GRADUATION. Ilocos Norte's first batch of graduates from the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s (DICT) Rural Impact Sourcing (RIS) program pose for posterity with their mentors and local officials at the Provincial Capitol session hall on Nov. 19, 2018. (Photo by Leilanie G. Adriano)
LAOAG CITY—Fifteen trainees from Ilocos Norte graduated on Monday from a nine-week blended learning on digital marketing and e-commerce course courtesy of the Department of Information and Communications Technology’s Rural Impact Sourcing (RIS) Technical Training program.
In a simple graduation ceremony held at the Ilocos Norte Provincial Capitol, Emmy Lou Delfin, Officer-in-Charge Division Chief of the DICT ICT Industry Development Bureau lauded the first batch of 13 male and two female trainees from Ilocos Norte for having successfully completed the comprehensive technical training program from September 10 to November 9, 2018.
Of the 69 locations in various parts of the Philippines where the RIS was conducted, Delfin said it is the first time that the first batch of trainees in Ilocos Norte graduated a hundred percent.
“I am overwhelmed by the success of this training in Ilocos Norte. All graduated out of the 15. It only shows that Ilocanos are hardworking,” said Delfin citing the DICT RIS program aims to develop and increase the ICT technical skills of the trainees and create ICT-enabled jobs in the rural areas.
“ICT employment is borderless. And one of our mandates is to bring ICT opportunities all over the country so that you do not need to go to major cities to have employment,” Delfin said as she explained online freelancing is a great opportunity for Filipinos.
In partnership with the national and provincial government, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the DICT RIS program was conceptualized five years ago to provide more opportunities in the rural areas through this technical training.
During the first year of implementation of the program in 2017, there were 600 who graduated, 70 percent of them have now online jobs, generating millions on their respective fields of interests, according to a DICT report.
Composed of 35 tasks, each trainee successfully completed the training course focused on Branding for Companies, Products and Services, Web Development, Product Photography and Content Writing, Business Blogging, Social Media Content Creation, Building a Freelancer Profile and other related trainings.
They were also taught about Data Privacy Law, Cybercrime Law, and Digital Marketing Ethics.
Undertaken for almost 2 months, the training not only benefited the trainees but also their partner MSMEs where they were given the opportunity to have online presence and be able to promote their products and services globally.
In his message, Senior Provincial Board Member Matthew Joseph Manotoc hopes the new graduates will have more equitable access to financial security as they gain global competitiveness and share their new wealth of knowledge to their respective communities.
Meanwhile, the DICT announced an RIS hub will soon be established at the state-run Mariano Marcos State University equipped with internet and computers for interested beneficiaries to perform their online jobs should they cannot afford yet to buy their own. (PNA)
