Roadmap for Cebu technology startups in the works-DTI director
- Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/business/2016/10/06/roadmap-cebu-technology-startups-works-dti-director-502111
- Friday, October 7, 2016
- By Katlene O. Cacho
THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Cebu will now start working with the different industry stakeholders to create a road map for technology startups.
DTI Cebu Director Ma. Elena Arbon said there is a need for Cebu to create one that would chart the direction of the province’s technology startup industry in the short to medium term.
This road map, called the Cebu Startup Ecosystem Development Plan, will be patterned after and aligned with the goals of the National Startup Roadmap.
“We have to understand that Cebu has different requirements. Its dynamics is different and that we need to at least create our own,” said Arbon.
She added that this will build a strong foundation for the province’s innovation-led economy. Arbon said the crafting of the road map will start this year and is expected to be introduced to the public before the year ends.
“We are now reaching out to the different stakeholders—the business chambers, academe, and other tech development organizations for the creation of this road map,” Arbon said.
DTI Cebu already has a preliminary database of local startups. After the completion of the Cebu startup plan, Arbon said in previous interviews that DTI and stakeholders will create the Cebu Innovation Circle, which will consist of Cebu business owners, the academe, industry experts and local startups.
Arbon explained that Cebu has been active in gathering the tech startup community but she emphasized it is about time to bring these tech startups to the next level.
She said linking them to the right people, resources and opportunities will help them grow.
“Our ecosystem is still young. But there’s no doubt we can become our own Silicon Valley,” she said.
By 2020, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) intends to have 500 startups in the country with a total funding of $200 million and valuation of $2 billion.