Angara underscores role of ICT at ITAP induction

Sen. Edgardo Angara recently administered the induction of the new officers of the Infocomm Technology Association of the Philippines (ITAP) even as he emphasized the significant contribution of ICT industries to the Philippine economy.

^{Sen. Edgardo Angara making the keynote speech at the ITAP event}

The new set of ITAP officers is led by Dondi Mapa, a former commissioner of the CICT who is now the national technology officer of Microsoft Philippines.

At the event, Angara said, “You really are the crucial, critical sector of our economy. I am convinced our nation will be able to grow and prop itself up on account of ICT.”

Angara, chair of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology continued, “Now, thanks to ICT, we are directly employing 600,000 young people in the IT-BPO sector and one and a half million in indirect jobs. We’re generating almost $12 billion in foreign exchange and in four years’ time, we see that both employment and revenues could more than double.

“Imagine if our farmers are able to do remote sensing now and be able to tell whether their soil is good, whether crops are going to be bountiful, or whether they’re going to face drought,” the lawmaker said. — Newsbytes.ph