How to Propel the Economy of Davao City

Nowadays, modern technology has been widely utilized by among of us. In fact, these technologies were become helpful in our everyday life that enables us to do our works in an easier way. During the last couple of decades, technology has become more and more common both in our daily life, as well as in businesses. This has led to an increase in technology implementation, especially within the service industry, where customers now can use self-service technologies in order to receive the service on their own. However as we can observe in our city that we were living right now, I can say that it is still far behind than the other places that they excel in terms of their technologies and in their fast growing economy. Other regions like in Manila, in terms of their Information and Communication Technology companies, they have the latest technologies and centralized big companies. In which I think it is one of the factors of having a fast growing economy. Definitely, Manila has a lot better of ICT companies as compared to local companies here in Davao.

 

As our facilitator once said that the usual mindset of every student was to first, get into school, have good grades and graduate college to get a job. Well, as a student, it’s really in nature to have that kind of mindset because that’s what our parents taught us. Our parents send us to school with this kind of mindset because all they want is for us to graduate and to find a job in order to survive. So in this manner, it becomes a habit to most of us students to exercise this kind of mindset and carry it until we’ve reached college. In addition, most schools too, subscribe and support this kind of mindset. And actually it became the default mindset of every individual until they got employed. As a result of this, I can say that there could have instances that almost of our best graduates here in Davao were lured to different companies which offered attractive compensation packages and were sought after by the companies, usually in Manila, Cebu and even outside the Philippines. That is why the average graduates who remained in Davao were even find it hard to land in a good-paying jobs. However, there were disturbing reality check here; the best graduates of our city helps in the development of other places, not in Davao. And this is a brain drain cycle which happens yearly to us. Definitely I can say that our city is still far behind than the other places that they excel in their economy. In addition, as a result of this, Davao City’s industry remains thin and its development is very slow. Davao made the best graduates they can ever have but then other places took it and this city remains sought-after human resource provider. And I think it is one of the factors that Davao City was still a snail-paced economy. Instead of going outside the Philippines or in other places to work there, why not focused on our very own place and innovate for a better living? Technopreneurship one pulled the strings for me to realize these boggling things and teaches us on what could be an alternative mindset that may able to change this kind of development. As our facilitator once said, it is not just enough to get job after schooling or simply being an employee, but it is much better and a must if you could just excel and level up for the better. So it simply means that, you should go to school, get good grades, create and own a company. If we people tend to pursue this kind of mindset, probably we will able to propel the economy of Davao City and through technopreneurship we will able to excel our economy in terms of our businesses here in Davao.

As years passed by, as the technology keep growing and improving, the word “technopreneurship” came up. When we thought of technopreneurship, it is technology plus entrepreneurship. It is a way or essence of making money out of technology. It is a business which is incorporated with technology. Since nowadays, our world is getting more high-tech, business in merged with technologies plus the skills would be a great source of power in creating a competent business. As we look around, we could be able to see that almost machines are utilized by among of us. Almost everything we usually do is altered by modern machines and devices which have now the capability to do common human works. It is undeniable for us right now that in this city that we are living, we can say that we were still far behind from the fast growing creation of technology than in other places. Would we continue this kind of development forever? Well, as a student taking up Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and this semester I am taking up the subject course which is the IT-Elective (Technopreneurship). Honestly, it was new to me and before I don’t know that there is such thing as “technopreneurship” that exists. Our facilitator explained to us its importance and it is very helpful for us to build IT parks on our own city. We don’t need to work outside our region or outside the country for us to earn money. I remember that our Professor gave us an activity about connecting the nine dots with just four strokes. Those tricks are not just to connect all dots but there is a message behind that activity. The meaning of it is “to go beyond the limit” or “think outside the box”. One should not study for getting a degree, but to learn and gain knowledge. This is the usual mindset of the students, even me. Going to school every day just to comply all the requirements and pass the subject without learning anything which is not a good idea and actually this is what we are doing right now. I just realized that one should go to school for learning not for good grades because not the good grades will teach you and give you the lessons instead good grades are just the assessment. Knowledge must be our goal in studying because it measures our strength and potential and it is the only thing that cannot be stolen by anyone.  After the explanation, I realized that I should change my mindset. I should change it by making myself into an “employer” someday and not an “employee”. If all people have this kind of mindset, for sure, we will have a better opportunity in this world and able to propel the economy of our city as well.

Moreover, there is always a better way to do things. Just think outside the box and innovate. Innovation is an important aspect of business today. It is important for companies to be innovative in order to stay competitive with their competitors. When it comes to business, the first thing that comes from my mind is the word entrepreneurship. Now, let me define the word entrepreneurship that found on the wikipedia. Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur, which is a French word meaning "one who undertakes innovations, finance and business acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods". This may result in new organizations or may be part of revitalizing mature organizations in response to a perceived opportunity. So the entrepreneur is the one who manage his/her business. Well, to be an entrepreneur is the dream of many, but only a few were able to fulfill it. You may have a good concept, which you think is profitable, but there are also a lot of barriers that can stop you from achieving what you want. And the main factor of this is the capitalization. It is very difficult to start a business without an enough capital. Only a few were lucky to have enough resources to start their dream business. Apart from the idea and funds, if you do not have enough people to provide the skills, so when it comes to materializing a business is also impossible. The idea and funds are very important; but the skill to support or to propagate the idea is equally significant. However, with the flourishing concept of Technopreneurship, these problems are apparently becoming out-dated. The marriage of technology and entrepreneurship is breaking many myths especially when it comes to establishing a business. It encourages many to establish their own start-ups; these people are now referred to as Technopreneurs. Alternatively, these are those who apply technology and innovation as the core of their business model. Innovation plays important role in terms of business, entrepreneurship or even technopreneurship.

