The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), in partnership with the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA), co-organized the hybrid Philippine Software Industry Conference or SOFTCON PH 2022: Metaverse Continuum last October 24-26 at the Marriott Grand Ballroom and via Airmeet. With more than 300 delegates, over 30 local and international speakers, and technical hands-on workshops, the 3-day event is the biggest conference for Filipino software developers, IT professionals, academe, and the government.
DICT Secretary Ivan John E. Uy delivered the opening remarks. In his address, he cited the aggressive scenario targets of the IT-BPM Industry Roadmap 2028 to generate USD 59 billion in revenues and 1.1 million additional jobs and discussed DICT’s existing programs to support such goals.
“The DICT accepts the challenge of helping your industry grow to reach these targets. As we search for the next big thing in tech and dive deeper into the metaverse, we at the DICT are laying the groundwork for an environment that nurtures the ICT-enabled industries, especially those fueled by new and emerging technologies,” said Secretary Uy. “We are in the beginning of this innovation we call the metaverse… We are at the front and center of what is happening in this area as it affects businesses and consumers alike,” said Chucky Castro, Chairman of SOFTCON PH 2022 and Vice President and member of the Board of Directors of the PSIA. He also emphasized key stakeholders’ roles in actively participating in the design, creation, and direction of the said innovation.
SOFTCON PH 2022 served as an avenue for the government and industry leaders to promote opportunities in the IT and software industries, discuss the latest technology solutions and trends, foster multi-sectoral collaboration, and expand networks for professionals and potential joiners. “It is really quite refreshing for us to see old and new friends come together as one software and IT development community in the Philippines to celebrate the success of the industry and discuss possibilities of growing the industry to the extent that we’ve never experienced before as a nation,” said Jonathan De Luzuriaga, President of PSIA.
Besides the plenary discussions on metaverse, the conference also featured breakout sessions on augmented reality/virtual reality, software interfaces, data, and artificial intelligence, pragmatic machine learning model deployment and monitoring strategies, customer experience, architecture, project management, software quality culture, and user-focus test automation, among others.
