ICT

Prices may be falling for mobile and broadband access across the globe, but if you want fast Internet access, it still pays to be rich.

MANILA, Philippines – The local ICT industry is getting out of the doldrums this year, according to market research firm IDC, which is quoting huge numbers — $3.14 billion and $3.81 billion — for total IT and telecommunication market spendings, respectively, by the end of 2010.

There is an urgent need to craft an information communications and technology (ICT)-based curriculum content for Filipino expatriates and future Filipino migrant workers to train them and build their capacities using the Internet and other related technologies, according to the La Salle Institute of Governance (LSIG).

MANILA, Philippines – Internet connection speeds in the Philippines are expected to grow at least tenfold in the next five years as growing demand for broadband services encourage industry players to invest heavily in the sector.

THE EMERGENCE OF NEW and emerging information and communication technologies can no longer be ignored by organizations. Whether organizations provide it on their own or not, people are bringing these technologies to the workplace.

La Salle’s Institute of Governance’s “Patrolling the Internet: Mapping the Policy Terrain” research project also saw that (the next paragraphs are slightly edited paragraphs from the actual research study): There is an amalgam of proposals housed in the Philippine Congress that encourages the use of Internet monitoring and social control mechanisms in preventing crimes allegedly…

The La Salle researchers saw that Republic Act 9775 allows the government to exercise “decentralized monitoring” of the Internet. Here, slightly edited, is the research project’s chapter on that subject:

The Anti-Child Pornography law (Republic Act 9775) was passed on October 13 last year and signed on November 17 by President Gloria Arroyo. The law creates an Inter-Agency Council Against Child Pornography, which is tasked by the law itself with promulgating the implementing rules and regulations of R.A. 9775. The following is the La Salle…

The La Salle researchers praise Republic Act 9775 for its intentions.  But it identifies areas where “sneaking surveillance and filtering” could happen against the moral aims of the law.

The technological advance in the development of microprocessors for computer and electronic use occurs at an exponential rate, following the so-called Moore’s Law, which states that circuit density doubles roughly every two years. Gordon Moore was the co-founder of Intel. Thus, a single microprocessor or silicon chip which assumes an area the size of a…

MANILA, Philippines – The Senate should pass a bill that will create a Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) that would pave the way in making the Philippines the premiere location for IT-enabled services in Southeast Asia, foreign businessmen said yesterday.

The year’s end was as usual capped with the usual yearend greetings—this time sent via SMS and Web 2.0 updates in Facebook. As the revelry subsided, it became apparent that some telcos continued to send announcements and advertisements that went unnoticed until the number of personal messages dropped to its normal rate. Some friends adviced…

(Part 1 of 2) MANILA, Philippines – With 2009 coming to a close, the country’s information and communications technology (ICT) industry is setting its hopes high next year and finally recover from the global economic crisis and the recent spate of natural calamities to hit the country.

THE National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) said that the industry would be hard-pressed to hit a double-digit growth for mobile phone subscribers next year because the market has already matured.

MANILA, Philippines – Two leading analyst groups, IDC and Gartner, have brought out their informed reports and surveys that set the stage for what the IT, consumer electronics and telecommunications sector can expect in the next 12 months.

Seeking to better enable Philippine programmers to develop software to penetrate world markets, IBM Corp. formally opened recently its IBM Innovation Center at the UP-Ayala Technopark in Diliman, Quezon City; it is Big Blue’s 40th globally and third in Southeast Asia.

MANILA, Philippines – The number of 3G (third generation technology) users in the Philippines, whether for mobile phones or USB modem devices, is expected to grow to eight to 10 million by next year, quadrupling to 40 million by 2014 or about 39 percent of the population.

WASHINGTON – A survey published Monday of information technology managers at over 500 US-based companies has found that only about one in four has enabled more than half their workforce to work remotely.

THE projected increase in information technology (IT) spending in the next four years would create more jobs in the Philippines, according to Information Data Corp. (IDC).

MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC) urged the government to provide computers with Internet access to all public schools after a recent study showed that 46 percent of schoolchildren in the country spend P300 a month for Internet rentals.

MISIBIS BAY, Albay – The past year has seen many stories citing IT as a stepping stone for global industries to recover from tumultuous global economic downspin. In the Philippines, the effect is not as bad as in other countries until the export industry took a hit when demand for products declined.

MANILA, Philippines – Information technology experts have warned that the Philippines will not be able to effectively interconnect with its ASEAN neighbors once their economies are integrated unless the country starts structuring its IT network.

MANILA, Philippines – Today’s generation of Filipino children are getting hooked on the Web as one-third of households in three major cities – Manila, Cebu and Davao – now have Internet connectivity, according to a recent study.

PARIS: French health watchdogs, in a precautionary move, recommended on Thursday reducing exposure to mobile phones and other portable wireless devices. The guidelines are an interim step pending the outcome of wider research into any impacts from health from radio frequency fields.

LOS ANGELES: Scientists at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), have found that web surfing for middle-aged and seniors with little Internet experience have boosted their brain function. “We found that for older people with minimal experience, performing Internet searches for even a relatively short period of time can change brain activity patterns and enhance…

MANILA, Philippines – Asian countries, including the Philippines, are touted to dominate the global outsourcing industry, forecasted to reach a $1.3 trillion by 2020, according to an Indian executive.

MANILA, Philippines – For a few weeks recently, Facebook and Twitter momentarily ceased to be just social networking sites. As Ondoy and later Pepeng rendered streets impassable, downed telephone lines and cut off electricity, people turned to mobile Internet to reach out to family and friends.

Training suffers in lean times, but it remains a critical element of IT success. When IT departments must make budget cuts, employee training and education is one area that often takes a direct hit. While training cutbacks may be intended to control costs, they can undermine an IT organization’s ability to remain on top of…

To best position IT operations for success, CIOs must strive to find sustainable reductions in fixed IT costs. Here’s how. Reducing IT costs while improving IT capabilities may appear to be a paradox. But by focusing on fixed IT costs and following a strategy of sustained cost reduction, organizations can invest in new capabilities and…

GENEVA – Once just a simple telecommunications tool, the mobile telephone has in recent years become a driver of economic growth in emerging countries, experts said at one of the industry’s biggest fairs.