Start-ups are small, newly founded companies, which aim to grow fast. The trend became popular after the success of numerous start-up companies. With the objective of starting small but growing up fast, start-ups had become the favorite of many investors. In this manner, we will able to invest bigger opportunities and help Davao City become a fast growing economy. As a probable Technopreneur, all you need to do is come up with a brilliant idea that addresses a compelling need. To be an effective technopreneur, you must be different. It means that we must have our own idea and we must set in our mind that we are born not to become an employee but an employer or own a company someday. Our mind should think about the useful things that people needed or having a new invention or discovery.

In the Philippines, Technopreneurship is still in phase of onset. Filipinos are just starting to appreciate the advantages which technology brings to businesses especially in the initial phase. This is what incubators also do. They give business support and services to start ups throughout its initial stage until it’s able to stand on its own. Accelerators then come in to help the company sustain its existence long term. Having the right entrepreneurial tools and the entrepreneurial attitude will definitely help aspiring entrepreneurs nowadays to be big in their chosen fields. Therefore, as long as you have a brilliant idea that can address a compelling need, all you need to do is just to materialize it. Another obstacle that should be addressed is the propagation of knowledge. Only a few knew that there are a lot of opportunities out there that they can capitalize. Many people are clueless that technopreneurship exists. Just like the video clip that has been uploaded by our facilitator, it is an interview on what they can say about technopreneurship. It’s a kind of survey on how they well-known of what technopreneurshipis all about. I just observed in the video, that few people were just able to know what do really technopreneurship is. Filipinos should be informed that through combining technology and entrepreneurship, we could lessen the basic problems of establishing businesses. And also, we could create and make a business that is more profitable for us. Of course, to be able to achieve it, you must first to be an effective technopreneurship, not just in mind but also in what do you do. To be a good technopreneur, you don’t just have to think of your business alone or in technical matters. You don’t need to focus on producing money and becoming very rich. You must also consider your own life. Think of yourself and not just only on your business. You have to be emotionally strong and have a good relationship towards others. You must also possess these kinds of personalities in order to be effective on your endeavors.

Through this subject technopreneurship, you can create something very amusing and perhaps very effective ideas. Not only you could help make the world a better place, you could also help yourself experience the richness of this world. I would never forget the time we were tasked to visit a particular establishments here in Davao City such as in fast-food chains and in hotels, and think of something innovative to help the management improve their products and services. Honestly speaking, I wasn’t pretty much aware of what’s really on trend nowadays specially that techie thing about businesses. I just got in my mind what I had imagined and that’s it. I just made some crazy yet amazing ideas that just came out my mind. Just like what I have thought an idea that could able to improve the development of Davao City, it was the automated waste segregator. As we all know, proper waste management must be one of the top priorities of our community. As we look around, we could be able to see that almost all of us were careless in terms of our own waste and usually in almost houses our trashes were not even properly segregated. I could also see that there were still a lot of trashes everywhere especially in canals even if our city government already propagated the segregation of wastes. I believe maybe in nature, we Filipinos tend to disobey these simple rules. Furthermore, one common causes of flood here in Davao City is the negligent of most of us in throwing our garbage anywhere. So I may suggest that Davao City must apply a new purposive technology that would help create a well-structured community which I would suggest is the high tech trash bin machine. It is a programmed machine that every time you dispose a trash, it would automatically segregate the biodegradable from the non-biodegradable waste. By the use of this machine, we can say that the level of waste management in Davao City would be in a proper way as our contribution to Mother Earth. I find it pretty amazing that those ideas, I think which are very impossible to achieve, are actually done in reality nowadays. But I guess this kind of invention was not yet propagated in Davao City. Therefore, in order to help propel the economy of Davao City, we must use this kind of invention to maintain the cleanliness of our surroundings and in this manner; we could able to attract tourists to visit our city. I just realized then that for us to become globally competitive on our own tracks, we must also dig in and explore what is on trend right now. For every business to boom, it must be of course, essential- essential in a way that people will really need your products. Settle for those which are related to an individual’s primary needs. In this way, you’ll be assured that many will appreciate your products. Next, in a business, you must be creative and unique. Being creative and unique isn’t about how you make your business an extra crockpot just to make people notice it. It is about making your business a very indulging yet substantial to the people’s needs.

Therefore, we have to use our knowledge, skills, core values, creativity and of course our passion to create and innovate through technology to be able to propel the economy of Davao City. I do believe that Davao City can grow big time sooner if we’ll just have to make things possible, think outside the box and innovate!