we have a lot of people here who are able to do that, but they don’t have certification.]
Uy was among agency leaders who presented accomplishments this year and plans for next year during the last Cabinet meeting for 2022 held on Tuesday morning.
