DICT offering free webinars to workers, MSMEs displaced by ECQ

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), through its digitaljobsPH project, is offering various free online technical training tracks on information and communications technology (ICT) to provide alternative learning opportunities for the working population whose livelihoods were adversely affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis.

DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan said the participation of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) from affected sectors is encouraged to boost their skills development during the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon and other parts of the country.

“We will continue to work towards the mitigation of the COVID-19 threat for our workers, entrepreneurs, and leaders through ICT-enabled capacity-building initiatives in line with the directives of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte and in support of the measures issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases,” Honasan said in a statement on Friday.

“Currently all slots for the various tracks had been filled, with training proper expected to run from April 16, 2020 onwards,” read a press statement from the DICT.

For instance, the social media marketing track of the training will focus on proper management of social media platforms to optimize social campaigns and promote brand growth in the digital market so that affected MSMEs can strategize business plans even amid the pandemic.

The training for the said track will run for seven days at 2 hours per session for a total of 14 hours, incorporating both lectures and “hands-on” activities, according to the DICT chief.

For the comprehensive affiliate marketing track, Honasan said parents who have been jobless because of the quarantine will develop skill sets that will allow them to perform freelance jobs through a 10-day full-cycle training and support for a total of 20 hours.

He said activities under this training include website creation using WordPress, content writing, search engine optimization, and link building strategies.

Meanwhile, the project will also host four digital governance trainings for chief information officers, planning or policy officers, ICT service officers, ICT project managers, management information system officers, and ICT professionals of government and private organizations.

“DICT developed these webinars in line with the social distancing and stay at home directives of President Duterte and the IATF to help the working population adapt to the current situation that requires remote work as well as online learning,” said Assistant Secretary Emmanuel Rey Caintic.

Caintic added that the introductory training on Digital Governance ICT Service Management Framework is set on April 21, Privacy Impact Assessment of an Information and Communications System Program or Project on April 23, Enterprise reference Architecture of Digital Transformation on April 28, and Data-Driven Governance and Digital Transformative Technologies on April 30.

Queries on the project may be relayed to the department’s ICT Literacy and Competency Development Bureau at [email protected].

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