BACOLOD CITY — The Bacolod-Negros Occidental Federation for Information and Communications Technology (BNEFIT) set major directions for 2018 aimed to boost creation of jobs and opportunities.
Lawyer Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, executive director and founding president of BNEFIT, said as of Wednesday the organization would work on further ensuring that all ICT local companies adhere to occupational health and safety standards set by agencies like the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).
BNEFIT has recognized the need to organize a big occupational safety and health (OSH) workshop for the ICT industry during the first quarter of the year, Batapa-Sigue said.
She added the newly-elected officers, headed by president John Dave Dueñas, believe there was a need to clearly harmonize OSH especially fire safety measures enforced by the PEZA, Department of Labor and Employment, Bureau of Fire Protection and local government units for ICT companies to strictly adhere to unified set of standards.
“BNEFIT aims to promote Bacolod City and Negros Occidental as a hub for ICT jobs where workplaces are safe and healthy,” Batapa-Sigue added.
Also part of the federation’s three main directions for 2018 is strengthening its talent development efforts by reviving the IT Schools Network.
Batapa-Sigue said the goal was to strengthen talent development initiatives to improve quality supply.
Another direction is pushing harder the creation of strong startup, techpreneurship and innovation ecosystem by leap-frogging the initiatives of SugarCODE: Community of Developers and Entrepreneurs.
The SugarCODE was an informal group of startups which started last year, and it would now be the arm of BNEFIT focusing on innovation ecosystem, Batapa-Sigue said.
BNEFIT, which marks its 10th year anniversary on January 30, includes stakeholders from the academe, government, and industry gathered to establish BNEFIT as a province-wide organization working on making Bacolod City and Negros Occidental become globally competitive in the ICT industry. (PNA)
